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May

Green Party Kicks Off PA Nomination Campaign

Getting Green Party candidates on the ballot will be extremely important this year in Pennsylvania because there will be vital issues which candidates from the two corporate parties will not touch. Clean water, public housing, rights during an eviction, reproductive rights, public transit, climate change, genocide, and neo-colonialism are all issues which will be addressed by Green Party candidates. Now is the time to get on the ballot candidates who have solutions for homelessness, mass incarceration, global wars, and rampant industrial pollution.

On April 3, the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) announced the kickoff for the 2024 nomination campaign. Nomination papers are now being distributed state-wide.

The GPPA nominated Dr. Jill Stein on March 10 to be their candidate for President of the U.S. She has the answers for the big questions facing the nation. Co-leader Alex Casper (Philadelphia) of the GPPA Green Wave Team, says, “Jill needs our help, and so do our PA Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidates. Please help Greens win in 2024 so that we can make big changes happen.”

“For the Green Party candidates to appear on the General Election ballot,” continued Casper, “we will have to gather nomination signatures from 10,000 registered voters. The Green Wave Team will be hosting petition trainings each Wednesday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Please check the GPPA Calendar, gpofpa.org/calendar, to RSVP for the next petition training.” Members may also email [email protected]   FULL STORY HERE

PA Green News

Edited by Chris Robinson

Pro-Palestinian Protesters in Scranton

(April 16, 2024) SCRANTON — More than 80 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered . . . during President Joe Biden’s event at the Scranton Cultural Center. Protesters also gathered outside Biden’s boyhood home in Green Ridge. Alec Walker-Serrano of Scranton said the protesters originally gathered at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel and walked downtown as a group. They chanted: “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” as well as, “Free Palestine” . . . .
Leila Hazou of Milford said she and several others traveled from Pike County to join the group. [Hazou is the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate.] She said her Palestinian ancestors were displaced from the area. Now, she hopes Christians, Muslims and Jews will be able to coexist in the Middle East. “I’m hoping for peace for everyone,” she said. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Activists Locked Out by PA Governor

by Doug Mason

Due to PA Gov. Josh Shapiro’s stance on climate change many environmentalists were enthusiastic supporters and promoted his 2022 campaign for PA Governor. Now it appears that they have been fooled. Shapiro claims that he has an open-door policy. When two dozen protesters from Pennsylvania Action on Climate (PAC) went to his office in Harrisburg on March 19, the door was locked and surrounded by a dozen capital police and state troopers. PAC had tried to set up a meeting both in person and online with the governor to no avail.

During this attempted office visit, three members of PAC were arrested on the floor of the Capitol building: Rev. Tim Seitz Brown, a Lutheran pastor from York; Rachel Neffshade, a Pittsburgh climate activist; and Doug Mason, chair of the Sierra Club Moshannon Group and of the Green Party of Centre County. 

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

GPOAC Official Supports U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (PA District 12)

Matt Nemeth, a working groups coordinator with Allegheny County’s Green Party, said that Lee stands out from other Democrats for her willingness to vocalize her constituency’s opposition to the [fracking] industry.  “There’s a big discrepancy between what the people want and what the government officials are doing,” Nemeth said. “One reason why I support [Lee] is she’s willing to stand up and call out the fracking industry.” 

The fossil fuel industry in western Pennsylvania works to pit environmental interests against jobs, Nemeth said, arguing that without fossil fuels and the industries, like steel making, that still depend on them, the region’s economy would suffer. “Something that is still really used as a wedge issue in terms of environmental protections and public health protections is this idea that we have to have this heavy, dirty industry even though it’s harming people . . . or else we aren’t going to be able to do jobs here,” Nemeth said. “Which is just complete hogwash.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Hydrogen Fuel will Cause a Worse Climate Disaster

By Rick Denzien (Montgomery County)

The Green Party Platform says, “Greens support research into advanced fuels when the purpose of the research is to develop a fuel that in its full cycle does not create more problems than it solves. We support the use of hydrogen as an energy storage medium; however we oppose the use of nuclear technologies or carbon-based feedstocks for hydrogen production.” The Green Party Communication Team asked a member of the Green Party of Montgomery County to explain why the Green Party does not support the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel.

