Free Republic

Virginia House Del. Ibraheem Samirah introduced a bill that would override local zoning officials to permit multi-family housing in every neighborhood, changing the character of quiet suburbs.Oregon passed a similar bill, following moves by cities such as Minneapolis; Austin, Texas; and Seattle.Proponents say urban lifestyles are better for the environment and that suburbs are bastions of racial segregation. Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not.The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on...

My address to the Colorado Independent Cattlemen’s Association I’m not a cattleman and I’m not going to pretend I know everything you are facing. But I do know that the major weapon being used against your industry is the misnamed control devise called Sustainable Development. I know why and I know who the players are. I hope I can leave you today with some ideas on how to fight them. To begin, let’s set the terms and make one thing very clear. The use of the word sustainable may sound like a comfortable term, not threatening. After all, you, your...

a group of Democratic senators took cash from a Ukraine lobbyist to push Ukrainian gas interests at the same time the Democrats are pushing the Trump-Ukraine yarn. ... Remember Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's business partner? .. previously been a top fundraiser for John Kerry, who was Secretary of State at the time. And soon after Devon and Hunter joined the Burisma Board, the company channeled $90,000 to a lobbying firm called ML Strategies, which was headed by none other than David Leiter, John Kerry's former chief of staff. That's handy because then-Secretary of State John Kerry himself has visited Ukraine...

Greta Thunberg became the poster child for climate hysteria and fraud by sailing across the Atlantic in a supposedly “zero-carbon” yacht, the Malizia II, which in fact was made out of petroleum products from stem to stern ... Malizia II, like the rest of the yachts in the Imoca 60 class, is constructed from high-tech carbon fiber composites to make it ultra light and fast. It is the ultimate play thing of the wealthy elite. These boats are made of hydrocarbons, not to mention all the energy it took to make them. Carbon fiber composites are primarily made from propane...

Pittsburgh has become the second U.S. city to incorporate United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into its practices, planning and policies, an initiative that will affect more than $4 billion worth of public and private projects in the region during the next 12 years. Mayor Bill Peduto announced the commitment to the 17 U.N. sustainability goals Friday, saying they identify the most important issues facing the globe -- poverty, hunger, climate change, education, gender equality and health, among them. He said the goals will help inform coordinated and collaborative programs and partnerships with universities and nonprofit, business and civic sectors, and...

A newly devised type of silica bead could help save melting glaciers from the onslaught of climate change, scientists say. The innovative new approach, developed by a company called Ice911, employs minuscule beads of 'glass' which are spread across the surface layer of glaciers. There they help to reflect light beating down on them and slow what has become a tremendous pace of melt throughout the last several years. 'I just asked myself a very simple question: Is there a safe material that could help replace that lost reflectivity?' Found of Ice911, Leslie Field, told Mother Jones. What they landed...

Eating meat could be made illegal like smoking in pubs, says top barrister Eating meat could become illegal in the future due to the damage caused to the environment, says a leading barrister calling for a new ecocide law. Michael Mansfield QC says new legislation is needed to criminalise the wilful destruction of nature, which he described as a crime against humanity. There are plenty of things that were once commonplace that are now illegal such as smoking inside. We know that because the UN has told us so. The organisation's director, Juliet Gellatley, said: Thirty years ago people didn't...

Once confined to the small scientific community of climate researchers and ecological economists, the idea of degrowth is now blazing into the mainstream. Not surprisingly, people are trying to figure out what to make of it. Is it an inspiring idea that points the way to a better economy? Or is it a mad notion that’s sure to plunge us all into poverty? Degrowth is a planned reduction of total energy and material use to bring the economy in line with planetary boundaries, while improving people’s lives by distributing income and resources more fairly. The scientific case for degrowth is...

The Most Radical Tool Against Global Warming Abortion is a global issue. A survey of The World’s Abortion Laws shows significant disagreement about it.A few countries, like Egypt, prohibit it. Others, like Brazil, allow it only when the mother’s life is in danger. In the United States, laws vary from state to state. But the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision makes it difficult to restrict it significantly.Advocates for abortion frequently argue for a woman’s right to choose. But some now, like Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, promote it to curtail global warming.How would abortion do that?The argument is that...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Congresswoman Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., applauded the Environmental Protection Agency for announcing final plans to repeal and replace the Obama-era Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation. "I am glad the administration is repealing the excessively burdensome Waters of the United States rule, which was a massive regulatory overreach that should have never been allowed in the first place," Enzi said. "This rule gave the federal government power to regulate nearly every creek or pond. States know best how to manage our resources. This announcement is good news for...

