Greg Hanscom profiles Stacey Champion, an environmental consultant and PR specialist who uncovered, and defeated, shady efforts to ban sustainability planning in Arizona.
Champion's heroic effort went as such: "Last spring, [she] caught wind of a bill
moving quietly through the legislature that would prevent the state,
county, or city governments from "adopting or implementing the creed,
doctrine, principles or any tenet of the United Nations Rio Declaration
on Environment and Development" - a pledge to promote eco-friendly development and eradicate poverty that was adopted along with Agenda 21. It would also ban state and local government membership in ICLEI, a nonprofit that has become the object of wing-nut conspiracy theories everywhere," explains Hanscom.
"The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Judy Burges, had used a special 'strike everything' amendment to sneak the bill through the state Senate
and into the House."
Through dogged lobbying, social networking, and general busy-bodyness, Champion was able to bring the potential economic (and evironmental) harm of the bill to the attention of local reporters, politicians, and the national media, before it could pass a final vote in the Arizona House.
"The story eventually made national headlines," says Hanscom, "and the bill died after
the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry came out in opposition, citing concerns about the state's image. (As [Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter] puts it, 'Looking crazy is not good for business.')"
Read the full story: Stacey Champion took on the Tea Party — and won
Glenn Beck Plans His Ideal City
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Lloyd Alter investigates the individuals and organizations "manufacturing" the anti-Agenda 21 campaign, and argues that "Big Oil" is helping to bankroll anti-sustainability efforts.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
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Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
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Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
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How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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