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World Summit Atmosphere Thaws at Friends Meeting NEW YORK, New York, July 18, 2002 (ENS) - Countries edged closer toward agreement on the toughest issues blocking consensus on the outcome of next month's World Summit on Sustainable Development. The talks concluded late last night with indications that convergence is near on many of the most contentious issues - trade and finance, and the setting of new targets and timetables for progress in poverty alleviation and environmental protection. United Nations officials said a new feeling of agreement was reached at a special "Friends of the Chair" meeting convened at UN...

Making Sustainable Development Work: Governance, Finance and Public-Private Cooperation Secretary Colin L. Powell Remarks at State Department Conference, Meridian International Center Washington, DC July 12, 2002 (As Delivered) Well, thank you very much, Paula, for that warm introduction, and let me also take this opportunity to thank you as well for the superb leadership that you have been giving to this effort, especially as we prepare for next month's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. And I'm very pleased to follow my dear friend and fellow Vietnam vet Chuck Hagel. We are members of a mutual admiration society, and...

WASHINGTON – Behind closed doors, far-left lawmakers are conspiring to ram through legislation aimed at putting Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood and their allies in charge of your life. The bill in question purports to deal with development that some people might deem objectionable. But like so many other schemes prompted by real or imagined problems, the "remedy" turns out to be far worse than the disease. Clinton's Damage Never Ends While the nation’s attention is focused on the war on terrorism, S. 975, the Community Character Act, seeks to implement a Clinton executive order that the leftist establishment could use...

Sustaining Nothing, Losing Everything By Tom DeWeese Published 06. 20. 02 at 20:13 Sierra Time A new catch phrase, "Sustainable Development", has crept into discussions of the most fundamental right Americans have, the right to own property. It is essential to all other liberties and our economy. It is protected by the US Constitution. That protection is about to be lost if "The Community Character Act" is passed."The Community Character Act" is a homeowner's association on steroids. It sustains nothing and takes from every American their birthright of freedom. What is Sustainable Development? Imagine an America in which a...

Road Show Go ahead and send the aid, but don’t pretend it’s for development. By Mike Lynch U2 frontman Bono and Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill are on an African poverty safari that teaches many things, chief among them that publicity stunts still work. Not since John McCain’s days on the campaign bus has there been such a media swoon. The Odd Couple comparisons, the starched shirt vs. blue wrap-around sunglasses, are tired. But the most grating aspect is the dominant media frame through which it is being covered: that this is a traveling development aid seminar in which Professor Bono...

The Community Character Act (S.975) -SNIP On June 29, 1993, former President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order #12852 to create the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development is the "ruling principle" for the implementation of what former Vice President Al Gore said we must all suffer through in order to purify our nation from the horrors of the Twentieth Century’s industrial revolution. In his book, "Earth in the Balance," Gore called it a "wrenching transformation of society." Consequently, sustainable development calls for changing the very infrastructure of the nation, away from private ownership and control of property to nothing...

A group of U.S. Senators have conspired to destroy local zoning throughout the United States of America. They are trying to do it in secret. They don't want to hear from someone saying they are betraying the Constitution they swore to uphold. Americans should take note of the names of these Senators: Former Republican turncoat Jim Jeffords; Republican Arlen Specter; Democrat Max Baucus; Democrat Harry Ried; Democrat Bob Graham; Democrat Joseph Lieberman; Democrat Barbara Boxer; Democrat Ron Wyden; Democrat Thomas Casper; Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Democrat Jon Corzine. These U.S. Senators, members of the Senate Environment Committee, hold American...

Lake Tahoe Clarity Shows Five Year High DAVIS, California, April 24, 2002 (ENS) - The renowned clarity of Lake Tahoe reached a five year high in 2001, University of California at Davis researchers said today. The Tahoe Research Group, which has studied the famous alpine lake and recommended recovery strategies for more than 40 years, said the finding is promising but does not mean that the battle is won. "Based on the historical data, lake clarity would need to improve for at least another five years to declare that things are doing very well," said John Reuter, a Tahoe...

Coastal Development Threatens Ocean Health WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2002 (ENS) - Development along the U.S. coastline is linked to the declining health of the nation's ocean habitats and resources, a new report shows. Within 15 years, an additional 27 million people are estimated to live in coastal counties, which comprise just 17 percent of the nation's area. A new report prepared for the independent Pew Oceans Commission and released this week links this growth along the coasts to declining ocean health. "Americans have long enjoyed living, working, and playing along the coasts," said Leon Panetta, former White House...

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) - Nestled among jagged mountains 120 miles south of the Texas border, this city in many ways is everything Mexico is not: It's modern, the residents are university graduates and you can drink the water. Monterrey is also what anti-globalization activists fear, with its suburbs, mini-malls and U.S. chains. When world leaders converge on Monterrey next week, Mexico will be presenting this industrial metropolis as the poster child for how to develop the third world. Monterrey is playing host to the U.N. International Conference on Financing for Development, an unprecedented world summit on how to combat poverty...