The United Nations once again has its sights set directly at U.S. sovereignty, as it’s ramping up two broad-based efforts leveled directly at America’s internal governance.

For starters, U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon seeks to control U.S. carbon output and cripple the U.S. economy. And would you believe that the U.N. also seeks to play the role of parent, effectively removing parental rights here at home?

The U.N. has attempted to play the role of climate cop for over a decade, when it first lobbied for the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement that applied only to a few countries seeking to reduce carbon output. Now, Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon warns of apocalypse if the U.S. doesn’t follow suit. He exclaimed, “Water shortages will affect hundreds of millions of people. Malnutrition will engulf large parts of the developing world. Tensions will worsen. Social unrest – even violence – could follow.”

Secretary-General Ban went on to state that the world had less than ten years to halt the expansion of greenhouse gas emissions, or else there would be “catastrophic consequences.” Too bad, even the most aggressive bills in Congress do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.

On the heels of the Secretary General’s ‘sky is falling’ remarks, the U.S. House of Representatives last month narrowly passed legislation to impose a cap-and-tax carbon regulation scheme that will force utility prices to spiral upward. Even President Obama, who initially pledged that no family would see a tax hike if they made under $250,000, admits that utility rates “would necessarily skyrocket.”

The battle now lies in the Senate, where 40 Senators must stand up to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the U.N. to reject this international meddling.

Regarding the fundamental right of parents to raise their children, the U.N. has stepped in as well, seeking to vest child-rearing in a committee of 18 foreign “experts.”

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is moving swiftly through the U.N. and could be adopted by the U.S. Senate within months. The implications of adoption would be profound.

For example, the treaty would effectively create a binding rule of law in the U.S. and supplant traditional parental rights, with United Nations-approved child rearing methods. The law would alter the relation between Congress and the states by giving the federal government and the U.N. control over child welfare. In addition, the new regime would make it illegal for a child murderer (anyone under 18) to be sentenced to life in prison.

Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that parents have a fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit, to place their children in the school of their choice and to determine who has visitation rights.

Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court has already stated that minors may be subject to life in prison for certain heinous crimes. The new U.N. regime on parental rights would attempt to wrest power from traditional caretakers of children, most notably their parents, and hand it over to politicians in Washington and an international panel of “experts.”

The implications to U.S. sovereignty are profound, and thankfully some members of Congress are taking action. Over 100 members, led by Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), have sponsored a measure (http://www.parentalrights.org/) that would reassert parental rights and reject the notion that an international panel should determine what is in the best interests of children.

The U.N. has achieved a measure of success in joint peace-keeping efforts with the U.S. and other countries, but recent endeavors have pushed the line of the U.N.’s role as a world arbiter. Instead of acting as a conglomerate of nations, the U.N. now seeks to be just another tier of government. And, more government equals more taxes, more regulation and less freedom.

Americans have a hard time just fighting intrusions on personal freedom within U.S. borders. Trying to fight Uncle Sam and the United Nations may prove to be too much, but as recent events have demonstrated, there is plenty of fight left in taxpayers across the nation.