Seattle City Council will soon weigh a complete ban on natural gas in newly-built homes and buildings.Legislation for the ban will be introduced by Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien. The measure would take effect on July 1, 2020 should it pass. “The science is very clear — (Puget Sound Energy is) selling a fossil fuel that is destroying our planet, and my hope is that they recognize they need to get out of that business,” O’Brien said. According to the bill, natural gas in buildings accounts for a fourth of Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions. Just over half of the city’s...

Mayor Bill de Blasio has aggressively pushed a bike-friendly agenda, adding about 100 miles of dedicated .

Mayor Bill de Blasio has aggressively pushed a bike-friendly agenda, adding about 100 miles of dedicated lanes for cyclists amid a spike in rider collisions, but he’s done little to address the danger that bikers themselves pose. Since 2011, bicyclists have injured more than 2,250 pedestrians — including at least seven who died — according to stats from the city Department of Transportation and published reports. Injuries are up 12 percent this year, rising to 127 through June 30 from 113 over the same period in 2018, the NYPD says...

In 2006, I was surprised to find myself sitting at a formal dinner in the middle of a 200-year-old debating society at Cambridge University in England. In a few minutes I, and five others were about to engage in a debate over the usefulness of the United Nations. But here, for a few minutes longer, at the long dinner table with the crisp, white tablecloth, I was sitting next to one of my fellow debaters, Salis Shetty, the head of the UN’s Millennium Project. I had ignored him through most of the dinner, but with just a few minutes left...

BAILEY, Colo.- The search for a mountain lion continues after it attacked an 8-year-old boy in Bailey Wednesday night. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the child was playing on a trampoline in his yard when he heard a friend calling from down the street. As he ran towards his friend's home, the mountain lion pounced, grabbing the boy by the head. The boy's brother was also outside and heard a commotion. He ran to his father and told him something didn't sound right. His father rushed down the street and found the mountain lion on top of his son. The...

California may be on the verge of eliminating single-family zoning statewide. This is huge. And it’s a sign of how quickly the politics around housing and land use have shifted in just the last year. ... Senate Bill 50 — San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill to allow denser, taller housing ... Single-family houses could be converted to four-unit buildings, by right, anywhere in the state. That is, a property owner could subdivide or remodel a house to turn it into four apartments. Or a developer could build a fourplex on a vacant single-family lot. ... Let’s just pause on...

Seattle is on the verge of making some controversial land-use changes that advocates say will make this increasingly expensive city more livable for people who aren’t wealthy. The city may soon allow taller buildings in the cores of many neighborhoods and ease restrictions on mother-in-law apartments and backyard cottages. But change is hard: Those moves have encountered legal challenges. Minneapolis this month took a much more dramatic step on density meant to ease its real-estate crunch and address its history of racial segregation: The City Council there voted to end single-family zoning altogether. Moving ahead, the Midwest city will allow...

Taking aim at climate change, highway gridlock and soaring housing costs, a California lawmaker has ignited a red-hot debate with a proposal that would force cities to allow more apartments and condominiums to be built a short walk from train stations and bus stops.

The 2019 Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act (WCCA) is perhaps the most significant attack on private property rights in decades, perhaps ever. A simple look at the list of sponsors of the proposed legislation provides plenty of warning about what this new law portends. The WCCA was introduced in Congress in May 2019. In the Senate, the bill is being led by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), and was cosponsored by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D- NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). The bill...

Sometimes if you fight hard enough and refuse to back down, no matter the odds, your truth is vindicated and prevails! For twenty years I have been labeled a conspiracy theorist, scaremonger, extremist, dangerous, nut case. I’ve been denied access to stages, major news programs, and awarded tin foil hats. All because I have worked to expose Agenda 21 and its policy of sustainable development as a danger to our property rights, economic system, and culture of freedom. From its inception in 1992 at the United Nation’s Earth Summit, 50,000 delegates, heads of state, diplomats and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) hailed...