GREEN PARTY PLATFORM
Proposed Revisions and Amendments
Part II, PRA 32 to 61


PRA-32 RE Community Involvement

The Green Party supports "community radio", particularly those rulemaking petitions before the F.C.C., which allow for a new service of small, locally-owned FM stations. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-33 RE Land Use Planning

[note that bracketed language is proposed to be added to the current Platform ] (parenthesis indicates language has been deleted or edited)

Greens are advocates for the Earth. All the rivers, lakes, [landscapes, forests,] and wildlife. This is our birthright and our home - the green Earth.

When we see the first picture ever taken of our green oasis from space, photographed from the window of the Apollo flight, we marvel at the preciousness of life.

We remember John Muir's and Edward Abbey's call to protect what is critical to our spirit Experiencing the wilderness calls us to preserve pristine nature We are advocates for our home. Our advocacy is based on our love of nature and our recognition that it is beyond us.

(Greens look to the future and support "conservative" conservation practices as well as "liberal" approaches and programs, both having a place as long as good land stewardship is in evidence.) Greens take a BIOREGIONAL VIEW of the ecosystem, acknowledging political boundaries while noting that the land, air and water, the interconnected biosphere, is a unique and precious "community", deserving careful consideration and protection. (We encourage social ownership and use of land at the community, local and regional level, particularly in the form of community and conservation land trusts, under covenants of ecological responsibility.) [We feel that, just as the planetary ecology consists of nested systems at various scales, so must our programs and institutions of ecological stewardship be scaled appropriately.]

[Guided by our sense of stewardship, we feel that all land use polices, plans, and practices should be based on sustainable development and production, the reduce-reuse-recycle ethic, and the encouragement of balance between optimum and diverse use of land. They must recognize the natural character of the land, for example, fertile soil, wetland, aquifer recharge area, and critical habitat, the intrinsic value of Nature in and of itself, and the assurance of social justice in the formation and implementation of land use policy. We believe that planning and implementation of land use policy at all levels-local, regional, and multiregional-should occur through democratic, participatory public processes.]

[ 1. Land Ownership and Property Rights]

[America has a long and deeply rooted tradition of property ownership by individuals and families. Greens affirm the right of individuals and families to hold title to land, with the corresponding responsibility of ecological stewardship. We distinguish between individual and family rights of property and rights granted to corporations. Greens believe strongly that community rights ultimately supersede property rights claimed by corporations. ]

[Wealth in land created by the community should support the community, while recognizing the legitimate right of individuals to retain the wealth in land created by direct investment. We believe in strongly discouraging and eventually eliminating land speculation, that is, the purchase of land to sell in the future for profit at the expense of the community or the environment.] *

(We encourage the social ownership and use of land at the community, local, and regional level, for example in the form of community and conservation land trusts, under covenants of ecological responsibility.)

[2. Communities and Urbanism]

[Greens find inspiration in building healthy, livable communities. Communities must be designed or redesigned so that they are built with energy efficiency in mind, on a human scale, with integrated land uses. Such integrated land uses should provide, for example, ready access between home and work, and to schools, a local supply of food, shopping, worship, medical care, recreation and natural areas. Integrated land use should also de-emphasize individual motorized transport and place more emphasis on ecologically responsible mass transit, bicycling, and the pedestrian.]

[We promote urban design and architecture that does not alienate, but fulfills, the spirit and that is compatible with human, social, artistic, and environmental values. Greens support the concepts advanced by the NEW URBANISM movement. As there is much to learn about human-scale development and neighborly social interaction from historical patterns of urbanism, we support historic preservation.]

[Recreational opportunities are the beginning of lifelong appreciation of our natural environment. We should all have opportunities to experience nature firsthand.] The "call of the wild" is in all of us. Outdoor recreation, sports, hiking, adventuring, educational programs for children, nature study - these are essential to the wholeness of life.

