Record number of Green candidates run in 2009 elections

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

Green campaigns to watch in 2009; Elections page: http://www.gp.org/candidates/index.php


WASHINGTON, DC -- A record number of Green Party candidates are running for public office throughout the US, with many campaigning for reelection along with fresh new Green faces.

146 Green Party candidates have announced runs in local and state races, about a dozen more than at this point in 2005 (like 2009, the first year after a presidential election) and nearly 50 more than at this point in 2007.

Some races to watch:

Cam Gordon is seeking reelection to the Minneapolis City Council, Ward 2, in Minnesota (http://www.camgordon.org). Mr. Gordon has earned the endorsement of his local Green Party, a local Sierra Club chapter, the Minnesota Nurses Association, and other area unions.

In his first term Mr. Gordon led the effort to enact Ranked Choice Voting in Minneapolis for the first time this fall. He pushed the Council to redefine youth violence as a public health issue and draft a widely acclaimed and successful Youth Violence Prevention Plan. As Vice Chair of the Health Energy and Environment Committee he helped set the City's first environmental purchasing policy, require new city buildings to be LEED compliant, and led the Council on a new Homegrown Minneapolis initiative to get residents eating and producing more local food. Mr. Gordon also worked to repeal the city's racist, classist 'lurking' ordinance; authored several renters' rights ordinances; and created the Equity in Employment Work Group to help eliminate racial disparities in employment and poverty.

Also in Minneapolis: Annie Young is running for re-election to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (http://www.annieyoung.net). Ms. Young has served on the board since 1989 and also brings several major endorsements to the race: AFSCME Council 5, Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council, Minnesota Women's Political Caucus, and Sierra Club - North Star Chapter.

Allan Brison is running for reelection as Alderman of New Haven, Connecticut (http://www.allanbrison.net). New Haven is a one-party town and Mr. Brison is facing a tough challenge from the ruling Democratic Party.

Performance artist and anti-corporate activist Reverend Billy Talen is running for Mayor of New York City as a member of the Green Party (http://www.voterevbilly.org). Rev. Talen's volunteers recently turned in over 18,000 signatures to place him on the ballot. With a steady schedule of colorful events, Rev. Talen has campaigned throughout city neighborhoods. He is the founder of The Church of Life After Shopping and performed recently in a duet with Joan Baez.

Also in New York City: Long-time Green leader and community organizer Lynne Serpe (http://serpeforcouncil.com) is running for New York City Council in District 22 (Astoria, Queens). Ms. Serpe is hoping to unseat an entrenched 35-year family dynasty.

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20318999&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574908&rfi=8
http://www.astoriatimes.com/articles/2009/07/16/astoria_times/news/astoria_times_newsdbtinls07152009.txt

More 2009 Green candidates to watch will be announced as the November election draws nearer.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Summer 2009 issue now online
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

Greens call 'clean coal' myth a major threat to public health, citing study

Greens call 'clean coal' myth a major threat to public health, citing study

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

Poisons released from mining, high Appalachian illness and mortality rates, and mountain removal's destruction of landscapes: Greens blast concessions to coal industry in the fight against global warming


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party activists and leaders today called coal a threat to public health and a false alternative to petroleum energy in the effort to fight global warming.

Greens cited "Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statistical Life Lost," a study published in the July-August issue of Public Health Reports (http://www.health.wvu.edu/newsreleases/news-details.aspx?ID=1217), which reports that, while coal mining contributed about $8 billion to the economies of Appalachian states, the costs of reduced life-spans associated with coal mining were $17 billion to $84.5 billion.

"Coal mining doesn't only destroy the landscape, it kills people," said Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States. "There is no such thing as clean coal. President Obama is repeating a lie designed by the coal industry to maintain its profit margins and to continue turning states like West Virginia into a poisonous wasteland covered with giant craters."

