Reimagining the Rural West (RRW) – Workshop #2 – Part 2
By Karen Schumacher
There is talk that our Republic is being destroyed, by all appearances from this RRW project, it is already destroyed. Government has a plan for us, in partnership with the UN, and executed without your involvement. Perhaps it is time to consider what our Founders advised, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such Government…”. If there is any government action that reflects we are living under Despotism, this RRW project meets that definition.
Continuing with the second Western Governors Association (WGA) Reimagining the Rural West (RRW) workshop, held November 4 & 5 in Santa Fe, more details were revealed about the objectives to transform, not reimagine, rural communities. Up to this point, panel members are from areas or organizations where RRW objectives have been successfully implemented, the same is true for this workshop. While this article is lengthy, it provides the answer to the RRW project objectives.
Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor of New Mexico, gave opening remarks and spoke to working “collectively” between western states, being leaders in renewable energy and climate change, thinking regionally, creating cross state sharing of costs, and what rural communities “should look like”.
There were several panels, all but the last will be briefly summarized as these panels provide more information on foundations being used to change rural communities. One last panel reveals why the WGA and federal government are targeting rural communities.
In the Resilient Rural Resource Economies panel, it was noted rural communities are located near extraction economies, and these communities will be transitioned to technology and energy economies. Because there is no recognition of jurisdictional boundaries, partnering with different agencies is needed for economic development and shifting to “value added products“. The National Association of Counties (NACO), based in Washington D.C., researches the data and mapping of local counties to “connect” county leaders with each other. Are your elected county officials in on this scam? In reality, the data and mapping is already in progress as part of federal action and developments, and WGA already has a renewable energy resolution.
Tribes will work regionally on broadband and energy infrastructure development and why not. The Department of Energy (DOE) is providing $15 million to do it and Department of Interior legislation provides continued support. Future “workforce” needs include technology, entrepreneurship, bringing young people back to the area, being “place based“, and using cluster mapping, an Agenda 2030 theme for regionalism. The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), in which The US Department of State and United Nations (UN) participates, is a cluster example. With no “political boundaries”, social capital will bring people together for quality of place. Using Tribes for energy makes sense as all Tribal land is held in federal trust, meaning the federal government holds title to that land, a way in which to expand this federal agenda. The Nature Conservancy also adds to federal land, selling conservation easements to the government for profit, land which can be used for renewable energy. Collectivism was also a theme during this panel discussion, working together for the benefit of all.
The Cultural Heritage and Tourism panel focused solely on Tribal tourism. Big business was talking here, not local culture. Once again “gateway” communities were mentioned. What they don’t tell you is how Tribal casinos as tourism spots have economically devastated rural towns that surround casinos, or that Tribes are given millions of dollars to build these tax free casinos. “Guided tours” are the solution to limit the environmental impact of tourism and manage bad behavior of tourists, and “having control” over tourists while “educating” them. This is all part of sustainable tourism.
Revealed in the Rural Food Security panel is the massive amount of money being spent in different US Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, working “collectively” to feed everyone, with the suggestion that government buildings could be used for food distribution. One clue to this agenda, “being hungry impacts the workforce readiness”.
In the Connecting Young People to Careers panel, the government and their partners are in charge of bringing predetermined career options for renewable energy workforce needs to children. This particular panel focused more on skilled trade education workforce needs, capturing those kids who don’t choose a college education. After all, someone has to build these projects that support the renewable energy workforce needs. Student entrepreneurial programs will educate kids on how to start businesses that will support this new workforce and transformed rural community.
The Future of Remote Work panel addressed the importance of remote work in rural areas. This is part of the “e-connectivity” scam by USDA. contained in a report to President Trump. The Utah Rural Online Initiative was used as an example of success. Panel members believe remote work is a way in which to alleviate poverty, especially for agriculture.
Lastly, the most disturbing and ominous was the Emerging Opportunities in Energy panel, which tied together the repetitive subjects for this aggressive RRW project. In the opening remarks, Mr. Ogsbury, WGA Executive Director, identified what is necessary in rural communities to support new technologies which includes infrastructure, an entrepreneurial “ecosystem”, and innovation in technology, all of which can “benefit” rural communities.
Melissa Fox, Program Director, Applied Energy Programs, spoke about carbon capture technology and redesigning power plants, current work that enables renewable energy, water treatment and wastewater, integrating renewable sources into the electrical grid, and rare earth extractions. Technology to enable current grids for renewable energy is also being explored while the DOE is looking at investing in energy. DOE information on energy investing isn’t available to citizens, however investing in coal, nuclear, wind, and solar is made available. Carbon capture and storage was seen as an opportunity for rural economies. She also mentioned the USDA and DOE signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Energy Technology Development and Deployment in Rural America.
Jeff Edwards, Executive Director, Utah Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Initiative, spoke about converting coal economies to advanced manufacturing, the use of robotics, creating coal to fiber programs, and using coal in ways besides burning for energy. He firmly believes it is possible to “convert coal mining workers into carbon fiber workers.” Is this another way to invest in and build workforce social capital? He also mentioned using cluster accelerator programs to advance the economy, joining the direction of Europe.
Greg Brophy, Colorado Director, The Western Way, spoke about renewable energy and its benefits, geothermal energy, and wind towers which generates money for landowners in rural communities. He also cited the importance of “on site” manufacturing for wind towers and how his “conservative” Rural Energy Network advances energy development in rural communities, as well as methane capture at dairies.