[3. Land Use Planning

[It is imperative that we as a nation find a means to CONTROL URBAN SPraWL. The ecological, social, and fiscal crises engendered by sprawl are becoming ever-more apparent Greens enthusiastically endorse the Metropolitics movement, which seeks to control sprawl by integrating such measures as urban growth boundaries, tax base sharing, fair housing, and metropolitan transportation. Urban areas can be revitalized through "brownfields" redevelopment although standards for the clean up of contaminated sites must not be lowered. Rural areas and farmland should be preserved, through such measures as purchase of development rights.]

[WATERSBED PLANNING should be undertaken to mitigate the impacts of urban development on our streams, rivers, and lakes. Storm water management, soil erosion and sedimentation control, the establishment of vegetative buffers, and performance standards for development are appropriate measures in this area.] Special attention must be given to the restoration and protection of riparian areas, which are critical habitats in healthy ecosystems.

4. Natural Resource Management Greens believe that effective land and resource management practices must be founded on stewardship, such as incorporated in a "land ethic" as articulated by Aldo Leopold.

[Stringent natural resource management should serve to prevent activities that adversely affect public and adjacent lands. For example, mining operations and oil and gas extraction cannot be permitted to cause water pollution and timber cutting cannot be allowed to destroy habitat and streams, while producing severe soil erosion.]

We call for repeal of the "Mining Act of 1872". We demand a halt to federal mineral, oil and gas, and resource giveaways, "royalty holidays", and flagrant concessions to the mining, energy and timber industries; and an immediate crackdown on their evasions and reporting fraud draining billions of dollars annually from the public treasury.

We call for strict CLEAN-UP ENFORCEMENT of industrial-scale natural resource extraction activities, for example, of tailings, pits and run-off from mining operations via agreement with companies that can include posting of site-restoration bonds prior to commencement of operations. The regional long-term environmental and social impacts of any resource extractions should be minimized, and the land restored to a healthy ecological state.

We call for a halt to all current international funding policies that promote destruction of forest ecosystems and we call for an end to the trade in endangered hardwoods. We support laws that promote paper recycling and mandate SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY practices. We urge protection of "old growth" forests, careful restrictions of commercial cutting on federal and state lands, a ban on all clear-cutting, and a reduction of road building on public lands. We are sensitive to the needs of local and rural communities and do not endorse overly restrictive or punitive restrictions on local logging. We support restoration of degraded forest ecosystems through the development of "value-added" economies, second-growth logging, and certified wood products.

We advocate raising grazing fees on public land to approximate fair market value and encourage GraZING REFORM that brings together traditional users and concerned local citizens in new working relationships. We support policies that favor small scale ranchers over corporate operations (which are often used as tax write-offs, a practice which undermines family ranches.) Eliminating large corporate allotments will ensure more sustainable levels of grazing, benefiting the land and community.

[We must promote the preservation and extension of wildlife habitat and biological diversity by creating and preserving large continuous tracts of open space (complete ecosystems so as to permit healthy, self-managing wildlife populations to exist in a natural state.] We oppose any selling off of our National Parks, the commercial "privatizing" of public lands; and/or cutbacks or exploitation in our national wilderness areas.

Public involvement in decision making via active and well-funded RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS and COUNCILS will aid a long-term process on the use of federal and state trust lands which are currently controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forest Service, National Park Service, and State Land Offices.

We support state bans on [the renamed] ANIMAL DAMAGE CONTROL (ADC), the federal agency that has been killing wildlife indiscriminately in the West since 1931. We urge comprehensive, base-line mapping of our nation's biodiversity resources; consideration of "wildlife ranching" and policies that desirably increase native big-game populations. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-34 RE Energy Policy

Extensive "conservation" measures will bring huge resource savings for both the economy and the environment. Conservation, along with energy efficiency and renewables is an essential part of an effective energy policy. The Greens call for pervasive efforts on the energy conservation front.

