Arizona aims to ban sustainability, become dumbest gov ever

[Sea Skimmer]

Agenda 21: Arizona close to passing anti-UN-sustainability bill
By Jim Gold, msnbc.com
April 26, 2012, 4:17 pm
MSN.com
Arizona lawmakers appear close to sending to Gov. Jan Brewer a tea party-backed bill that proponents say would stop a United Nations takeover conspiracy but that critics claim could end state and cities’ pollution-fighting efforts and even dismantle the state unemployment office.

A final legislative vote is expected Monday on a bill that would outlaw government support of any of the 27 principles contained in the 1992 United Nations Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, also sometimes referred to as Agenda 21.

Senate Bill 1507 was passed by the state Senate last month and received an initial House affirmation Wednesday. It is sponsored by state Sen. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, who also sponsored a state birther bill that Brewer vetoed last year.

"The bill is designed to protect the rights of Arizona citizens and prevent encroachment on those rights by international institutions," Burges told msnbc.com in an email. "We have three branches of government and when one branch preempts the process through executive orders, the balance of power is lost in the process. It is that simple -- no more, no less."

At a March 15 hearing on the bill, Burges said an executive order signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993 started the implementation of Agenda 21 after the Senate refused to pass a treaty ratifying it.

"Any way you want to describe it, Agenda 21 is a direct attack on the middle class and working poor" through "social engineering of our citizens" in "every aspect" of their lives," she told the hearing.

But House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, has a different view.

“It’s the most poorly crafted bill in this state,” Campbell told msnbc.com. “It’s so broad and overreaching, we’re not sure what it could impact.”

Among the U.N. declaration’s non-binding principles are calls for sustainable development, environmental protection, eradicating poverty, eliminating unsustainable production and consumption patterns, economic growth and the participation of women in government decisions.

“We wouldn’t be able to use CFL light bulbs in state buildings because that would be considered energy efficiency,” Campbell said.

Campbell also said that the state’s Economic Security Department, which handles unemployment and welfare benefits, could be outlawed because it has to do with eradicating poverty.

Also, Arizona universities have sustainability programs that could be banned if the bill becomes law, Campbell warned.

Arizona State University has a School of Sustainability, Northern Arizona University offers a master's in sustainable communities, and the University of Arizona has an environment and sustainability portal.

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Brewer, who last spring vetoed Burges' bill to require presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship, typically does not comment on legislation until it reaches her desk, her spokesperson told msnbc.com Thursday.

About the Rio declaration, SB1507 says “the United Nations has enlisted the support of numerous independent, shadow organizations to surreptitiously implement this agenda around the world.”

Rep. Terri Proud, R-Tucson, told supporters in an email that the U.N. declaration “will take away our rights as Americans by allowing the United Nations to mandate laws on our soil,” the AzCapitolTimes.com reported. “It’s very real and it is happening.”

The Times also reported that during House debate Wednesday, Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, said the declaration is connected to the “occult” of sustainability.

"The tea party and conspiracy theorists run the state now, Campbell told msnbc.com.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/ ... -bill?lite

I have to love the logic; a vast UN shadow conspiracy is out to destroy us all with sustainability, but apparently the conspiracy doesn’t have the power to control the Arizona state legislature. God help us all when it does!

[Serafina]

He's also missing the fact that the law was NOT "mandated" by the UN - it was, after all, implemented by the democratically elected President of the United States. But i guess he isn't supposed to implement laws on his own soil either.

[Dalton]

Isn't it a non-binding resolution? I can't wait for the next piece of fucked-up legislation. It's like they write laws based on chain emails. Can someone forward them a link to Snopes? Christ. No wonder they don't observe DST.

[Sea Skimmer]

It was only non binding until all world leaders signed the secret annex in a Knight Templar ceremony, written on the back of the declaration of independence, making everyone a UN slave! Didn't you guys read the message on that written on the sky in chem trails?

[Stark]

Are they fighting the UN by .... Encouraging waste?

[Simon_Jester]

Yep.

It's this weird... I almost want to call it anti-reality attitude you get sometimes in political extremists. Just doing perfectly simple, rational things takes on a symbolic importance that turns it into a matter of principle. And suddenly things like evidence- whether Bush did in fact organize the 9/11 bombings, whether fluoride in water is in fact good for your teeth, whether pollution controls are in fact good for not killing children unnecessarily... they just don't matter because it's all a plot and the scientists are in on it too, don'tcha know.

[Darth Nostril]

Next they'll be putting lead back in paint and fuel, banning sunblock and making the wearing of seatbelts illegal.

[SirNitram]

The UN is simultaneously utterly worthless for acheiving anything of note and a deadly efficient world dictatorship that can crush the US underneath it's heel. Only once you can hold that doublethink in your head can you understand these folks.

[Rogue 9]

Isn't it a non-binding resolution? I can't wait for the next piece of fucked-up legislation. It's like they write laws based on chain emails. Can someone forward them a link to Snopes? Christ. No wonder they don't observe DST.

Not observing DST is about the only intelligent thing in all this; daylight savings time is fucktarded and should be abolished.

[B5B7]

It is sponsored by state Sen. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, who also sponsored a state birther bill that Brewer vetoed last year.

Among the U.N. declaration’s non-binding principles are calls for sustainable development, environmental protection, eradicating poverty, eliminating unsustainable production and consumption patterns, economic growth and the participation of women in government decisions.

Burges told msnbc.com in an email. "We have three branches of government and when one branch preempts the process through executive orders, the balance of power is lost in the process. It is that simple -- no more, no less."