The notion that hydrogen (H) can be produced for “clean” transportation is greenwashing pushed to the ridiculous. Hydrogen is the first element on the periodic table of elements and readily combines with many other elements including oxygen (O) in the air we breathe . . . .

Greenwashing by Fossil Fuel Companies
As the world increasingly shifts toward cleaner energy alternatives, fossil fuel companies are desperately trying to halt the downward spiral to stranded assets by attempting to rebrand themselves as environmentally responsible entities. Hydrogen, being touted as a green energy carrier, provides these companies with an opportunity for greenwashing – the practice of misleadingly portraying environmentally harmful activities as environmentally friendly.

Fossil fuel companies often invest in hydrogen projects, emphasizing their commitment to sustainability. However, the reality is that a significant portion of hydrogen production is derived from fossil fuels, perpetuating their reliance on non-renewable resources. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Campaign Updates

Edited by Chris Robinson

PA STATE-WIDE

The Green Party has endorsed for state-wide office:

Dr. Jill Stein for President of the U.S. and Samson L. Kpadenou for Vice President. You may volunteer for the Jill Stein 2024 Campaign right here, https://www.jillstein2024.com/volunteer You may donate to her campaign right here, https://www.jillstein2024.com/donate 

Leila Hazou for U.S. Senate

Leila Hazou tells GREEN STAR, “If elected, I will proudly defend human rights in Pennsylvania and around the world.” Leila owns a small business in Pike County.
We may follow Leila’s campaign on her website, https://www.leilaforsenate.com/;
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558366941475;
Tiktoc, https://www.tiktok.com/@leilaforsenate; and
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/leilaforsenate/
Please support Leila’s campaign for U.S. Senate with a contribution, https://www.leilaforsenate.com/donate 

Richard L. Weiss, Esq. for PA Attorney General. 

Richard Weiss tells GREEN STAR that his campaign issues will be, “Decriminalize and deschedule cannabis. Pursue wage theft. Stop the clearing of homeless camps unless an alternative is available. Decriminalize sex work. Pursue landlords to provide habitable conditions without retaliation. End pretextual traffic stops.”
We may follow Richard’s campaign on Twitter/X, https://twitter.com/RichardLWeiss  

Richard asks supporters to contribute to the GPPA, which may be done here, https://www.gpofpa.org/donate 

PA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Green Party has endorsed one candidate for the PA General Assembly:

Charles Sherrouse for PA House District 202.
We look forward to telling you more in the May GREEN STAR. 

Team Reports

Edited by Patrick O. McNally

Communication Team

The ComTeam has published five news releases during the first three months of 2024. This is the same number published during the first quarter of 2023. We will spread the word more frequently as soon as we can entice more members to engage. When you are ready to help, please email [email protected] or join the ComTeam. 

      Please join the Communication Team right here.
www.gpofpa.org/team_communications_join 

Finance Team

In an election year it’s critical that our state Green Party have the resources to put us on solid ground. Now is the time to join us and take part in our initiatives to get us there.

We are hosting an ongoing, online auction to which artists can make donations. Our auction page is now live and you can place your bids on our very first item, at https://www.gpofpa.org/auction. If you are an artist and would like to make a donation of your work to support the party, please send a picture of your item and your contact info to [email protected].  

The team also plans for internal fundraising, with phone banking to connect to fellow GP members. Additionally, renewed sales of GPPA merch will raise funds for and awareness of the party. Can you help us with merchandising? We are seeking a person who can focus on merch sales and distribution. We also seek two members who can represent the Finance Team and share updates on our activities in State Committee meetings. The next Finance Team meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 2, at 6:30 PM, via Zoom. Please contact [email protected] for more details and click the link below to join the Finance Team.