The Green Party has demanded a halt to mountaintop-removal operations, which have destroyed over 500 mountains in West Virginia, filled in river valleys, and caused toxins to be dumped into freshwater streams and rivers. The Public Health Reports studied offered evidence that the coal industry is causing sickness and early death not just among coalminers but among populations living near mines, processing plants, and transportation centers. The combination of these effects has elevated poverty rates in Appalachian states.

During the Green Party's 2009 Annual National Meeting in Durham, North Carolina, Jesse Johnson of the West Virginia Mountain Party (affiliated with the Green Party) spoke on the catastrophic effects of mountaintop removal. Mr. Johnson's speech was followed by a screening of the new documentary 'Coal Country: Rising Up Against Mountaintop Removal Mining' (http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com), which he helped produce. (See also "Coal Country Premiere: Big Coal Lobby Does Not Want You to See This Powerful New Film" by Jeff Biggers, Huffington Post, July 3, 2009 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/icoal-countryi-premiere-b_b_225341.html).

Mr. Johnson, currently on a speaking tour to promote the documentary, has called West Virginia the "epicenter of global warming" in the US and stresses that "Mountaintop removal is ground zero for global climate change and water depletion for more than half of the US population."

Greens noted that deals for huge surface-mining operations in the Illinois Basin (Armstrong Coal Co.) and in Bear Run, Indiana (Peabody Energy Corp.) will fire up the US's densest cluster of aging plants (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gyfwiDRoVhwDrDCP--iSJjxuaNJwD99OVGNO1). The immediate boost to the economy may soon be offset by the environmentally harmful effects of coal mining, said Greens, who emphasized that the toxins "scrubbed" off of coal don't simply disappear.

The Green Party has called the myth of clean coal and nuclear energy and cap-and-trade schemes dangerous distractions and impediments to the real steps necessary to curb global warming. The party criticized a recently passed US House energy bill (HR 2454) for enacting a cap-and-trade system, severely inadequate emissions caps, and and provisions that restrict legal efforts to block coal projects, noting that the legislation will lead to more coal use in 2020 than in 2005 (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=235) and that it increases incentives to keep some of the oldest and dirtiest coal plants in operation.

"We need a sustained national and international effort to defeat global warming that has the kind of unity, determination, and sober planning that led the Allies to defeat our enemies in World War II," said Mark Dunlea, former co-chair of the Green Party of New York State. "Without such an effort, we are complicit in the threat to civilization and to hundreds of millions of human lives. Making concessions for the sake of polluters' profits is like negotiating trade with Germany and Japan in the middle of the war.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

"In Appalachia, Coal Mining Costs $9-$76 Billion More Per Year Than It Pulls In, Claims Study"
By Matthew McDermott, TreeHugger, July 13, 2009

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Summer 2009 issue now online
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

Greens: Democrats' town meetings on health care reform deserve debate and civil protest, not disruption and mob violence

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org


Serving the health insurance lobby, both Republicans and Democrats have tried to shut down open discussion on single-payer, promote phony reform, and spread disinformation; whether Democrats or Republicans win the health care debate, Americans will lose, say Greens

Greens urge Americans who support real health reform to contact Congress members in support of single-payer (HR 676)

Greens mourn the deaths of two single-payer heroes: Marilyn Clement and Nick Skala


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders spoke out today against the violent disruptions taking place throughout the US at town hall meetings on health care reform.

But Greens said that both Democratic and Republican leaders deserve blame for obstructing the public debate on health care reform. Greens pointed to various attempts to silence discussion of single-payer national health care in public forums and the media, as well as spread misinformation about single-payer and the Canadian health-care system.

The Green Party is urging supporters of real universal health care to lobby their US Representatives in advance of a promised vote on the single-payer bill (http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/08/05-8). Greens have called for a nationally televised debate on the merits of single-payer and for GAO and Congressional Budget Office studies on single-payer. Analyses from these offices in the 1990s showed that single-payer will reduce health care spending by billions (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=226).

