We marvel at the fact that we are often joined in our local efforts to put a halt to high-density and other features of the “new urbanism” agenda by those who vote at the federal and state level for the very people and policies that are causing the problem locally.
A recent message by Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center is illustrative. He talks about the “Green New Deal”:
“The Sustainablists have boldly thrown off their cloaking devices and admitted that their goal isn’t just “voluntary environmental protection.”
Instead, they are now openly revealing that their real goal is socialism and global control, just as I’ve been warning about for these past twenty-seven years.”
As we have already seen in our NH towns, the “new urbanists” don’t just want to plan how streets are laid out, they want to control where you live, work, and play, and how you travel and communicate, even how you socialize. It is reminiscent of the model of the planned society of the future.
Tom goes on to say:
“I warned that Agenda 21 would control every aspect of our lives, including how and were we live, the jobs we have, the mode of transportation available to us, and even what we eat. The Green New Deal is a tax on everything we do, make, wear, eat, drink, drive, import, export and even breathe.”
In NH, new urbanist consultants, brought into the towns by the regional planners, have ideas for how you should live, work and play, how you travel, and even how you communicate and socialize. Taxing is a way to control this… but read on for more…
“In opposing Smart Growth plans in your local community, I said the main goal was to eliminate cars, to be replaced with bikes, walking, and light rail trains. The Green New Deal calls for the elimination of the internal combustion engine. The next step will be to put a ban on the sale of new combustion engines by a specific date and then limiting the number of new vehicles to be sold. Bans on commercial truck shipping will follow. Then they will turn to airplanes, reducing their use. Always higher and higher taxes will be used to get the public to “voluntarily” reduce their use of such personal transportation choices.”
In NH we see the push for sidewalks, bike lanes, and commuter rail. Smaller lot sizes, bigger buildings, and transit-oriented development.
“I warned that under Smart Growth programs now taking over every city in the nation that single-family homes are a target for elimination, to be replaced by high-rise stack and pack apartments in the name of reducing energy use.”
Bedford and other towns are currently fighting the “stack and pack” mania…and we’ve even seen other states that HAVE actually passed ordinances against single family zoning!
“I warned that Agenda 21/Sustainable policy intends to drive those in rural areas off the farms and into the cities where they could be better controlled.”
And we have been complaining about this very thing:
“Over these years elected officials have listened to the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, ICLEI, the American Planning Association, and many more, as they assured that their plans were just environmental protection – just good policy for future generations. Well, now the truth is right in front of you. There is no question of who and what is behind this. And no doubt as to what the final result will be.”
In Bedford they invited the World Health Organization, AARP, SNHRPC/APA, and other private, unelected, and unaccountable organizations pushing for housing changes from out of the area. NGOs and private corporations are running the show, unbeknownst to the voters who still think they have local control.
The only way to stop this is at the local level, and by NOT voting for it at the State and Federal levels. Will those folks who have joined us in the fight against high-density but still vote for the Agenda at the State and Federal levels ever figure this out?