Posted on 03/30/2002 2:21:14 AM PST by JohnHuang2
The concept of Sustainability is implicit in the Principles of the League of Women Voters. League positions are in compliance with the fundamental principle of sustainability, recognizing the interdependency among issues of public policy, and the impact of current decisions on the global welfare of future generations.
"Sustainable thinking" calls for integrating the goals of the separate League program areas. As a result, the problems or issues to be resolved may be seen in a different light, and new means of resolution may be indicated.
Definition
Sustainable communities recognize their interdependence with the global community and seek to meet current economic, environmental, and social demands through equitable and democratic means without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In sustainable communities, levels of pollution, consumption, and population size are in keeping with regional carrying capacity; their members share an ethic of responsibility to one another and to future generations; the full social and environmental costs of production, provision, and disposal of goods and services are acknowledged; their systems of governance and leadership encourage democratic deliberation; and their systems of urban planning enhance neighborhood livability and preserve ecological integrity.
GENERAL STATEMENT
Sustainability refers to the dynamic among ecological, economic, and social systems on a global scale. It demands consideration of the interactions among positions in different program areas. League positions speak of preservation and conservation, of stewardship, of considering long-term benefits and meeting future needs.
Principles of sustainability are reflected in most program areas, although often they are implicit rather than explicit:
With respect to government, positions support policies that promote equity, flexibility, and responsibility so that democratic government is encouraged and protected.
With respect to natural resources, positions support protection and wise management in the public interest to promote an environment beneficial to life.
(For more explicit support, see LWVC--Water, references to future needs, assessment of economic, social, and environmental costs, as in #1a and #1f; "carrying capacity" as in #3d; references to interdependency and sustainability.)
With respect to social policy, positions promote the equity, justice, education, and nurturing essential to a sustainable society.
Using League Positions
Sustainability has many definitions with a common theme: meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. In focusing on the complex interrelationship among Earth's systems, the concept ties together many League positions and reiterates League program goals.
Sustainable development depends on the integration of social, economic, and environmental goals.
Sustainable governing policies and practices recognize the interdependence of environmental, social, and economic impacts, and provide for long-term protection of natural and social resources. These interrelationships are reflected in the use of "full-cost accounting" that assesses all direct and indirect economic, environmental, and social costs of production and programs.
Sustainable governance decisions are based on comprehensive information and evaluation, and encourage public and individual responsibility for maintaining a healthy ecology.
Democratic sustainable governance relies upon public participation in decision making.
Integrating League Positions
For purposes of clarity and depth, League studies have traditionally focused on specific, and deliberately narrowed topics. The resulting positions often omit consideration of interrelationships or, at least, leave them unstated. Action decisions, therefore, may involve examination of a number of relevant positions and consideration of overlapping issues and impacts. It may be necessary to set priorities and make choices among competing near-term objectives. Long-term goals should not be in competition.
Aspects of Sustainability Not Directly Addressed in LWV Positions
League positions, in general, do not speak to the application of limits. Although the need to conserve non-renewable resources is recognized (LWVUS-- Natural Resources), and the global impact of population pressures is mentioned (LWVUS-- International Development Assistance), the effects on society of generally unlimited levels of population and resource consumption in the United States are not addressed. Desirable levels, or limits, of population, economic growth, or of individual, national, or global consumption are not directly addressed in League positions.
Existing positions may be used in areas that impact population and consumption, as, for example, under reproductive choices, growth management, and energy conservation positions. However, to take action with respect to limits on population, growth, or consumption, further study leading to new positions would be needed.
Local Uses of the Policy
Local Leagues may look for sustainable development in their cities and counties, for example, by monitoring general plans and ordinances for integration of the "three e's": environment, economy, and equity; by analyzing school board actions affecting equity and quality of education; by evaluating health care accessibility, etc. Also by advocating broad-based participation in determining indicators (all the players at the table) Leagues can promote equitable community planning.