Candace Caveny, Michigan Green candidate for the US House, 10th district (http://www.candacecaveny.org):
"While storm troops egged on by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and other shills for the insurance industry are disrupting town hall meetings, the Democrats running these events are also squashing open debate on health care. Democrats in Congress have blocked discussion of the single-payer plan, keeping it 'off the table,' to use Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus's words. Both the disruptors in the audience and the Democrats and certain union leaders on stage are defending the right of insurance companies to maintain their profits and control over health care, while hundreds of thousands of Americans are going into financial ruin because of illness and injury. The only real solution is the single-payer plan, represented by John Conyers' House bill 676 and supported in Michigan by UAW Local 599 and the Steelworkers Union, as well as the Green
Party."

Lisa Green, Green candidate for the California State Assembly, 53rd District, in the 2010 election (http://www.votelisagreen.net):
"In May, physicians, nurses, Greens, and other single-payer advocates were arrested after peacefully standing up to protest the exclusion of single-payer experts during Senate Finance Committee roundtables on health care reform. If fearmongering Republican leaders, front groups, and public personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck are urging mobs of their supporters to break up town hall meetings, they should be investigated and prosecuted, just as the nonviolent single-payer protesters were arrested."
(Leaked memo on disruption from insurance industry front groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/31/recess-harassment-memo/)

Alfred Molison, Green candidate for Houston City Council, District C (http://www.votealfred.com):
"Americans are receiving mountains of disinformation about health care reform from Democratic and Republican leaders alike, as well as from TV, radio, and the Internet. Democrats keep telling us that single-payer is not possible or desirable, despite polls showing majority support for guaranteed national health care. Republicans, media shills, and groups like Conservatives for Patients' Rights are equating Obamacare with the Canadian single-payer system -- an outright lie, since the Democrats' reform plan favors the health insurance industry. As in 1993, Democratic front groups like Health Care for America Now! and Citizen Action and many union leaders believe it's more important to declare victory for the Democrats than to provide real health care reform."
(Video of Mr. Molison and other Green candidates: press conference at the Green Party's 2009 National Meeting in Durham, North Carolina, July 24: http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus/ondemand/flv_8f77dfc8-b911-4950-902c-346c35ca3b90)

Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States:
"Rick Scott, head of Conservatives for Patients' Rights and an inspirer of the town hall disruptions, is a welfare cheat. Mr. Scott was fired from his position as CEO of Columbia/HCA in 1997 after he was caught trying to defraud the government for hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars in false Medicare and Medicaid payments, the largest Medicare-Medicaid swindle in history (http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/22-4). The company had to pay back $1.7 billion, but Rick Scott, instead of facing prosecution, received $10 million in severance pay and $300 million worth of stock. In reality, insurance companies have no objection to health reform or government intervention if it means they'll receive huge taxpayer-funded subsidies to inflate their profit margins and CEO salaries. The enraged mobs storming town hall meetings and the liberals swallowing the Democrats' 'public option'
and 'mandate' schemes have all been manipulated in a game played by and for the health insurance industry. Whether the Democrats or the Republicans win the health care debate, the American people will lose."

SIDEBAR...
Greens mourn the recent passing of two leaders in the movement for single-payer universal health care: Marilyn Clement, 74, founder and national coordinator of Healthcare Now! (http://www.healthcare-now.org); and Nick Skala, 27, staff member of Physicians for a National Health Program (http://www.pnhp.org) and a member of the Green Party in Texas and Illinois.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus

"Internal RNC Memo: 'Engage In Every Activity' To Slow Down Health Care Reform"
Huffington Post, July 21, 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/internal-rnc-memo-engage_n_241940.html

"Top Ten Ways To Tell Your President & His Party Aren't Fighting For Health Care For Everybody"
By Bruce A. Dixon, Black Agenda Report, July 29, 2009
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/top-ten-ways-tell-your-president-his\-party-arent-fighting-health-care-everybody

