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Friend --
Working toward a future where
people and planet are valued, and our government represents all
of us.
September
2022
On Monday, August 1, the Green Party of
Pennsylvania (GPPA, https://www.gpofpa.org/)
filed more than 500 petitions containing thousands of signatures from
registered voters from across the state to qualify five candidates for
ballot access in the November 2022 general election. This will put
critical issues like fracking, climate change, healthcare, criminal
justice modernization, corruption in government, and voting reforms on
the ballot, giving voters a starkly different political vision than
offered by Republicans and Democrats.
The Green Party candidates include
Christina "PK" DiGiulio for PA Governor, Michael Bagdes-Canning for PA
Lieutenant Governor, Richard L. Weiss for U.S. Senator, Jay Ting
Walker for PA Representative District 23, and Queonia "Zarah"
Livingston for PA Representative District 32.
These Green Party candidates call for a
statewide ban on fracking; a just transition for workers and families
to a renewable energy green economy to address climate change; a
single-payer healthcare system that protects and expands abortion
rights; decriminalization of cannabis and an end to cash bail; a gift
ban to address legislative corruption; ranked choice voting and
proportional representation for fair elections that end gerrymandering
and better reflect constituencies; and more. Read the complete release
here.
More information about the candidates and
the full GPPA platform is available at https://www.greenslate2022.com/
PA Green News
By Chris
Robinson
PA Green Party Calls for Community Based
Economics
By Treasurer Joseph U. Murray,
Green Party of Berks County
Housing, food and utilities are the
basics for a human life. Yet in a nation with a $25 trillion economy,
homelessness, hunger and poverty are steadily increasing as a recent
letter from Habitat for Humanity stated: “17% of children in your home
state of PA are living in poverty . . . . Secure housing provides a
pathway to financial stability, safety for children and a healthy
environment in which whole families can thrive.”
I paraphrased Habitat’s letter. They
referred to home ownership, but the same applies to safe, affordable
decent rental housing. The Green Party Platform warns, “State
governments continue to weaken or preempt local rent control laws,
while landlords who violate housing code requirements by failing to
keep their property in habitable condition, are often tolerated or
given lenient penalties. Housing discrimination also remains rampant
against people of color, immigrants, disabled, single people, gays and
lesbians, and families with children . . . .”
Behind this lies record profits for the
oil and gas industries and cash flows for the private equity firms
that snapped up foreclosed homes after the Wall Street-caused
financial crash of 2008. Since that time those same financial
corporations have been buying rental housing from small landlords in
hot markets and jacking up rents while evicting rent-subsidized
tenants to maximize investment returns . . . .
This system is fully supported by the
Democratic and Republican Parties which are the political franchise of
the Wall Street powers. They will tell you it’s the best system for
the majority and those who don’t benefit from it are at fault. This is
a well proven lie by our own history, by the results of the GI Bill
and VA mortgages which were established after WW II veterans fought
politically for them here at home.
The Green Party has a different vision of
how our society should work. Compare our existing system to this Green
Party Key Value:
COMMUNITY BASED ECONOMICS
“[The Green Party supports]
redesigning our work structures to encourage employee
ownership and workplace democracy. We support developing new economic
activities and institutions that allow us to use technology in ways
that are humane, freeing, ecological and responsive and accountable to
communities. We support establishing a basic form of economic security
open to all. We call for moving the narrow ‘job ethic’ to new
definitions of work, jobs and income in a cooperative and democratic
economy. We support restructuring our patterns of income distribution
to reflect the wealth created by those outside the formal monetary
economy – those who take responsibility for parenting, housekeeping,
home gardens, community volunteer work and the like. We support
restricting the size and concentrated power of corporations without
discouraging superior efficiency or technological innovation.”
The Green Party Platform calls for
renter/tenant’s rights, publicly elected local rent control boards,
promotion of affordable housing policy as a national priority, and
vigorous enforcement of fair housing laws. The focus of Green Party
values is community, humanity and the Earth that sustains all life. If
we continue with the present system of politics and economics you will
witness human civilization devour itself and the Earth leaving only
the mocking cries of scavengers as our legacy of existence. Story Here
Campaign
Updates
Edited by Chris Robinson
GENERAL ELECTION, November
8
The following Green Party
candidates will be on the 2022 General Election Ballot.
Christina “PK” DiGiulio (Chester
County) for Governor of Pennsylvania
Michael Bagdes-Canning (Butler
County) for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
PA Green Gubernatorial Candidates Say “End
Legalized Bribery!”
The Harrisburg Four were arrested inside
the PA Capitol on June 13. They appeared in magisterial court on
August 9, including Green Party candidate for PA Lt Governor Michael
Bagdes-Canning. The Four were in the Capitol, appealing to all 203
members of the PA House of Representatives to support a gift ban. The
Gift Ban, HB 1214, is a bill to ban lobbyist gifts to legislators. It
has been supported by a number of organizations including March on
Harrisburg and the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA,
www.gpofpa.org).