On a related front, Greens support enacting mandatory carbon reduction measures and setting the bar for carbon emissions at a percentage well below the best appropriate technology. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-35 RE Trade

The Tobin tax, named for the Canadian economist who first proposed it, calls for a small sales tax on cross border currency transactions. The purpose is to suppress market volume and volatility and help restore national sovereignty over monetary policy. In view of the growing disparity between the rich and poor in the US and the world, and in light of the negative impacts of monetary speculation in the "Asian crisis" of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Russia, as well as similar crises in Brazil, Mexico and many other countries in the late 90's, the Green Party urges that state and international governments work together to impose an effective form of Tobin tax.

In the last ten years international money changing has grown in volume from $200 billion to $1.8 trillion daily with dangerous consequences for countries caught in a speculative rip tide. Even a small tax of .01%-.05% would cool the speculative fever and raise between $75-$250 billion dollars annually. While reigning in grievous financial abuses, the Tobin tax receipts could be devoted to reducing world poverty, funding international peacekeeping, and attacking environmental problems. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-36 RE Civil Rights

Recently proposed bills that encroach on civil liberties, such as the Crime Bill of '96 and the Terrorist Bill of '97, as well as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which circumvents the 4th Amendment and opens the door for CIA to spy domestically on US Citizens, are of special concern to the Green Party. The Bill of Rights must remain a fundamental touchstone in defense of our civil rights. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-37 RE Foreign Policy

The War Powers Act is unconstitutional. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-38 RE Political Reform

Political profiles of all candidates for office (that will reduce need to advertise on TV) should become a regular part of all campaigns. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-39 RE Political Participation

Under "B Political Participation" paragraphs 5&6 [below] add nothing substantive; delete. >Individual participation in the life of our local community - in community projects and through personal, >meaningful, voluntary activity - is also political and vital to the health of community.

>We support citizen involvement at all levels of the decision-making process and hold that DIRECT ACTION >can be an effective tool where peaceful democratic activism is appropriate. We support the right to non->violent direct action that supports green values. Greens believe in building community as a personal step each >of us takes in our own way. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-40 RE Community

Add "neighborhood schools" under "A Children's Agenda" [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-41 RE Education

Delete "restoring community is central to expanded opportunity". [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-42 RE Education

The use of computers in the early grades should be carefully considered, given the need to develop basic skills, perceptual and motor skills as a foundation for learning. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-43 RE Education

Dispute resolution is an important part of resolving classroom or after-school disputes, and a life skill that all children should learn. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-44 RE Health Care

Delete the first paragraph. >Fundamental reform of our nation's health care system is necessary to provide affordable, quality and >accessible health care for all Americans. Currently, we are the only industrialized country without a >national health care system. Unfortunately we have a private insurance system that insures only the >healthiest people, systematically denying coverage to individuals with "pre-existing" conditions and >routinely terminating coverage to those who become ill. The bad faith of the health insurance industry >remains a scandal - and recent Congressional action dealing with "portability" (coverage carrying over >from job to job) and pre-existing conditions (preventing arbitrary denial of insurance) only begin to >address the seriousness of our health care crisis. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-45 RE Criminal Justice

Insert "Alternative Sentencing for non-violent crimes." [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-46 RE Criminal Justice

G.E.D. and college courses and dispute resolution and/or mediation should be available in all prisons. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-47 RE Criminal Justice

Professional qualifications are critical to determining judicial competence. In general, we oppose the popular election of judges where elections based on money and influence becomes more important than demonstrated skills and quality of jurisprudence. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-48 RE Tax Justice/Fairness

Delete second paragraph >We call for SYSTEM-WIDE TAX REFORM that acts to simplify the tax system. We call for a tax policy that >moves to eliminate loopholes and other exemptions that favor powerful interests over TAX JUSTICE. Small >business, in particular, should not be penalized by a tax system which benefits those who can "work" the >legislative tax committees for breaks and subsidies. We support substantive and wide-ranging reform of the >tax system that helps create jobs, economic efficiencies and innovation within the small business community. >We believe fiscal and tax policies should confront and end destructive large "corporate welfare" and subsidies. >Smaller businesses are America's great strength - Greens believe government should have a tax policy which >encourages small- and socially responsible business. Where corporations act with corporate citizenship, that is, >with "fiduciary responsibility" that includes the interests of their community and employees, as well as >shareholders, we support appropriate tax incentives. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-49 RE Economic Justice - Social Welfare

It is crucial that mothers of young children have the choice to stay home in the early years. The tying of this choice and children's well being to women's personal relationship to individual men has been one of the most obscene aspects of the welfare "debate" and the "family values" lobby.