"Inside Story on Town Hall Riots: Right-Wing Shock Troops Do Corporate America's Dirty Work"
By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet, August 10, 2009.
http://www.alternet.org/story/141860

"My 1933 Nightmare"
By David Michael Green, Common Dreams, August 11, 2009
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/11

Single-Payer Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Summer 2009 issue now online
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

Greens to attend 'Medicare: Made In America' rally, call for Single-Payer and an end to the insurance industry's 'death grip' on health care

Greens to attend 'Medicare: Made In America' rally on July 30, call for Single-Payer and an end to the insurance industry's 'death grip' on health care

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, July 30, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org



Green Party presses demand for GAO study of health care costs under single-payer and for a nationally televised debate on the merits of Single-Payer; Greens call insurance companies the only winners under the Democratic Party plans

It's time for an angry voters revolt against politicians who reject single-payer and defend insurance industry power and profits, say Greens


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party members will turn out for the 'Medicare: Made in America' Lobby Day and Rally (http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/single-payer-rally) to take place in Washington, DC, on Thursday, July 30, joining thousands of other advocates of the single-payer plan to bring universal health care to the United States.

"We demand an end to the private insurance industry's death grip on health care. The only solution is a single-payer system that covers every American regardless of ability to pay, age, or prior medical condition," said Dr. Justine McCabe, Connecticut Green, clinical psychologist and co-author of a Connecticut statewide single-payer bill in 1999-2000 (http://www.gp.org/speakers/detail.php?ID=35).

Dr. McCabe spoke at a public forum on health care reform last week that was part of the Green Party's 2009 Annual National Meeting in Durham, North Carolina (http://www.ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM%20FORUM.html). Video of the forum has been posted online (http://www.gp.org/video/durham.shtml).

"We're witnessing a conspiracy to prevent all Americans from getting the quality health care that we all deserve and from knowing that such a plan is within our reach. We demand a televised national debate between advocates and opponents of single-payer, so Americans can hear the truth about universal health care. We demand new studies by the GAO and Congressional Budget Office on the cost of single-payer. In the 1990s, analysis by these offices showed that single-payer would save billions of dollars in health care expenses," said Dr. McCabe.

The July 30 event has been organized by the HealthCare-Now! coalition (http://www.healthcare-now.org) and will mark the 44th anniversary of Medicare. Under a single-payer system (HR 676), Medicare will be expanded to cover all Americans, with a dramatic reduction in medical costs because of the elimination of for-profit insurance overhead.

"Insurance firms don't make money by providing health care. On the contrary, they make their profits by not providing health care -- by refusing to cover millions of people, by restricting treatment for those with coverage, by denying claims, by canceling coverage when people need health care most. The result is that 50 million Americans have no health coverage at all, millions more have inadequate coverage, and hundreds of thousands go into financial ruin and suffer needlessly so that insurance company CEOs and shareholders can reap huge profits. This system stays in place because too many Republican and Democratic politicians care more about corporate campaign contributions than they do about the well-being of their constituents," said Rich Whitney, who received 10% of the vote in his Green campaign for Governor of Illinois in 2006 and will run again in 2010 (http://www.whitneyforgov.org).

Green leaders had sharp criticism for the retreat of Democrats from universal health care, for Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus's assertion that single-payer is off the table, and for bad ideas like the 'public option' and mandates. Greens called insurance firms the only real winners under the Democratic Party proposals, noting that Democrats want Americans to spend billions of dollars extra every year for health care, rather than just eliminate the waste, paperwork, and bureaucracy of for-profit insurance. The Democrats' proposed insurance mandate would mean massive taxpayer subsidies for the health insurance industry.

