Henry Lamb has an interesting article about property rights and climate change up at WND:"An official delegation from the U.S. government actually signed a U.N. document that says:
"Private land ownership is a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice. ... Public control of land use is therefore indispensable. ..."
The document was signed by then-Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Carla A. Hills, as head of the U.S. delegation, and William K. Reilly, who became administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. This 1976 Report of Habitat I: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (subscription), contains 65 pages of specific recommendations about how governments can put an effective end to private land ownership and gain absolute control of land use.
Since then, virtually every land use policy adopted by Congress or the agencies of government has been designed to erode private property rights and grant to government the power to control all land uses. The Endangered Species Act has been hijacked and is now simply an excuse to prevent land development on private property. The Clean Water Act has been hijacked and is now another excuse to prevent the use of private land anywhere near a mud puddle. "Comprehensive planning" is another recommendation from the 1976 document that has recently come into its own, empowering government to prevent private landowners from using their own land."
I'm not one to think that the government should have no say in how land is used....zoning laws and environmental laws can be effective means to help create an orderly, sustainable society.
But look out! These draconian laws may be a distraction, and our property rights might be in more danger than the darter snail or the woolly-headed woodpecker! Click through for an interesting, succinct read from the William Burroughs look-alike. Dang badgers!
William Burroughs