See the irony with the bolded parts from the first two quotes.
Yes there are three branches of (Federal) government - the executive, the legislative and the judiciary; states not included (directly; represented via legislative branch).

[Haruko]

The UN is simultaneously utterly worthless for acheiving anything of note and a deadly efficient world dictatorship that can crush the US underneath it's heel. Only once you can hold that doublethink in your head can you understand these folks.

That seems awfully similar to the idea by many of my fellow Americans that America is an unstoppable force of super-special-awesome good in the world, but at the same time has no influence whatsoever on the world (so stop blaming us).

[Flagg]

Man I still wish the Secret Service had taken that bitch down and shoved her face first into the tarmac when she put her finger in Obama's face.

[Irbis]

Not observing DST is about the only intelligent thing in all this; daylight savings time is fucktarded and should be abolished.

So, you're under impression these guys are capable of picking up even one intelligent thing?

Anyway, maybe it's not working for you, but it's either DST or moving things around during various seasons, which is far larger hassle. Thanks but not thanks for me.

[Simon_Jester]

I can see the argument that it wouldn't matter very much. The only activities that need to be rescheduled that badly are the outdoor ones, most of which really ought to be partly seasonal anyway.

Also, I think there's a correlation measured between "spring forward" in DST and an uptick in traffic accidents because in statistical terms everyone in America gets an hour less sleep that night than normal. It's not that big a deal either, but it's a real cost we pay.

[Rogue 9]

Not observing DST is about the only intelligent thing in all this; daylight savings time is fucktarded and should be abolished.

So, you're under impression these guys are capable of picking up even one intelligent thing?

Anyway, maybe it's not working for you, but it's either DST or moving things around during various seasons, which is far larger hassle. Thanks but not thanks for me.

It doesn't require that either; what are you on about? My own state didn't observe DST until the current governor inflicted it on us (for which he has permanently forfeited any chance of ever getting my vote for anything) and the only effect it has is fucking with my clocks and making me get up for work earlier for half the year. The process of switching over to it was a debacle as well; my county switched time zones three times in a year, apparently because whoever came up with the details of the plan was pants-on-head retarded.

[Dalton]

Isn't it a non-binding resolution? I can't wait for the next piece of fucked-up legislation. It's like they write laws based on chain emails. Can someone forward them a link to Snopes? Christ. No wonder they don't observe DST.

Not observing DST is about the only intelligent thing in all this; daylight savings time is fucktarded and should be abolished.

I was merely observing that they seem to have a streak of contrarianism.

[Gil Hamilton]

The Arizona State Legislature is like the Justice League of Bad Ideas. This is no surprise. We need Janet Napolitano back to curb this shit, rather than the Tea Party House Elf we've got.

[SpaceMarine93]

Is there any actual chance of the thing passing? Because if it passes I need to know whether anyone in Arizona could take it to the Supreme Court to override it.

[Dalton]

Is there any actual chance of the thing passing? Because if it passes I need to know whether anyone in Arizona could take it to the Supreme Court to override it.

...you know, there's other courts before that one. Like the Arizona Supreme Court.

[fgalkin]

Isn't it a non-binding resolution? I can't wait for the next piece of fucked-up legislation. It's like they write laws based on chain emails. Can someone forward them a link to Snopes? Christ. No wonder they don't observe DST.

I am pretty sure that Sen. Judy Burges of the Birther bill fame does in fact propose laws based on Tea Party chain emails.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Simon_Jester]

Is there any actual chance of the thing passing? Because if it passes I need to know whether anyone in Arizona could take it to the Supreme Court to override it.

Quick civics lesson: The judiciary comes in layers. State laws may be challenged in a state court, or a federal court. In the federal court system you work your way up through the district and circuit courts before the Supreme Court ever hears the case. This keeps the Supreme Court from being utterly swamped in ridiculous bullshit trivia and cases so obvious no judge would put up with the law for a moment.

[Patrick Degan]

Arizona Republicans, these days, seem in a race to out-stupid Texas Republicans. Texas laws may be bad, but the stuff they've been ramming through the Arizona legislature lately is just... insane bullshit.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Is there any actual chance of the thing passing? Because if it passes I need to know whether anyone in Arizona could take it to the Supreme Court to override it.

Civics lesson aside... Yes. This will probably pass.

Janet Napolitano used to be the Governor, and her veto was the only thing keeping the state semi-sane. When Obama appointed her to Homeland Security, her Lt. Gov Jan Brewer became Gov. The ONLY governor in the US to not go to college. Not flunk out. Not drop out. Just never go. She is insane. Not just conservative, but insane.

The legislature is also insane. Arizona's major cities are all relatively liberal. They all have universities and large latino and urban populations that SHOULD balance the scales (against mormons) in favor of democrats in most elections due to economic and race issues. This does not happen. Why? Because old conservative white people migrate like over-wintering geese into the state from places like North Dakota just in time to vote in the elections (while also clamoring to disenfranchise college students who live in the state for longer continuous periods of time than they do). They are the reason why a state that SHOULD by all rights be at worst a swing state is solid Tea Party red. They are why Uncle Joe Arpaio keeps getting elected sheriff of Maricopa County despite most of the permanent residents hating him.

[Eulogy]

So how long will it be before Arizona degenerates into anarchy?

[Simon_Jester]

Why would they do that?

Their problem is excessive, heavy-handed archy with very firm ideas about how things ought to work. They have no shortage of archy. Anarchy will not occur any time soon.