"Barney Frank says Democrats like himself won't fight for single-payer because it has no chance of passage. In fact, it has little chance right now because Democrats like Rep. Frank won't fight for it. With a few exceptions, like Reps. John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich, liberal Democrats won't challenge the lies that Republicans and blue-dog Dems are spewing daily in their effort to block reform. President Obama has tried to appease Republicans whose only goal is to see him fail," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States and a member of Iowans for Health Care for All.

President Obama admitted this week that the only way to cover all Americans was through a single-payer system: "Now, the truth is that unless you have a what's called a single-payer system, in which everybody's automatically covered, then you're probably not going to reach every single individual." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/us/politics/22obama.transcript.html)

Greens faulted the media for not debunking the aggressive misinformation campaign led by single-payer opponents and groups like Conservatives for Patients' Rights, and for paying little attention to the movement for single-payer, despite support for universal coverage by a majority of Americans.

"In 2004, Canadians voted Tommy Douglas, the Baptist minister who led the battle for their country's single-payer system, as the 'Greatest Canadian' of all time in a CBC poll. Americans deserve to know how well the Canadian system works and how popular it is among Canadians. Americans deserve to know that, contrary to claims from Republicans and anti-reform TV ads, single-payer means less bureaucratic interference. Single-payer means full choice of physician and hospital and it means that decisions about health care are made between doctor and patient, just like in Canada," said David Doonan, Green mayor of the Village of Greenwich in New York.

"If all Americans knew how we're getting cheated by our private insurance system and its defenders in Congress and the White House, we'd see an angry revolt. That's what we need right now -- enraged visits and messages to Congress and the White House, protests in the streets, and a pledge by voters never to vote for another politician who does not support single-payer health care," Mr. Doonan added.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green candidate database and campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
International Committee of the Green Party: http://www.gp.org/committees/intl

Recent Green Party press releases:
"Greens call for new GAO, Congressional Budget Office studies on Single-Payer health care" (June 18, 2009)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=226

"Green Party leaders challenge Sen. Baucus and defenders of private insurance to debate Single-Payer advocates" (June 4, 2009)
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=221

"Public Option Advocates: Time to Come Home to Single Payer"
By Mark Dunlea, Executive Director, Hunger Action Network of NYS; co-chair, Single Payer New York; member of the Green Party of New York State
http://singlepayernewyork.org/news/comehome.php#more

"Why Obama's Public Option Is Defective, and Why We Need Single-Payer"
By Drs. Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, The Progressive, July 22, 2009
http://www.progressive.org/mpwool072209.html

"Barney Frank: Front Door Single Payer Suicidal"
Single Payer Action, July 27, 2009
http://www.singlepayeraction.org/blog/?p=1257

"Health Care Hypocrisy"
By Ralph Nader, Common Dreams, July 25, 2009
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/25-0

"Internal RNC Memo: 'Engage In Every Activity' To Slow Down Health Care Reform"
Huffington Post, July 21, 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/internal-rnc-memo-engage_n_241940.html

Single-Payer Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Summer 2009 issue now online
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

Why We Should Have "Socialized" Medicine

March in the Labor Day Parade with Alex White

A great way to support the Alex White for Mayor campaign, as well as labor, is to march with us in this year's Labor Day Parade. Monday, September 7th at 10:30am, we will be gathering on Sibley Place, which is a street off of East Avenue between Meigs and Alexander Streets. Bring your friends and family as well! We'll have campaign t-shirts for everyone and you can do the "royal wave" as much as you want! Don't forget the comfortable shoes or you can ride a bike or even roller skate!



The route will is as follows: down East Avenue to the Liberty Pole, then turn west and march down Main Street past the reviewing stand near Reynolds Arcade (between the river and State Street), then turn north on State Street and disburse at Andrews Street.

E-mail us at whiteformayor@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Call Democrats and Demand Your Democracy Back

Alexander White found out that there was no one willing to challenge Bob Duffy, in his re-election bid. How are we supposed to hold our Mayor accountable if there is no one to run against him? So Alex White, a Green, decided to give his fellow citizens a choice. And The Monroe County Democratic Committee is trying to take that away from you!

