Newsgroups: alt.politics.greens From: cliftonr@netcom.com (Pope Clifton) Subject: Hawai'i Green Party Platform Message-ID: <1993Jan14.081812.3682@netcom.com> Reply-To: 74170.3696@compuserve.com Organization: Inst. for Epistemological Pathology Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1993 08:18:12 GMT Lines: 272 [Posted for Karen Lofstrom. This is a selection from a longer platform. Karen has been too busy to do more than read this newsgroup but hopes to participate more fully at a later date.] WHAT DO GREENS BELIEVE? Selections from the Platform of the Hawai'i Green Party The Greens are a world-wide political movement based on Four Pillars: ENVIRONMENTALISM GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY SOCIAL JUSTICE NONVIOLENCE The Hawai'i Green Party is a grassroots organization of citizens who have joined together to work for a better future for the islands and the world: a society at peace with itself and its environment, democratic and just. The Hawai'i Green Party is an autonomous local organization, in no way bound by the decisions of Greens outside Hawai'i; however, we affirm the Green values that link us to each other across this nation and around the globe. Our platform is based on the Ten Key Values of the American Green movement: Ecological wisdom Grassroots democracy Personal and social responsibility Nonviolence Decentralization Community-based economics Post-patriarchal values Respect for diversity Global responsibility Future focus GREENS ON THE ENVIRONMENT Hawai'i imports 90% of its energy, in the form of fossil fuels. To reduce Hawai'i's dependence on fossil fuels, Greens would reduce Hawai'i's current energy consumption by 50% using effective conservation and efficiency measures. We would substitute renewable energy sources such as solar, hydroelectric, biomass, wind, OTEC, and hydrogen for fossil fuels. Hawai'i must live within its water budget, using only water that can be spared without destroying streams or depleting aquifers. Greens would increase use of surface water (rainwater runoff) and decrease reliance on well water. We would limit drawdown on freshwater aquifers (over-pumping causes irreversible damage) and vigorously promote residential and commercial water conservation. Greens would protect air quality, reduce CO2 emissions, and slow global warming by reducing auto traffic and thus auto exhaust contaminates. We would phase out oil, coal, and garbage burning power plants, while reducing industrial emissions. We will work to protect the ozone layer by curtailing CFC use and substituting alternatives. (CFCs - chlorofluoro-carbons - destroy the ozone layer.) Hawai'i's coastal waters and ocean life are threatened by pollution and over fishing. Greens would enforce current anti-pollution laws, including rules prohibiting discharge of untreated sewage into streams or coastal waters. We would limit fishing in depleted areas until local fisheries recover; we would establish and enforce sustainable yields. Greens are appalled by the waste of life and ocean resources caused by driftnet fishing on our high seas. We strongly support an international ban on driftnetting. Hawai'i is home to more endangered species than any other place in the United States. We must protect our unique flora and fauna; we must preserve our remaining wilderness as places of solace, refuge from modern life, and spiritual regeneration. Land must be used for the long-term well-being of Hawai'i's residents and Hawai'i's environment. This well-being is not served by planning boards dominated by development interests. Greens call for elected land-use boards, open meetings, and intense public scrutiny of planning decisions. We demand the right of initiative to rescind inappropriate decisions. Hawai'i now imports 75% of its food. Greens call for sustainable agriculture and food self-reliance. We support small-scale, diversified farming and aquaculture. Private cars pollute the air, clog cities and waste energy reserves. Greens would replace most auto traffic with energy-efficient, non-polluting mass transit closely linked with park-and-ride stations, busses, jitneys, and other alternatives to cars. We can prevent waste by buying less and using less (source reduction), reusing, and refurbishing. What waste we do produce must be recycled. None of the previous proposals will save the environment if the human population continues to grow at the current rate. Greens support world-wide zero population growth. We would promote contraception research, distribution, and education at home and overseas. GREENS ON TOURISM Hawai'i's own population is growing three times faster than the U.S. average. Only a small part of this is due to natural increase (the surplus of births over deaths). Most population growth here is due to migration from foreign countries and the Mainland. This migration is spurred by the growth of the tourist industry, which creates more low-paying menial jobs than local residents can fill. Tourism and development, largely in the hands of giant off-island corporations, drive Hawai'i's current economy. Mass tourism also degrades Hawai'i's unique physical and cultural environment, inflates the cost of living, and drives up housing prices. Greens call for a statewide moratorium on building new golf courses, marinas, and large-scale resorts. Instead of tourist-centered growth, the Greens envision a diversified economy that meets Hawai'i's needs directly. Hawai'i could grow and process its own food. Hawai'i could conserve energy and use locally available renewable energy sources rather than pay for expensive imported petroleum. Supporting local manufacturers, artisans, and services would keep money in state. Greens would support small-scale tourism, sensitive to Hawai'i's culture and environment. GREENS ON GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY Today, decisions are made by the few, and usually benefit the rich and powerful. Greens advocate