My strong belief is that "Guaranteed Income" must recognize the importance of mothering, of care giving to the young and the needy. The minimum income must be at (or above) the poverty level. In addition, the poverty level must be calculated with realistic factors, to bring it to the actual poverty level.

Guaranteed income should not be called "supplemental" income, for the above reasons. This implies that a guaranteed income is a "handout", when we need to come to an understanding that it is an inherent right.

Different names have been used over the years. Guaranteed Income is the most common. Guaranteed Adequate Income. Guaranteed Annual Income. Guaranteed Minimum Income or simply Guaranteed Income, which has been traditionally used by its main advocates, welfare rights groups

Instead of hundreds of billions a year going to corporate welfare, it is time to pay attention to children's welfare. The Greens support "children and mothers first". [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-50 RE Criminal Justice

The Green Party abhors punitive discrimination in any form, and thus condemns the practice of those law enforcement agencies in the country which are guilty of discriminatory "racial profiling," stopping motorists, harassing individuals, or using unwarranted violence against suspects with no other justification than race or ethnic background.

We also favor strong measures to combat official racism in the forms of police brutality and racial profiling directed against people of color. We agree with groups such as Amnesty International, which has recently said that police brutality has reached epidemic levels in the United States and we call for effective monitoring of police agencies to eliminate police brutality and racial profiling. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-51 Civil Rights

As Greens, we uphold the key value of respect for diversity. We recognize that the development of the United States has been marked by conflict over questions of race. Just as we acknowledge that our Nation was formed only after Native Americans were first displaced, we also acknowledge that the institution of slavery had as its underpinnings the ideology and practice of white supremacy, which we as Greens condemn. We know that, in slavery's aftermath, discrimination and racial violence against people of color continues to be a social problem of paramount significance, even today. We condemn discrimination and violence against anyone but also recognize that people of color have borne the brunt of racial violence and discrimination throughout the history of the United States.

Therefore, we call for an end to official support for any remaining badges and indicia of slavery and specifically call for the immediate removal of the Confederate battle flag from any and all government buildings because we recognize that, to many, this remains a painful reminder of second class status on the basis of race.

In addition, we support efforts to overcome the aftereffects of over two hundred years of discrimination and, hence, support affirmative action. Furthermore, we recognize that people of color have legitimate claims in this country to reparations in the form of monetary compensation for these centuries of discrimination. We also uphold the right of the descendants of the African slaves to self-determination, as we do for all indigenous peoples. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-52 RE Health Care

We support scientifically proven policies for intervening in public health problems such as substance abuse and addiction, and will work to promote safer, less discriminatory and more humane programs that will reduce the harmful effects of these diseases. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-53 RE Health Care

We oppose the arrest, harassment or prosecution of anyone involved in any aspect of the production, cultivation, transportation, distribution or consumption of medicinal marijuana. We also oppose the harassment, prosecution or revocation of license of any health-care provider who gives a recommendation or prescription for medicinal marijuana. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-54 RE Corporate Accountability

Subsidies, export incentives, tax loopholes and tax shelters that benefit large corporations now amount to hundreds of billions of dollars each year and must be cut to the bone. The high price of corporate welfare corrupts the political process by encouraging the exchange of political favors for campaign donations. While corporate tax breaks are ultimately paid for by higher taxes on the middle class, they distort the rules of the marketplace and seldom serve a larger public purpose. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-55 RE Education