All of the defendants used a necessity defense and were found not
guilty of various charges including criminal trespass. The defendants’
arguments included citing a recent report from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which compiled the scientific findings
from thousands of studies around the world. The report made a stark
case that climate change is accelerating, is caused by human
development, and can only be halted by a rapid transition away from
fossil fuels and carbon-intensive industry.
"The IPCC lays out the case for urgent action clearly in their
recent report on climate change, and we're glad Judge O’Leary agreed,"
said Bagdes-Canning. "We're calling on all elected officials and
candidates this year to pledge to uphold Article 1, Section 27, of the
Pennsylvania Constitution demanding that we protect the environment
for future generations, instead of taking lobbying gifts – sometimes
called 'bribes' -- from fossil fuel companies which are destroying
that future . . . .”
"I find it disgusting that corruption is effectively legal in PA,"
said Green Party candidate for PA Governor Christina DiGiulio. "I
support the Harrisburg Four's message. When elected PA Governor, I
pledge to support a lobbying gift ban and to refuse bribes from
lobbyists, especially fossil fuel interests. I promise to fight for a
just transition that bans fracking statewide, while making sure no
worker or family is left behind. I call on all candidates for PA
Governor this year to make the same pledge and to declare a climate
emergency," DiGiulio added. "Climate action cannot wait. We must act
now." Story Here
It’s Time to Fix Things
Michael Bagdes-Canning (Butler
County) for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
...It sometimes seems to me that things
are impossibly broken. The climate fight seems lost. The Supreme Court
has rolled back protections for women, the environment, and voting
rights. We’re in yet another war. It seems that there is a mass
shooting every week. Our prisons are filled. We are faced with a
housing crisis, a crisis at our border, and the pandemic still rolls
on. There seems to be no way out of this, and many have given up . .
.
While organizing to stop fracking and
climate change, one of the epiphanies I had occurred when I was
working with folks in the struggle against mountaintop removal (MTR)
coal mining in WV. One of their organizers said, “You know, we’re
fighting the same monster, it just has many heads.” When I looked
around, I noticed that not only were fracking, climate, and MTR
related, but the monster also had its dirty hands in crushing unions,
destroying local economies, pitting people against people in another
region. Once I saw that, I knew that the monster was also pitting us
against each other
Running for PA Lt. Governor has given me
another way to bring many movements together. I’ve come to believe
that just showing up for each other is not enough. It is important for
us each to see where our struggles intersect. We also have to overcome
the divisions that artificially keep us apart. We have to come to know
each other. I’ve seen this play out. My friends in the Green Party of
Allegheny County (GPOAC) have done an amazing job of building the
Green Party but also making connections with front-line struggles.
GPOAC consistently shows up, and they get to know people who oppose
injustice. They have helped build bridges between groups. They are a
great example of what building strength looks like . . .
We need to build solidarity across
fights. We need to recognize that we are often fighting different
heads of the same monster. That’s what my run for PA Lt. Governor is
all about. I want to build bridges between the many organizations
which oppose injustice. There’s lots that is broken. It is now time
for us to fix things . . . Story Here
Richard L. Weiss, Esq. (Allegheny
County) for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania
Richard told GREEN STAR, “The U.S. has a higher incarceration rate
than any other country in the world. Conditions in prisons are human
rights violations, with overcrowding and inadequate food and
healthcare. Prisoners are preyed upon with unreasonable charges to
buy their own food and communicate with their family. Many inmates of
local jails are held without being convicted of any crime solely
because they do not have enough money to pay cash bail.
Decriminalizing cannabis would have an immediate effect on reducing
prison and jail populations. All current prisoners and inmates serving
time solely for cannabis charges should be released and all past
criminal records from cannabis convictions expunged.”
You may volunteer to get Richard on the ballot at[email protected].
You may follow Richard’s campaign here,
Twitter: @RichardLWeiss.
Jay Ting Walker (Allegheny County) for PA House
District 23
Zarah Livingston (Allegheny
County) for PA House District 32
National Green
News
Edited by Noah Alter
Last month, news media outlets across the
U.S. and globe boasted of the ‘Inflation Reduction Act,’ which
according to mainstream headlines, targets climate change;
ever-increasing medical expenses, namely senior citizens’ medicine on
Medicare; the creation of an abysmal 15% corporate tax rate; and an
asinine multi-billion-dollar IRS investment, enabling the federal
agency to hire nearly 87,000 agents over the course of the next
decade.
The name given to this piece of
legislation is extremely illusory, and it does not address the
pressing issues at hand, particularly the global climate emergency.
Rather the legislation furthers climate change . . . . In response to
the legislation, the Green Party of the United States warned that the
2022 Inflation Reduction Act overtly allows corporations to capitalize
on a global crisis by expanding massive new oil and gas
leasing in disproportionately impacted minority communities.