This whole RRW project is about “transition to renewables” in rural communities. Looking at the repetitive issues, it now all makes sense. It is also clear that it is implementing the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Workforce Development & Education – Building this new workforce requires access to higher education for the technology shift, and a skilled trade education for constructing and maintaining housing and community infrastructure. It is about “reskilling the workforce”, this is why you have STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, which comes out of the United Nations for their corporatism and technocracy agenda. These skills are needed for the RRW project that supports the rural transition to renewable energy objectives. Instead of kids sitting at the kitchen table talking with parents about what they want to do, this boxed education that is aligned with renewable energy workforce needs will be brought back for discussion. Both SDG 4 and 8 are met.
Healthcare – To support renewable energy workforce needs, rural communities need an upgraded, state of the art health system that keeps the workforce healthy. That is the reason for discussions on telemedicine, airports, and access to healthcare facilities. This achieves Agenda 2030 SDG 3.
Agriculture – Intended here is bringing technology to agriculture as the world needs to be fed, best accomplished through agronomic economies at an international level. A STEM education is vital for this objective. These objectives meet Agenda 2030 SDGs 1, 2, and 9.
Tourism – Since rural communities will be transformed with a new workforce and bringing people back to their rural community, entrepreneurial adventures are needed for building the necessary culture and arts for leisure time and encouraging designed tourism. This is also intended to encourage tourism from outside the area. Transforming tourism is found in SDG 8.9.1, 8.9.2, and 12.B.1 indicator.
Internet – It isn’t because internet is lacking in rural areas, it is that the current internet capacity isn’t sophisticated enough for their renewable transition agenda. More sophisticated internet infrastructure is needed to manage a remote workforce, agricultural machinery, communication with larger technological corporations, and to “expand the online marketplace nationwide, creating jobs and businesses opportunities across the country.”
Housing – Housing is needed for this new economy and workforce. It isn’t about the poor condition of current rural housing, it is about creating the housing necessary for their workforce goals, and perhaps even forcing housing to become renewable energy dependent. Governors have even discussed using disasters as an opportunity to bring in new infrastructure instead of replacing the existing infrastructure. This meets SDG target 11.1.
Wastewater & Waste management – More workforce, more need for upgraded water treatment and waste management facilities, with state of the art facilities that include conservation and reuse of water. SDG 6 objectives are met.
Transportation – Covered in the first workshop, transportation infrastructure is needed to revamp roads for safe “connections” between rural and urban areas, transport food to the world, and provide access to necessary products for the renewable industry. Transportation SDG 9 and sustainable communities SDG 11 are met.
It is all about collaboration now, governors between governors, governors with the federal government, governors with corporations…citizen representation no longer exists. This project has been developed, and already implemented, by the government with individuals and groups outside of your area. The direction has already been determined for your rural community. Partnerships are the essence of SDG 17.
Regionalism is a foundation of both Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030, it destroys the foundation of our Republic, and both state and the federal governments are partnering together to do it. “A cluster is a geographic concentration of related companies, organizations, and institutions in a particular field that can be present in a region, state, or nation. Clusters arise because they raise a company’s productivity, which is influenced by local assets and the presence of like firms, institutions, and infrastructure that surround it.” Clusters are used for regionalism. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), clusters are “considered as a means to promote the development of competitive industries and to facilitate local economic development”. The DOE uses cluster initiatives to Determine Strategic Clean Energy Direction, and federal energy clusters to support federal clean energy goals.
Regionalism is a concept that creates a board or commission of un-elected individuals and groups that make decisions about an area, transcending jurisdictional boundaries, there is no citizen representation. Every one of the panels referenced the need for regionalism, with decisions made on a regional level. If a rural community rejects the RRW project, what chance do they have in preventing it from coming in? Regional boards and commissions do not answer to citizens. They just execute their objectives and decisions on everyone.
The hypocrisy in all of this is that the federal government and governors have already implemented this “project”. Not only were panel members representative of success stories, but in Idaho there are examples of implementation. $11.5 million dollars from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is funding rural broadband in the Idaho Panhandle. While the FCC gives an obscure name as the funding source, Connect America Fund, it is actually a federal FCC fund. Though not called sustainable development goals, the FCC implements this through their “Universal Service” principle. Bringing “their” internet to rural communities meets SDG target 9.c.
For the advancement of entrepreneurial education, Idaho students participated in the You Lead Idaho competition, “giving kids from rural schools the chance to learn about business and innovation”, which meets SDG target 8.3.
The Lemhi County Economic Development (LCED) non-profit brings education to the citizens. This year, LCED attempted to bring a new school district into the area for higher education through the College of Eastern Idaho, but this was voted down by citizens because of it creating a new taxing district.
From these workshops there should be little doubt that resource extraction economies will never be allowed again, meeting SDG 15, keeping land protected. Whether you like or disagree with this or not, rural communities are being hijacked for the UN climate change agenda and meeting SDG 13.
For those who are thinking, this is great, rural areas will prosper, just remember, the government has destroyed rural economies only to bring in their solution, but the ability to destroy it once again will persist. What will stop them from dragging communities through their next hare-brained, lunatic, UN driven idea on how you should live? If allowed to do it once, they will do it again. This is socialism, “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods”, SDG 12. The government is taking control over the rural economy, production of food and energy, and distribution of both. That is the essence of Agenda 2030. Are any Idaho citizens willing to sacrifice their freedom to this diabolical project?
There is talk that our Republic is being destroyed, by all appearances from this RRW project, it is already destroyed. Government has a plan for us, in partnership with the UN, and executed without your involvement. Perhaps it is time to consider what our Founders advised, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such Government…”. If there is any government action that reflects we are living under Despotism, this RRW project meets that definition.
What more could be said in the next workshop to be held in Post Falls, December 3, where Governor Little will be the host. Perhaps citizens should attend. A draft copy of the agenda can be found here. Citizens should consider sharing these articles with their representatives, tell them what you think about the RRW project, the federal takeover of Idaho, and how their role as an elected representative has been abolished.