Tell the MCDC that you demand to have a Choice!

Alex and his friends decided to participate in the democratic process by gathering over 1600 signatures at the Public Market and the streets of Rochester. Now Sean Hart, an operative of the MCDC has filed challenges to six different campaigns. Why? What are they afraid of? Is this the only way the Mayor can win re-election?
Is this democracy?

Call or e-mail the MCDC and demand they drop their challenge to Alex’s legitimate right to run for public office.

Phone: (585) 232-2410
Email: info@monroedemocrats.com

Green Mayoral Candidate to Defend Petition Signatures

Rochester, NY - Green Party candidate for Mayor of Rochester, Alex White, and supporters are holding a door-to-door literature drop to encourage voters in the city to demand the Monroe County Democratic Committee (MCDC) drop their challenge to White’s petitions to run for office. The lit drop will begin at White’s home, 647 South Clinton Avenue, in Rochester at 5:30pm on Tuesday, August 25th.

White turned in petitions with over 1,600 signatures, above the 1,500 minimum for an independent to run for office. Green Party candidates are considered “independent” in New York State because they do not currently have ballot status, though voters can still register to be Green.

Last Friday, Sean Hart, Communications Director for the MCDC, filed challenges to six different candidates’ petitions, including White’s. While legal, White and the Green Party of Monroe County see this as an attack on democracy.

“I’m running because no other party would put someone up to run against the Mayor,” White said. “Every politician, no matter what party, should be held accountable, including Mayor Duffy. That is why I’m calling for all voters in the city to tell the Democratic machine that enough is enough. We want a choice at the ballot.”

White’s campaign manager, Dave Atias, added, “while this is pretty pathetic, it’s not much of a surprise. They can’t run on their record so they have to stifle those who want to call them out. What are they afraid of? Why do the Democrats hate democracy so much?”

Democrats have an overwhelming advantage over the Greens. According to state records, there are 66,375 active Democrats in the city versus only 359 Greens as of August 14, 2009.

“We are going to ask our fellow citizens to chime in,” White said. “And if the Democrats continue this assault on voters’ choice, we’ll exhaust every legal remedy to remain on the ballot. The Greens are not going away.”

White’s campaign website can be seen at www.AlexWhite2009.com.

NY Green Fest, Aug. 7-9, 2009, Alfred, NY

NY Green Fest, Aug. 7-9, 2009, Alfred, NY
http://nygreenfest.org/

Features Many Local Activists, Artists and Musicians
NY Green Fest 2009, a sustainability conference being held the weekend of Aug. 7-9 on the campus of Alfred University in Alfred, offers a wide range of activities with workshops and forums, music and poetry, hiking, swimming, yoga, lakeside camping, star-watching and drumming.The Bloodthirsty Vegan Band from Buffalo will play for a dance Saturday night

A Green fair with over 45 artists, craftspeople, farmers, authors, publishers, alternative energy consultants, alternative fuel vehicles, activist organizations and live alpacas will take place on the campus green.

Presenters will show how to build a small wind turbine, make tofu, felt and beer, and live off the grid. What distinguishes NY Green Fest from other Green festivals are the many workshops and forums on political, economic and environmental issues. This year's workshops and forums feature many presenters from western New York.

Bill Kauffman from Batavia, author of Look Homeward, America, will speak on "Why Localism Matters," Steve Lewandowski from Rushville, Program Director of the Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative, will speak about watershed protection, Virginia Rasmussen from Alfred, a principal of the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy will speak on the politics of sustainability, Peter Jemison from Victor, director of Ganandogan, will speak on the Treaty of Canandaigua.

