Achieving The “Impossible”:How ICLEI And Cool Counties

Were Removed From Albemarle County , VA

Tuesday Morning Group Coalition MeetingOctober 11, 2011

Presentationby

Charles Battig, MS, MDVA-Scientists and Engineers for Energy and

Environment

The Inspiration• Donna Holt speaking about ICLEI at the Tea Party

Convention Richmond October 2010• Tom DeWeese and his American Policy Center• The success of County Commissioner Richard

Rothschild in removing ICLEI from Carroll County, Maryland in January 2011

• Discovering the history of Albemarle County’s ICLEI membership

• Achieving a four conservative member majority on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors

Raising Public Awareness• October 2010, our local Jefferson Area Tea

Party (JATP) Chairperson, Carole Thorpe, agreed that ICLEI would be a Tea Party objective for 2011

• The JATP “National Issues Forum” is presented as an open, public education event October 29, 2010

• My presentation on ICLEI is one of the five topics

A Favorable Omen

This is the same evening that President Obama comes to Charlottesville campaigning for the incumbent Democratic senatorial candidate who subsequently would lose to now-Senator Robert Hurt

The Warm Up

The Follow Up• March 17, 2011: The Jefferson Area Tea Party

sponsors a public educational event in the County Office auditorium titled “The Deceptive Agenda of Sustainability in Local Government”

• Tom DeWeese responds to our request and volunteers to join me on the program

• Over 120 local citizens attend

The Main Event

Making Use Of County Board Of Supervisors’ Protocol

• The County Board of Supervisors holds two public meetings each month

• A nominal two to three minute talk time is available to the public for “Items not on the Agenda”

• I decided to show up twice a month and engage in the “death of a thousand cuts” process

Effective Rules Of Engagement• You must do your homework • You must be factual• You must be polite• You must do focused “sound bite”

presentations• You must not become discouraged• A sense of humor helps

The Process• Twice a month presentations• Print out and distribute the presentation to the BOS• Switch to Power Point presentations• Use original source data, including web site pages• E-mail presentations to selected members of the

Board of Supervisors the day before the public meeting

• Get other supporters to speak at these public BOS meetings

Homework Made A Bit Easier

The Start Of The Cool Counties Trail: December 5, 2007 BOS Minutes

County Staff Promotes “ICLEI” February 2008

Albemarle Staff Had Already Enrolled County As An ICLEI Member, November

2007

May 2011 14

Initial Reaction From One BOS Member

• What U.N…I don’t see any U.N. in County documents

• A Tea Party conspiracy • Tea Party infiltration into County Government• There is a “climate change” consensus• Climate skeptics are climate change deniers• ICLEI membership costs only $1200 per year

U.N. Agenda 21 Embedded In The U.S. By President Clinton

Aug 2011

What United Nations?I Don’t See Any United Nations

• The U.N. establishes the Agenda 21 global plan for implementation of “sustainability” in 1992

• ICLEI becomes a “co-operation partner” to implement the Local Agenda 21 project (Chapter 28 of Agenda 21) in 1997

• President Clinton forms “The President’s Council on Sustainable Development” in 1993

• The U.N. Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declares 2005-2014 the “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”

May 2011 17

ICLEI Is International

U.N. Secretary General Says So

ICLEI Has Special Status Within The U.N.

Local Agenda 21 and ICLEI

Local Agenda 21 Is Global

22

“Leveraging” the UN Goals in the U.S. Education System

ICLEI Is In Virginia At The State Level

ICLEI USA : “Initiated in 2007, the Virginia State Climate Protection Network consists of local governments from across the state that are taking critical and innovative steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop in a more sustainable and just manner”Virginia contact: Megan Wu

May 2011 24

ICLEI USA Partner OrganizationsPartner Organizations include:

Architecture 2030Center for American ProgressEarth Day NetworkInternational City/County Managers AssociationNational Wildlife Federation Natural Resources Defense CouncilSierra Club and Sierra Club’s Cool Cities/Cool CountiesUS EPA

May 2011 25

The First Success• June 8, 2011: The Albemarle County BOS votes

four to two to defund ICLEI after hours of tumultuous public comment

• Why did the BOS vote to defund and withstand a packed auditorium of environmental activists, UVA students, and liberal politicians booing and catcalling Tea Party members speaking to defund ICLEI?

• Answer: Quote…We gave logical and factual reasons; the opposition booed and gave catcalls

The Next Success

• September 7, 2011: The BOS vote four to two to rescind their 2007 “Cool Counties” resolution

• Why?• Answer: The majority felt that Albemarle

County regulations should originate in Albemarle County, and not be based on outside advocacy organizations

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC)

• Planning District Commissions are a creation of the 1968 Virginia General Assembly , staffed by a mixture of elected and non-elected individuals. Funding includes governmental and private grants.

• The mission: “to promote the orderly and efficient development of the physical, social, and economic elements of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District by planning and encouraging and assisting governmental subdivisions to plan for the future”

• They function much as an un-elected, shadow government implementing the members own interests; the same small cadre of members appear on several local government agencies and in other, non-elected positions, enabling their advocacy to be law

May 2011 28

Just A Guide?; You Decide

APA Climate Change Handbook

For Some Planners It Is More Than Just About Parking Places And Park Space

How To Get H.U.D. Funding For “Sustainability” In Twenty-Six Pages

May 2011 32

Albemarle County HUD Application

May 2011 33

H.U.D. Funds Sustainability Grant

If Not ICLEI, Will It Be UVA Graduate Students Using You For A Term Project?

Aug 2011

The Bad News

• Success is only one BOS election away from a return to a progressive majority

• Although ICLEI is defunded, the County staff mindset is still favors ICLEI related policies

• The Thomas Jefferson Planning District has $1 million from H.U.D. and three years to build their case for implementing their “sustainability” reforms in the County and City Comprehensive Plans

My On-Line Librarywww.climateis.wordpress.com