Environment
Eco ’92: Launchpad for Global Government

Vol. 39, No. 01

01/16/2023

Eco ’92: Launchpad for Global Government

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit propelled UN initiatives on global warming, biodiversity, and Agenda 21 into the threats they now pose to freedom worldwide. ...

William F. Jasper

This article first appeared in the July 13, 1992 issue of The New American.

Environmental militants are moaning that the Earth Summit was sabotaged by President [George H.W.] Bush’s election-year politicking and a sellout to U.S. industrial interests. Republican stalwarts, meanwhile, are painting the results of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) as a victory for the United States and for Mr. Bush, who stood firm for American economic interests against hostile world opinion.

The significance of the summit, hailed as history’s largest gathering of world leaders, will not become known for months, perhaps years. No one has yet had a chance to read, let alone digest, all the fine print in the voluminous agreements and documents hammered out during the two fractious weeks of negotiations in Rio de Janeiro. One thing is certain: They will be sources of much future argument, negotiation, lobbying, and legislation. As Maurice Strong, executive secretary of the conference, said, “This is a launching pad, not a quick fix.” Without any doubt, more than a few of the summit’s “accomplishments” will be around to haunt, harass, and increasingly trouble us in the years ahead, including:

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