Lois Hilton, owner of Tickletown Trust & Trade in Little Valley, will speak on "Creating a New Local Economy in an Old General Store", Roy Butler from Four Winds Renewable Energy in Arkport, will speak about small wind, Deborah Magone from Rochester will sing and speak about creating Green media, Meg Krywe from Hornell will speak about the the Allegany County anti-nuclear campaign and play with the Lucky Pluckers Band, Jason Nabewaniec from Rochester, co-chair of the Green Party of the US, will speak on visioning a Green future, They are among the 75 presenters offering workshops and forums at Green Fest.

Five plenary sessions and 50 breakout workshops will be offered. Four workshops will address issues related to gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. Other workshops address zero waste, drawing political cartoons, organizing for peace in the Middle East, post carbon cities and why nuclear is not Green.

The Green Fair opens Green Fest at noon on Friday. Twelve workshops will be offered Friday afternoon on topics ranging from how to grow nut trees in New York to sustainability in school dining. Friday evening's plenary session features Virginia Rasmussen speaking about the politics of sustainability and Cyril Mychelako speaking about rights for nature. Deborah Magone's music will introduce the evening.

Twenty eight workshops will be offered on Saturday in four sessions throughout the day beginning at 8:30 am. There will be two plenary sessions: Saturday morning's plenary with Art Weaver and Dan Miner on the reality of renewable energy, and Saturday evening with Joel Kovel and Tony Gronowicz on revitalizing the relationship between humans and nature. Musical offerings by the Lucky Pluckers and Crow Weaver will introduce the plenaries.

Ten workshops and two plenary sessions on Sunday round out the event. Sunday morning Bill Kauffman will speak on why localism matters , Peter Jemison and and Lyn Gerry will speak on sovereignty and sustainability, and Mike Czarnecki will read his poems. Green Fest's concluding session begins at 1:45 on Sunday with a concert of political songs by Leonard Lehrman and Helene Williams and talks on visioning a Green future by Steve Welzer and Jason Nabewaniec.
Getting to Green Fest
Green Fest 2009 will be held on the campus of Alfred University. Activities will be centered in the Powell Campus Center, 1 Saxon Drive, Alfred, NY.
Where to Stay and What to Eat
Meals and lodging on the Alfred University campus and Foster Lake campground must be reserved before August 1st. Participants may register and reserve camping spaces, dorm rooms and meals online at http://nygreenfest.org/registration.html.

Registration in advance is $85 for the weekend. An additional $20 fee will be charged for walk-in registrations. Camping is $11 per adult per night, dorm rooms are $25 per adult per night, apartment suites are $35 per adult per night and rooms at the Saxon Inn are $89+ per night.. Meals prepared from locally-grown food are available in the Alfred University dining hall. Three meal options are available: six meals $75, four meals $50 or Saturday dinner only $20. Lodging and meals for children are less.

For more information, visit http://nygreenfest.org/ or call 607-569-2114.

Green Fest Schedule

Friday, August 7, 2009

10:00 am, Registration opens
12:00 noon, Exhibits open
1:45 pm, Workshops and Panels, Session 1
3:00 pm, Workshops and Panels, Session 2
4:15 pm, Swimming, hiking, yoga, drumming
5:30-6:30 pm, Dinner in Dining Hall
7:00 pm, Forum on the Politics of Sustainability

Saturday, August 8, 2009

7:30-8:30 am, Breakfast in Dining Hall
8:30 am, Workshops and Panels, Session 3
9:45 am, Forum on Sustainable Energy
11:15 am , Workshops and Panels, Session 4
12:30-1:30 pm, Lunch in Dining Hall
1:45 pm, Workshops and Panels, Session 5
3:00 pm, Workshops and Panels, Session 6
4:15 pm, Swimming, hiking, yoga, drumming
5:30-6:30 pm, Dinner in Dining Hall
7:00 pm , Forum on Politics and Nature
9:30 pm, Music and Dancing

