During the last session of the Oregon Legislature, The Association of Oregon Industries and the World Wildlife Federation sponsored legislation that fostered the Oregon Sustainability Act. The sponsors of the Sustainability Act did a soft sell and lied to many Legislators who asked questions about its potential impact. The bill was brought forward during the last days of the 2001 - Session when everyone was getting anxious to go home.

The Oregon Sustainability Act is about Environmental Governance that abdicates the power of all elected officials State, County, and City to the whims of foreign interests and environmental Non Governmental Organizations. The bill known as the Oregon Sustainability Act passed the 2001 - House and Senate by unanimous support. We are now two years and Oregonians can begin to see there is a major problem. Our economy is systemically poisoned by regulations of every kind on virtually everything. The bureaucracy is out of control with rule making shifting control from Oregon to foreign interests.

The Draft Oregon Forest Plan www.oregonforestry.org/fpfo/2003/2003fpfoapp endix.htm is a classic example. You will get a notion of how the transference of regulations to the foreign interests are being handled. Why would any politician assume that any citizen of Oregon would want their valuable Natural Resources transferred to foreign interests outside the State of Oregon?

What about the oath to uphold the office to which all elected officials take? Or does that depend on what the definition of "is" is? Take a look at the work done by former Mayor of Salem Oregon Mike Swaim. A careful review can give you a feel as to what is going on in Salem the State Capital of Oregon. The Template was scheduled as a model for Salem Futures (Smart Growth) and only because Salem Mayor Janet Taylor was elected to stop this nonsense was the program delayed. Here is the model ordinance that was being established for adoption by several Oregon communities.

A TEMPLATE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

This document has been prepared by members of the League of Oregon Cities with staffing assistance from the Center for Watershed and Community Health at Portland State University. It is intended for use by any local government or community interested in starting a sustainable development initiative. The authors request that readers review the document and provide feedback as to its usefulness, content and presentation.

The participants include:

Steve Bryant City Manager City of Albany
Scott Burgess City Manager City of West Linn
Wes Hare City Manager City of La Grande
Roger Jordan City of Dallas, City Manager
Gregory Mott Development Services, Planning Manager City of Springfield
Cynthia Pappas Development Services, Department Director City of Springfield
Karl W. Rohde City Councilor City of Lake Oswego John Schubert City Councilor City of Bend
Bill Friedman City Council City of Bend
Mike Swaim Mayor City of Salem
Willie Tiffany Senior Staff Associate League of Oregon Cities
Carole Wheeldon Former City Councilor City of Ashland
Alexander Welsch Graduate student with the PSU Center for Watershed Health

Turning to the Glossary of this document we find the following definition for Sustainable Development:

Sustainable Development (also called sustainability, resource efficiency, resource productivity) - The concept was introduced in the late 1970s and was emphasized strongly in the World Conservation Strategy published in 1980 by the IUCN (the World Conservation Union) in collaboration with the UN Environment Program and the World Wildlife Federation. Our common future (the Bundtland commission) defined it as 'development that seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet those of the future'. Elsewhere the commission defined sustainable development as 'using, developing, and protecting resources at a rate and in a manner that enables people to meet their current needs and also provides that future generations meet their own needs'. In practical terms it means applying policies, programs and practices aimed at achieving zero habitat impacts, zero emissions and zero waste. Source: www.orcities.org/webdocs/commdev069.pdf

Does this policy explain why Oregon's economy is in the tank? Do you recall any Oregon politician telling their voters that they were in the process of abdicating the Declaration of Independence to some freak in France or Germany. Environmental Governance is all about overthrowing the sovereignty of the United States.

The City of Salem is currently being asked to adopt a Wetlands Planning Program and Proposed Code Amendments to Salem Revised Code Chapter 126, Wetlands. Within the staff report is the following threat if the City of Salem elects to delay the ordinance adoption to seek second opinions: "It is likely that if the City does not continue to show progress in meeting its GOAL 5 wetland requirements, the Department of Land Conservation and Development will require compliance through a PERIODIC REVIEW program."

This same threat permeates the Salem Futures program even though there is mounting evidence that many neighborhoods throughout Salem don't want new neighborhoods with up to four times the density of existing neighborhoods. Worse yet, buried within the Salem Futures program being forced on the City of Salem, by the so called PERIOD REVIEW process, is the notion that prohibits automobile oriented uses. This is nothing but Social Engineering. When Senate Bill 100 was adopted in the 1970's many Oregon citizens raised concerns about top down planning for example the so called Transportation Planning Rule (Smart Growth). Governor Tom Macao and former Senator LB Day promised that would not be the case.

That all changed when Non Governmental Organizations for example the Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Oregon was appointed Director of the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development in the mid 1990s. If the Oregon legislature is serious about turning our state economy around, they only need look at the hundreds of cases that were brought before the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. You only need to review the work file of one individual, a Mr. Mark Radabaugh, who is the DLCD staff person in charge of the land use approvals in the Willamette Valley to get a flavor of just how difficult it is for any community to foster any form of economic development. Our state economy is deliberately being shut down, and there may be very little the Oregon Legislature can do to reverse the situation.

In our own community 2,300 jobs are currently being held up by Mr. Radabaugh (DLCD) and the 1000 Friends of Oregon at the Keizer Station project in Keizer, Oregon. This is perhaps the oldest zone change anywhere in America. The first application was filed in the early 1980s nearly 22 years ago.

Oregon not unlike California is becoming a focal point and is gaining a great deal of publicity throughout the world for the actions of their Governor. This time, that publicity is causing a number of Oregon industries to pull of stakes and leave town. For example, ODOT complained that a small company, Microwave Tower Services (200 employees) was hauling too much steel up and down the freeway. That same company spent 54 weeks getting a building permit for an metal building to expand their operations in Salem. Meanwhile, near Dallas, Texas this same company received a building permit for 100,000 square feet. The permit was accompanied by an apology from the City Manger for taking 2 weeks to issue the permit. Solution, lay off all workers in Oregon and close down the plant because they need the ability to move tons of steel, after all that is the purpose of their business.

The voters of Oregon sensed the change of attitude fostered by both the former Governor and passed Ballot Measure 7. Reviewing the tightening noose around the neck of Oregon's economy, I can clearly see why this Ballot Measure would have cost the state Billions to compensate for regulations. Here in Salem, there are proposals to regulate trees in my back yard. If I dare cut one tree to the ground and the fine could be in the thousands of dollars. Here in Salem and elsewhere local government has implemented consumption taxes (One of the policy mainstays behind Sustainable Development.) Our water bill at home has increased from $32 bi-monthly to over 10 times that amount in just the past five years. As I was leaving the house my wife commented that a similar increase as it now appears on our Portland General Electric bill, once an $50 dollar problem now exceeds $200 per month and with the appointment of Mr. Savage to the Public Utility Commission the increases in the future will likely exceed our mortgage payment.

So when does it stop? It doesn't seem to matter anymore whether we are represented by Democrats or Republicans. The Legislature just keeps giving away the store to balance a budget and that does nothing more than foster new regulations beyond most peoples ability to comprehend.

The best way to describe the Oregon Legislature is something that is 39,000 square miles across and 1/8 inch deep.

Finally, to eliminate any dispersions of fluttering black helicopters, and if you want a real treat read the first chapter of the World Resource Institutes report at http://pdf.wri.org/wr2002fulltxt_001-022_chap0 1.pdf. This is tyranny and its happening at your city hall, county courthouse, and state capital all across America.

� 2003 Rodney R. Stubbs, Investigative Reports - NewsWithViews.com - All Rights Reserved