Measuring Sustainability: Indicators
Progress toward achieving community sustainability can be measured by monitoring changes in selected characteristics, or indicators. These should be quantifiable, readily available, and easily understood, such as levels of air pollution, crowding of schools, rates of infant mortality, etc. Indicators are necessarily oriented to the needs of the community in question. Broad-based community involvement in identifying important indicators is a crucial step in achieving social equity. It is a way of recognizing that different issues may be important to different segments of the population. (For examples of indicators, and additional details on their selection and application, see the LWVC Sustainability Task Force Report, April 1998.)
Background
This Action Policy statement, resulting from the work of the LWVC Task Force on Sustainable Communities (1997 to 1998), is based on:
Review of state positions as listed in the LWVC 1995-1997 Positions Folder
Review of national positions as listed in the LWVUS 1996-1998 Impact on Issues
Review of the report of the U.S. President's Council on Sustainable Development (1996)
Survey of members of local Leagues in California (1998-1999).
History of the Concept
1972: The UN held the first conference on Human Development in Stockholm. The concept of sustainable development emerged from concerns of developing countries about the overconsumption and waste in developed countries.
1987: The UN convened the World Commission on Environment and Development which wrote the report, "Our Common Future" (also referred to as the Brundtland Report). This report emphasizes the links between growth, economics, technology, and the environment. Sustainable development is recommended as a solution to worldwide resource degradation and the resulting threat of economic collapse. The Brundtland Report was the first to define sustainable development.
1992: The UN Conference on Environmental Development met and addressed the gross inequities that still existed between developed and developing nations and declared that the capacity of the Earth's ability to provide resources and handle wastes was fast approaching its limits. The Earth Summit created "Action 21," a plan for the 90's and beyond which included strategies to halt environmental degradation and to promote sustainable development in all countries.
1995: The U.S. President's Council on Sustainable Development made policy recommendations that included the education of citizens about consumer practices that lead to more sustainable lifestyles.
The President's Council on Sustainable Development identified goals or "shared aspirations" necessary for achieving sustainability and organized them into ten categories:
The Council warned that these categories "are truly interdependent and flow from the Council's understanding that it is essential to seek economic prosperity, environmental protection, and social equity together. The achievement of any one goal is not enough to ensure that future generations will have at least the same opportunities to live and prosper that this generation enjoys: all are needed."
Note: Every local League received a copy of the April 1998 Sustainability Task Force Report in October, 1998.
As Adopted by Delegates to LWVC Convention 1999
Amen brother! Hitler in the 1940's entered a new twist in being a racist, arrogant and murderous sob. He used PR to make he and his band of mass murders look clean and decent and used nice words to describe his terrible actions against others.
The Islamic terrorists and their supporters have learned this very well. You can read each day in FR how their supporters deny the reality of 9/11 and other terrorists activities for decades and blame them on American/Americans.
The New American Nazis, the enviralists who hate humans and would remove all of us for Mother Earth are even more dangersous. Their Nazi cleansing of Americans is shrouded in sweet love songs/poems of about saving Mother Earth. Yet their proposals would be worse than the Nazis if we don't fight them.!
PS I don't care for the new FR format! It is sure and bulky. I have a new Pentium 4 1.8 ghz with 512 ram and other speed up goodies. It takes a long time for the new screens to load up even with a fast connection. Versus yesterday it is taking up to 3-6 times longer to link up to a reply or a thread.
Also, the self search is a real pain, too much verbage to go through to get to a reply like yours and then to get to it takes a lot longer as my paragraph above notes!
Known as the Brundtland Commission, after co-chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, its definition of sustainable development has been embraced throughout the U.N. family and world. Let me give you my quick definition: The world has too many people, and if we do not reduce the number of people on the planet, they will use up and eat up all of the earth's resources so that future generations will be left without any resources. The United Nations is the only global body to monitor, manage and preserve the resources of the planet. This concept fits hand and glove with the gaia hypothesis: It inverts – perverts – Genesis 1, 2 and 3.