In an economy that demands higher skills and in a democracy that depends on an informed and educated electorate, the opportunities for universal higher education and life-long learning must be vastly expanded. Student-loans should be available to all students attending college, and they should be repayable as a proportion of future earnings, rather than at a fixed rate. On the same terms, individualized training accounts should be made available to students who choose to pursue vocational and continuing education. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-56 RE Waste Management

Environmental justice demands that poor communities, minority and under-represented communities not bear an unfair burden when it comes to disposal of toxic wastes. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-57 RE Waste Management

The environmental problems associated with the personal computer and electronics industry are growing worse. The Green Party believes that these environmental issues must be identified and addressed: 1) Pollution. The manufacture of computer chips, computers and peripherals involves a host of chemicals that end up in our water, air, and landfills. Cleanup is a major cost, an 'externality' that must be addressed. Health costs associated with the use of computers and electronic devices are not insignificant and range of work-related injuries and illnesses. At work, at home and on the road the digital era is ubiquitous. The shift mandated by the FCC from analog to digital communications systems (including HDTV), as just one example, will produce tens of millions of out-of-date televisions and monitors over the next decade. The chemicals in these devices are dangerous and should not be allowed to simply be deposited in land fills or disposed of in a way that will produce long-term health damaging and adverse environmental effects 2) Power. Energy bills associated with the electronics industry are rising and alternative sources of power are needed. Cleaner, cheaper 'green' energy has to become a universal goal. 3) Paper consumption. The demand for printing paper puts pressure on dwindling forests. Clear cutting continues with all the attendant environmental damage. The pollution caused by mills is considerable, and the production of white paper is particularly damaging. Alternative paper stock, and recycled papers, should become the norm. 4) Packaging. The excessive amounts of plastic, cardboard and Styrofoam many manufacturers use to package computers and software are an increasing problem. These non-biodegradable materials contribute layers to landfills. It's time to have a complete makeover of the electronics packaging industry. 5) Recycling. All the materials associated with the personal computer and electronics industry must be identified as recyclable and recycled wherever possible as part of a closed-loop system. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-58 RE Land Use

(from the Platcom; note need to conform language) Suggested comments for changes [in brackets] to the Land Use section of the Green Platfom:

H. LAND USE

We remember John Muir's and Edward Abbey's call to protect what is critical to our spirit. Experiencing the wilderness calls us to preserve pristine nature. We are advocates for our home. Our advocacy is based on our love of nature and our recognition that it is beyond us.

[Unfortunately, there is no longer "pristine nature" on planet Earth. Pollution pervades all parts of our globe's surface now. Also, the Wilderness Act does not require that designated Wilderness areas be "pristine." As Dave Foreman notes in the Summer 1999 issue of "Wild Earth," "For example, there is no requirement that candidate Wilderness Areas have to be roadless or unlogged, but Section 4(c) holds that they must be managed as roadless after they are placed in the National Wilderness Preservation System. In other words, existing roads must be closed and no further commercial logging allowed after designation of an area as Wilderness. There are many cases of once-roaded or earlier-logged areas in the National Wilderness Preservation System--including some of the classic big Wilderness Areas in the West. By clearly wording what wilderness means and what the Wilderness Act says, many misunderstandings about wilderness should melt away." We unwittingly exclude areas that should be designated protected Wilderness if we use terms like "pristine." So please change this passage accordingly, changing "pristine nature" to, perhaps, ("natural areas.")]

1. Greens look to the future and support "conservative" conservation practices as well as "liberal" approaches and programs, both having a place as long as good land stewardship is in evidence.

[I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. "Liberal" and "conservative" don't apply well to conservation issues. I'd drop this sentence altogether.]

2. We take a BIOREGIONAL VIEW of the ecosystem, acknowledging political boundaries while noting that the land, air and water, the interconnected biosphere, is a unique and precious "community", deserving careful consideration and protection.

[I suggest adding "Greens support restructuring institutions to conform to bioregional realities." At least we used to in the late 1980s.]