This "climate deal" provides a
relatively small number of renewable investments and further
subsidizes oil, nuclear, natural gas, and carbon capture while
requiring the U.S. Department of the Interior to offer at least 2
million acres of public lands and 60 million acres of offshore waters
for oil and gas leasing each year. The bill also does not address the
essential phase out of fossil fuels (i.e., coal). We must demand
transparency within our government to ensure they put us, the people,
and our planet before profit.
President Biden and Congress have the
moral obligation to immediately declare a climate emergency and pass
effective, comprehensive climate change legislation, including a rapid
ten-year transition to real zero emissions and 100% clean renewable
energy. Moreover, Biden and Congress must urgently address inflation
and the developing recession by passing legislation that benefits the
working class of this country as it does not require 87,000 IRS agents
to audit roughly 788 billionaires. Story Here
Global Green News
Edited by Hal Brown
Green Party of
U.K. Demands Action on Rising Air Pollution
The UK Green Party is asking for more
investment in public transport as well as walking and cycling
infrastructure. They also demand to implement the so-called Clean
Air Zones, published in 2017 to address all sources of pollution
and reduce public exposure to them. These strategies should accelerate
the transition to a low emission economy, by setting emission
standards and minimum requirements . . . Story
Here
Italy: Snap Elections
Push The Italian Greens To Find New Partners
Italian President Sergio Mattarella dissolved parliament and
announced new snap elections that will take place on September 25.
This comes as Italy’s main coalition collapsed, pushing the Prime
Minister, Mario Draghi, to resign . . . .
The far-right in Italy is
often associated with climate skepticism and preserving the status
quo. Their ascension to power might threaten Italy and the European
Union’s ability to face the climate crisis just as the
continent faces record-breaking heat waves and
wildfires . .
.
To counter the powerful
right-wing coalition, the greens propose an alternative urging
left-wing parties to form their partnership. “To put social justice
and climate justice at the center,” the Italian Greens announced an
alliance with Sinistra Italia (Italian Left), a small left-wing party
with minor to moderate success in the country . . .Story Here
DR Congo: Plastic Pollution Causes Water
Cuts
Thousands
of bottles, cans and other rubbish thrown into Lake Kivu caused the
shutdown of the Ruzizi dam facilities near the city of Bukavu,
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), thus causing power cuts in several
localities . . . .
It is extremely difficult to clean the thousands
of plastic bottles and other debris which are attracted to the Ruzizi
River dam at the end of the lake, which stretches over 90 km on the
border between the DRC and Rwanda.
“All the waste we throw into the
lake or the river ends up here, regardless of where it was thrown.
Even in Goma, the waste dumped there is only a matter of time. As the
lake flows towards the Ruzizi River, little by little, the waste comes
and in the end, it will end up here,” notes Liévin Chizungu . . . Story
Here
Asia-Pacific Greens Federation Support The People Of Sri
Lanka
Sri Lanka has been in a political, economic, and humanitarian
crisis because of President Gotabaya (Gota) Rajapaksa‘s mismanagement
of the country. In
May, Sri Lanka defaulted on foreign debt for the first time since
their independence. This has created shortages of
goods, sky-rocketed inflation, and pushed millions of people into
poverty . . .. The people of Sri Lanka still want to see the new
President step down. Wickremesinghe
was installed by Rajapaksa and remains very close to his
family. . .
On July 18,
Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency, giving security forces
the power to arrest and detain any protester without probable cause.
Next, the day after his inauguration, he continued the fight against
protesters by sending the police and the military to disperse a
peaceful protest site . . .
The NGO Human Rights Watch as well as the Asia
Pacific Greens Federation (APGF) urges the new president to listen to
what his people want. Their non-violent protests show that they want
to do no harm, but simply to have a democratic state with better
living conditions. The APGF stands in support of the people of Sri
Lanka. There is change to be brought to the country, and they are at
the heart of it. Story Here
GPPA Meeting Dates for
2022
All State Web Conferences will be
12 noon to 4pm.
September's meeting will be
in-person in Bellefonte, PA.
You can now register for the
September meeting Here
- Saturday, September 10,
and
- Sunday, November
13
Green Party of
Pennsylvania
Communications Team
Issue Credits:
Editors: Noah Alter, Hal Brown,
and Chris Robinson
Contributors: Michael
Badges-Canning, Christine "PK" DiGuilio, Joseph O. Murray, and Chris
Robinson
Layout: Hal Brown, Sherri Miller,
and David Ochmanowicz Jr.
Graphic Arts: Kevin
Richardson
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Join us and help bring about a future where
people and planet are valued over profits. We have a new, tiered
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The GREEN STAR is an official publication of the Green Party of
Pennsylvania Communications Team * 2022.
Green Party of Pennsylvania
http://www.gpofpa.org/
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