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June 24, 2023

Imagine, if you will (tip of the hat to Rod Serling), a small American town in the mid-South, located on the banks of a major river in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains.  Two major interstate highways pass through the town, making it the major north/south crossroads east of the Mississippi River.  Heavily industrialized after WWII, however, this town eventually had the “dirtiest air in the U.S.,” surpassing even Los Angeles for that dubious distinction.

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In the 80s and 90s, the powers-that-be decided to clean up this city and make it into an attractive tourist destination.  Using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, they gradually forced out the foundries and other heavy industries, ignoring the plight of those who lost jobs; after all, they were “saving the environment.”  And sure enough, tourism became a major part of its economy; a fresh-water aquarium was built (largely due to the influence of one of those powers-that-be), and a hugely successful annual music festival drew a hundred thousand music lovers each summer, exposing them to the delights of this town.

Being located in the Tennessee Valley, energy was cheap due to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s vast network of dams and two nuclear plants located nearby.  A successful business incubation center helped develop all manner of businesses, one of which was high-speed internet interests that resulted in the city being dubbed “GIG City,” for being the first city in the nation to have that high-speed internet capacity.  Which naturally attracted even more business.

This city is Chattanooga, Tennessee, my lifetime home until I retired two years ago to a small north Georgia town about thirty minutes south of the city, away from the increased traffic but still close to family, friends, church, etc.

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Politically, the rank-and-file voters tend towards conservative values (although there is a hefty, and growing, liberal segment).  So imagine my surprise the other day when I read that Chattanooga is one of the first two cities in the U.S. slated to become one of the World Economic Forum’s “15-minute cities.”  As you surely know, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is Klaus Schwab’s globalist fantasy, the realization of which means we peons will ‘own nothing, and be happy.”  In short, it’s Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, updated.

Before we discuss what a “15-minute city” actually is, though, some background: In 2006, Mayor Ron Littlefield set targets to reduce greenhouse gases.  In 2009 he created a Climate Action Plan and in 2012 issued an Executive Order to reduce energy, water, and waste by 2020.  The Chattanooga Tea Party circulated a petition to recall Littlefield in 2010, but a county judge ruled that the recall “failed to comply with state law,” so Littlefield was able to institute his climate agenda.

In 2015, the city published its first SMART City Plan, and in 2020 Chattanooga was selected by the WEF as one of two pioneer U.S. cities (San Jose, California is the other one) “in a global initiative to use broadband and data to plan and utilize energy, transportation, health care and communications in more sustainable and equitable ways.”

A WEF White Paper from 2021 emphasized the necessity of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing to process data quickly and efficiently.  Installing and implementing high-speed broadband is a foundational prerequisite for SMART cities.  Remember that “GIG City” nickname?  Well, in 2022, Chattanooga announced plans for the municipally owned utility (Electric Power Board) to launch “America’s first commercially available quantum network.”  

Now, about that 2023 Climate Action Plan: it seeks to reduce Chattanooga’s carbon footprint by 2050, and all solutions “will be implemented through an equity lens, so that all Chattanoogans… experience the benefits of a growing green economy and more sustainable city.”  Folks, when you see the terms “green” and “sustainable,” as attractive as they seem on the surface, they are simply camouflage for some truly nefarious plans, including for transportation, buildings and waste, green spaces and waterways and jobs. The plan includes “…’solutions’ for decarbonizing the transportation sector and increasing cleaner, greener transportation options,” including software and signal upgrades that allow for “real-time monitoring and communication capabilities.”  Keep that “monitoring and communication capabilities” in mind; more on that below.

These green warriors that now run the city say that “buildings are the number one contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Chattanooga,” and that the people who live and work in them cause unsustainable levels of waste that pollutes green spaces and waterways.