direct democracy, where all citizens can discuss and decide on neighborhood issues such as land use, parks, schools, and community services.We would decentralize many state functions to the county level and seek expanded roles for Neighborhood Boards. We support "sunshine laws" that open government meetings and information to all. We support rights to initiative and referendum. Campaigns for higher office are now corrupted by bribery; officeholders sell themselves to PACs (political action committees) and corporate contributors in order to pay for TV campaigns pandering to the worst instincts of an increasingly cynical and nonvoting public. Greens would ban PAC and corporate campaign contributions and limit terms of office. GREENS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE Greens stand for equal opportunity for all, regardless of class, race, creed, culture, gender, sexual orientation, or physical and mental handicaps. We call for community programs that would allow all people to live in decency and dignity: a state funded health insurance system, modeled on the Canadian medical system, which would guarantee adequate health care for all Hawai'i residents; expanded job training and apprenticeship programs; and guaranteed loan and scholarship programs that would allow any qualified student, no matter how poor, a college education. JUSTICE FOR WOMEN We must replace dominance and control - the patriarchal system - with partnership and cooperation. We must base our society on trust, not fear; nurturing, not controlling others; open communications, not manipulation, empathy with others , not violence against others; respect for Nature, not conquest of Nature. Because women are not, and have not been, involved as equal partners in the leadership levels of decision-making, we commit ourselves to achieving gender balance in private and public leadership positions. We support programs such as parental leave, and child care and elder care both inside and outside the home. We will work vigorously to protect women and children from violence within the family. We are pro-choice. JUSTICE FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS Greens will protect sacred or culturally significant native Hawaiian sites. We demand the return of or adequate compensation for Ceded Lands. We call for the immediate distribution of Hawaiian Homelands and would allocate federal and state funds for the necessary infrastructure. We support return of Kaho'olawe to the Hawaiian people, under the guardianship of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana. We would support Hawaiian sovereignty in a form fair to both native Hawaiians and other citizens of Hawai'i. GREENS ON CITIES AND HOUSING Overdevelopment, overcommercialization, the influx of outside values, and the building of sprawling suburbs and dense high-rises have significantly eroded the Aloha spirit in today's Hawai'i. Communities should be places where people know each other, treat each other as friends, and share values and traditions. Greens envision an alternative to the suburb: the cluster project. A cluster would consist of townhouses or row houses, surrounded by lawns and trees. It would be built on a mass transit line, so that residents could manage without cars. Each cluster could have its own meeting area, convenience store, and day-care center/school. Such projects could be modeled on the co-housing communities now popular in Europe or integral residential-commercial "pocket cities" being built in California and elsewhere. They would foster a sense of community, use land efficiently, and reduce the environmental costs of commuting. Greens would increase the housing supply by setting up non-profit trusts for rental housing, co-housing, and small family farms. Greens support lease-to-fee conversion legislation that allows condominium owner-residents the right to purchase their land, as well as rental caps on residential leases. GREENS ON NONVIOLENCE Greens support drastic reductions in the U.S. military budget and an end to testing, production, and storage of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. We demand an end to military foreign aid to repressive regimes and diplomatic and economic sanctions against regimes guilty of human rights abuses. Greens support the teaching of conflict resolution in schools, as well as the creation of neigh-borhood mediation centers. We would fund prevention and counseling programs addressing problems of family violence. GREEN PHILOSOPHY We are struggling for meaning and purpose in a society that reduces the Earth and its human and non-human communities to objects to be bought and sold. The core Green values of ecological wisdom, grassroots democracy, social justice, and nonviolence are based on a different philosophy: we acknowledge and celebrate our connectedness to the Earth, to each other, and to all of life. Greens seek to restore balance through recognizing that our planet and all of life are unique aspects of an integrated whole, and also through affirming the inherent values of each part of that whole. We declare on behalf of humankind that every generation has responsibilities towards future generations not to misuse resources that are the common heritage of all. THERE IS A PLACE FOR YOU IN THE HAWAI'I GREEN PARTY! If you want to preserve our beautiful 'aina for future generations, if you are concerned about uncontrolled growth and economic dependence on outside resources, if you are troubled by the corruption of our one-party government, then you belong in the Greens. Join now and help us work for a Green Hawai'i. Just fill in the form and send it to us with your dues. PARTY MEMBERSHIP DUES: Local member - $12 /year Affiliate/supporter - $12 /year Low income/student - $6/year Make checks payable to Hawai'i Green Party and mail to: PO Box 2098, Honolulu, HI 96805-2098. Karen Lofstrom -- cliftonr@netcom.com Home: +1 808 521 9073 Work: +1 808 625 3234