Right! Thanks for the flag. Good article.
The New World Order, brought to you by the Illuminati and their U.N. are U.N.godly Mathusian*** murderers who want to kill people and kill them in large numbers. They are on record as hating browns/blacks/and poor whites. They also are anti-Jewish and anti-Christ-ian. Islam has joined that beast to try the saints in the fire of Islamic insanity. Besides all the info out there on the Illuminati, do a google search on "population control" and "Malthus" and "Project Paperclip" or "Eugenics" and see what happens. Also note:
"Underlying 'America's New War' is international 'population planning.' According to Rockefeller-directed population planners, additional depopulation must occur in advance of the New World Order. In the United States, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) March/April 1996, Foreign Affairs journal, plans to depopulate America by half to achieve ‘a U.S. population in the range of 125 to 150 million, or about its size in the 1940s,’ are underway.” -- Leonard G. Horowitz, D.M.D., M.A., M.P.H. Sept. 23 2001, SourceAnyone believing the gov't is here to help you or that you can influence anything by voting or writing congressmen, isn't paying attention. What the globalists did in Cambodia and Rwanda, they plan to do everywhere. This is the endtime struggle between two groups, the people of God (Christians and Jews) and the people of the devil and we should not be foolish virgins whiling away our time. We should be preparing.
***The Rev. Thomas Robert Mathus (1766-1834), child of the devil and suck-up to the New World Order. Yet another False Prophet/Teacher known by his stinking fruit.
Google Search: Thomas Malthus "population control"
'Overpopulation' Turns Out to Be Overhyped
Beyond Birth Control: Dr. Stanley K. Monteith ~The Population Control Agenda
The Georgia Guidestones: New Age Reason, or Age Old Treason?
22 - Le-Roy's quote on World Health Org and AIDS in Africa
UN MANUAL PROMOTES ABORTION, STERILIZATION ON REFUGEE POPULATIONS
Tetrahedron: U.N._World_Food_and_Population.html
POPULATION CONTROL, THE FINAL SOLUTION (1 of 3)
POPULATION CONTROL, THE FINAL SOLUTION (2 of 3)
POPULATION CONTROL, THE FINAL SOLUTION (3 of 3)
PRINCE CHARLES THE SUSTAINABLE PRINCE http://www.ninehundred.net/~jveon/APPENDIX.html and here HABITAT II DOCUMENT http://www.ninehundred.net/~jveon/PPP-H2.html.
This is their new covenant, making its SERPENTINE route through the world: THE EARTH CHARTER http://eco.freedom.org/el/20020302/charter.shtml. By the way, the Olympic torch also made a serpentine route to SLC. I didn't catch any of the Olympic threads. Did you notice during opening ceremonies that when the long snake puppet came into the ring that Katie Couric intoned: "Oh look, here comes the snake. Watch it spook the horses." (I don't know what happened next; I left the room.) How did Katie know what would happen, or why was she 'programmed' to say this? Maybe you'll find the answer HERE http://watch.pair.com/dan.html. They've been putting all their 'dragonian' laws and World Court into place to trap us into their judgment. Maybe that's why Jesus said to judge not, lest you also be judged?
Fear not. Jesus Christ has risen. HE has overcome death and satan. Put your faith in HIM. Do not be deceived; get into HIS WORD today.
No American in their right mind would WANT Americans to be blameable in this, would they? Joan Veon has some thoughts on this as well; you may or may not be interested in reading them; perhaps you already have. I confess I haven't read all of this article, only enough to make me a little worried. IMPORTANT RESEARCH ON 9-11 http://www.ninehundred.net/~jveon/911abstracts.html
Mia T has an interesting thread about the hatred the lefties have for American even after 9/11. I will find it and post the link for you.
I would truly like to know the same thing.
We gave it to them. We gave it to them by our silence at elections and in the courts. We complained but only in our private worlds.
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