5. We call for repeal of the "Mining Act of 1872". We demand a halt to federal mineral, oil and gas, and resource give-aways, "royalty holidays", and flagrant concessions to the mining, energy and timber industries; and an immediate crackdown on their evasions and reporting fraud draining billions of dollars annually from the public treasury.

[I'm not sure what the "evasions and reporting fraud draining billions" refers to.]

9. We support laws that promote paper recycling and mandate SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY practices.

["Sustainable forestry practices" is a vague term, used all sorts of ways. Unless you define what it means, I'd drop the term from the sentence.]

10. We urge protection of "old growth" forests, careful restrictions of commercial cutting on federal and state lands, a ban on all clearcutting, and a reduction of road building on public lands.

[Can't we be at least as strong as the Sierra Club and call for No Commercial Logging, or better yet No Commercial Extraction from public lands and manage them for ecological restoration instead? Commercial considerations have driven the management that has wrecked the national forests, and will continue to do so as long as they are in the equation. We should call for no more road building in roadless areas (I think that's what you're trying to get at) and removal of eroding and obsolete roads to protect water quality and wildlife habitat and improve recreational conditions for non-motorized users. You might even want to say something about the aesthetic and spiritual value of natural areas. Moses and John the Baptist went to the wilderness for inspiration, not to the off-road-vehicle area!]

11. We are sensitive to the needs of local and rural communities and do not endorse overly restrictive or punitive restrictions on local logging.

[What does this mean? Extremely vague. Living in a "conservative" rural area heavily influenced by extractive interests, I can guarantee you that even the Forest Service's new roadless areas protection plan is seen by many as "overly restrictive or punitive restrictions on local logging." I suggest you drop this altogether and replace it with something like economic support for communities and individuals affected by the end of commercial logging on public lands. Destruction of our national forests ecosystems should not be used as an economic support for local communities.]

12. We support restoration of degraded forest ecosystems through the development of "value-added" economies, second-growth logging, and certified wood products.

[The idea of logging for the "restoration of degraded forest ecosystems" comes from the timber industry! There does need to be some thinning of brush and small trees from below the canopy in some western forests that have been damaged by fire suppression, grazing, and big tree logging, but that is not commercial logging because it will not pay for itself.]

13. We advocate raising grazing fees on public land to approximate fair market value and encourage GRAZING REFORM that brings together traditional users and concerned local citizens in new working relationships.

[We should phase out grazing on public land and manage public land for ecological restoration.]

14. We support policies that favor small-scale ranchers over corporate operations (which are often used as tax write-offs, a practice which undermines family ranches.) Eliminating large corporate allotments will ensure more sustainable levels of grazing, benefiting the land and community.

[Is this referring to public lands grazing allotments? If so, drop the point altogether in favor of phasing out public lands ranching.]

17. We support state bans on ANIMAL DAMAGE CONTROL (ADC), the federal agency that has been killing wildlife indiscriminately in the West since 1931.

[Why not just say we support the abolition of ADC (now renamed Wildlife Services!)?]

[recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-59 Nuclear Issues/Foreign Policy

The Green Party, recognizing the need for de-escalating the arms race which continues unabated in spite of the end of the 'Cold War", strongly opposes putting nuclear weapons, lasers and other weapons in space in a new militarization policy that is in clear violation of international law. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-60 Political Reform

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: Recognizing the need and public demand for bold and comprehensive electoral reforms, [the Green Party of Tennessee proposes changing the current platform proposal's call for further limits on campaign contributions to] we support for a system of full public financing for all federal elections and a ban on all "soft" money contributions to political parties by corporations, labor unions and other non-voting entities. [note previous proposed electoral reform proposals] [recommend] [not recommend] [return]

PRA-61 Education

METRIC SYSTEM: Recognizing that the United States lags behind the rest of the world in the adoption of the metric system, and further recognizing that the world's various Green Parties are able to take a larger view of seemingly small issues by virtue of their global connections, the Green Party urges Congress to enact legislation to speed the adoption of the metric system in the United States and to stimulate the education of schoolchildren and business leaders on the metric system itself. [recommend] [not recommend] [return]



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