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In 1955, then Soviet Premier, Nikita Krushchev ordered April 22nd be designated a day to celebrate Communism. In 1970, it was chosen to be Earth Day by Gaylord Nelson, one of the founders of the event. Those founders had 365 days from which to choose. They chose Lenin's birthday.

When Communism was imposed on Russia in 1917, the first thing it did was to outlaw the ownership of private property. Under Communism, the State owns all property and all natural resources. In recent years in the United States, the Clinton-Gore Administration has declared millions of acres of mineral and oil-rich areas to be national monuments. The U.S.government already owns more than forty percent of the nation's landmass. Individual States own property as well, bringing the total closer to fifty percent. There are measures in Congress right now that would provide a dedicated stream of funding to insure that States will purchase still more property to put off limits to any use or development. The keystone of Capitalism is the ownership of private property. The Founding Fathers felt so strongly about this the Fifth Amendment protects this right, stating that no private property shall be taken for public use without just compensation. Across the nation, however, the government has effectively "taken" private property through such devices as the Endangered Species Act that denies the use of any property on which a listed species is found. Owners of such properties effectively lose them to government control. Wetlands legislation has a similar effect on owners of private property, denying them the use of their property if it is designated a wetland. These are environmental laws.

The similarities between the philosophy and programs advocated by the Greens and totalitarian forms of government are numerous. What better way to undermine the economy of this nation than to deny its citizens the benefits of its natural resources? Even access and use of national parks is being increasingly restricted.

Today, fully a third of all federal laws and regulations are devoted to the so-called "protection of the environment." They impact property ownership and the use of all energy sources. Vast areas of the U.S., despite known, huge reserves of oil and coal, have been put off limits. Virtually no structure can be built without an environmental impact study being undertaken. Right now, there are Administration efforts to destroy dams providing hydroelectric power in the northwest, ostensibly to save salmon. In countless ways, so-called environmental laws impact our lives, even down to the amount of water one can use to flush a toilet!

Leading voices for environmental and related causes express views comparable to the Communist philosophy of total government control. In his book, "Earth in the Balance," Vice President Al Gore, Jr., has written that "Adopting a central organizing principle means embarking on an all-out effort to use every policy and program, every law and institution, every treaty and alliance, every tactic and strategy, every plan and course of action to use, in short, every means to halt the destruction of the environment." He has called for "a wrenching transformation of society" to achieve this goal of total centralized government control, the hallmark of the former Soviet system.

It is the same reason Americans are continually portrayed as materialistic capitalists who rape the earth, steal its riches, and are the cause of environmental problems around the world. Despite this, Americans remain largely unaware of the true goals of environmentalism while their school's textbooks are filled with Green propaganda, and their churches are infiltrated by Greens seeking to substitute earth worship to replace traditional Judeo-Christian values. U.S. entertainment and news media repeat and reinforce the Green message, and America's elected leaders, many of whom are members of the Progressive Caucus, an instrument of the Democratic Socialists of America, advance laws to achieve the goals of the Green movement.

This is why Earth Day is Lenin's birthday. It is no coincidence. It is a tribute to the ruthless founder of Soviet Communism and his goals are being fulfilled today in the guise of saving the earth from farmers, ranchers, mining, timber, oil, and chemical companies. From "urban sprawl." In short, any enterprise that seeks to utilize the earth's enormous bounty to enhance, enrich, and extend the lives of Americans and others worldwide.

Alan Caruba, a veteran business and science writer, is the founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns designed to influence public opinion and policy. He is a regular contributor to Ether Zone.

The Center maintains an Internet site at www.anxietycenter.com.

Alan Caruba
National Anxiety Center

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