      Please join the Finance Team right here.
https://www.gpofpa.org/team_finance_join

Green Wave Team

To get Green Party candidates on the ballot in November we need to collect signatures of registered voters in the state. Our petitioning campaign is underway and you can help! Check https://www.gpofpa.org/calendar to join the Green Wave Team’s semi-weekly training sessions on how petitioning works and how to properly collect signatures. Those petitioners who have already been gathering signatures should note that we released an updated petition form which corrected a misspelling and added Leila Hazou as our candidate for U.S. Senator. Earlier versions of the petition which have already been completed should still be submitted to the designated county petitioning contacts, or directly to Alex Casper (for the eastern part of the state) or Theron Gilliland, Jr. (for the western half of the state). For petitioning going forward, please use our updated form. The semi-weekly Green Wave meetings will also share updated tallies of the signatures collected. We need at least 10,000 signatures by August, so join the effort today!

Please join the Green Wave Team right here.
www.gpofpa.org/team_greenwave_join 

Global Green News

Edited by Hal Brown

The Green Party of Venezuela Ratifies Candidacy of Nicolas Maduro Moros

The representatives of the Green Party, during their meeting, designed a work and deployment agenda for the coming months . . . . “As part of the first expanded meeting of the national working group, we ratify our support for the candidacy of Nicolas Maduro, in the elections of July 28, 2024, after a process of municipal and regional meetings of our political organization which reaffirmed the decision adopted during our founding Congress,” declared Heryck Rangel, national coordinator... READ THE FULL STORY HERE

British Columbia Green Party Proposes Four-Day Work Week

The British Columbia Green Party has proposed a four-day workweek pilot program in an effort to promote work-life balance and increase productivity . . . . The program would reduce the standard workweek from five days to four, while still maintaining the same number of working hours. According to the BC Green Party, the four-day workweek pilot program could have numerous benefits, including increased productivity and reduced stress levels for workers. The proposal also aims to reduce commuting time and costs, and provide more time for workers to engage in activities outside of work.  READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Intolerable Police violence in France

Images of protesters lined up against a wall or police refusing to pull a baby out of a trap are extremely shocking. On Saturday, March 11, a student from Lycée Colbert in . . . Paris ended her demonstration at the hospital after receiving a disencirclement grenade in the face. In Nantes, four students filed a complaint for “sexual violence by public authority” after being subjected to a body search during a police trap on March 14.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Ecological Green Party of Mexico Defends Right to Health and Work with Autism Spectrum Disorders

On the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day, the national leader of the Mexican Green Ecologist Party, Karen Castrejón, took the opportunity to draw attention . . . to the importance of raising awareness in society about characteristics and needs of people living with this illness, in order to remove the boundaries that limit their development and integration into the work environment . . . . “In the Green Party, we have the firm conviction of working so that Mexico moves forward without leaving anyone behind. We have presented initiatives in this regard and currently one of our campaign proposals aims to generate decent jobs for people with disabilities, with benefits such as exemption from taxes and employer social security contributions, for the companies that hire them,” detailed the national leader of this political party.  READ THE FULL STORY HERE

GPPA Meeting Date for 2024

All State Web Conferences will begin promptly at noon.

Sunday, June 9, via Zoom
Sunday, September 22, location to be announced
Sunday, November 10, via Zoom

GPPA Communications Team
Issue Credits

Editors: Hal Brown, Patrick O. McNally, David Ochmanowicz, Jr. and Chris Robinson

Contributors: Alex Casper, Rick Denzien, Theron Gilliland Jr, Liela Hazou, Jeff “J.J.” Kondrich, Doug Mason, Matt Nemeth, Chris Robinson and Richard L. Weiss Esq.

Layout: Hal Brown, Sherri Miller, and David Ochmanowicz Jr.

Graphic Arts: Kevin Richardson

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 The GREEN STAR is an official publication of the Green Party of Pennsylvania Communications Team * 2024.

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https://www.gpofpa.org/