Sustainable Growth (continued)
According to sustainability doctrine, it is a social injustice for some to have prosperity if others do not, to keep our borders closed, for some to be bosses and others to be merely workers. Additionally, the UN’s Biodiversity Assessment Report states that the following are NOT sustainable: grazing of livestock, plowing of soil, building fences, industry, single family homes, paved and tarred roads, logging activities, dams and reservoirs, power line construction and economic systems that fail to set proper value on the environment (capitalism, free markets). Furthermore the UN’s Rio Earth Summit said “current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air-conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable."
Sustainable Growth is sponsored by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and simply calls itself ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability supported by a network of “Green” experts. Their mission is to push local governments to regulate the environment. More than 544 American cities use taxpayer dollars to support this organization. In New Mexico these include Albuquerque, Cimarron, Santa Fe, Silver City and Taos. I don’t know if Las Cruces has, or proposed a membership in this organization. The doctrine of Sustainable Growth permeates the City Council and the City has hired a Sustainability Manager to oversee and implement this expanding environmentalist doctrine and government control over private property.