Sunday, August 9, 2009

7:30-8:30 am, Breakfast in Dining Hall
8:30 am, Workshops and Panels, Session 7
9:45 am, Forum on Regionalism and Sustainability
11:30 am , Workshops and Panels, Session 8
12:30-1:30 pm, Lunch in Dining Hall
1:45 pm, Concert, Forum on Visioning a Green Future
3:30 pm, Adjourn


Workshops, Panels and Forums

Allegany Anti-Nuclear Campaign
Approaches to Landscape for Food
Battle for Progressive Media
Build Your Own Wind Turbine
Building Pollywogg Holler
Celebrating Elie Siegmeister
Communities and Hydro Fracturing
Drawing Political Cartoons
Drumming Circle
Economics as a Cultural System
Empire to Earth Community
Feltmaking Workshop
Gaia Girls Readings
Gas Drilling and Local Sovereignty
Gaza's Dilemma
Green Campaign Lessons
Green Media Panels
Hatha Yoga
Importance of Political Theory
Intro to 9/11 Issues
Liberation Ecology Workshop
Living off the Grid
Local Food Supply Systems
Low Cost Solar Collector
9/11 Truth Workshop
Marcellus Shale Overview
Natural Gas 101
Nature Walks
Nonviolent Communication
Nut Tree Growing Workshop
Organizing for Peace
Out of Time: Global Warming
Post Carbon Economies
Poetry from Place Workshop
Political Organizing on Campus
Politics of Sustainability
Rainwater Catchment Systems
Reality of Renewable Energy
Rights for Nature
Small Wind Consumer Education
Sovereignty and Sustainability
Spiritual Basis for Green Living
Sustainability in School Dining
Sustainable Cities Panel
Swimming
Third Party Ballot Access
Third Parties in U.S. Experience
Tickletown Sustainability Projects
Tofumaking Workshop
Treaty of Canandaigua
Visioning a Green Future
Watershed Protection
What is Sustainability
Why Localism Matters
Zero Waste Workshop

Green Fest is a benefit for the Green Party of New York
and other state Green parties in our region.

Greens give a thumbs-down to the House energy bill, urge Obama and the Senate to pass stronger anti-global warming legislation

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org


Green Party 2009 Annual National Meeting in Durham, NC, July 23-26:
http://www.ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM.html
Media credentialing page for the meeting: http://www.gp.org/forms/media


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party's national Eco-Action Committee is sharply criticizing an energy bill passed in the US House (HR 2454), calling the legislation dangerously inadequate and a concession to polluting industries.

Greens, currently preparing for the party's 2009 annual national meeting in Durham, North Carolina, are urging the US Senate and President Obama to reject the bill and instead enact stronger policies to curb global warming. The meeting takes place from July 23 to 26 (http://www.ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM.html);

"The Energy Bill passed by the US House of Representatives is not a transition to a sustainable energy future," said Audrey Clement, a Virginia Green and member of the Eco-Action Committee. Â "It moves us in the wrong direction by subsidizing more coal and nuclear power, and it''s far too weak in its support of earth-gentle renewable energies and in its effort to reduce carbon emissions."

Greens called the the bill's cap on greenhouse gas emissions a fraction of what it should be and said that the cap is undermined by the allowance of annual "offsets" that allow polluters to keep polluting.

"These offsets are a handout to large corporations," said Ms. Clement.

The Environmental Protection Agency's projections show that the legislation's cap-and-trade system and provisions that restrict legal efforts to block coal projects will lead to more coal use in 2020 than in 2005. Â The EPA anticipates that conventional coal use will fall quickly after 2020, based on an expectation of new nuclear power plants coming on line.

Greens strongly oppose more nuclear power plants and call "clean coal" an industry myth, noting the catastrophic devastation that coal mining has caused in West Virginia and other states through mountaintop removal. Â The Green Party supports a gradual elimination of coal and nuclear energy and a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear and coal plants.

"The destructive effects of using coal and nuclear are enormous and well known," said Derek Iversen of the Green Party of California. "It's imperative that we phase out these industries as soon as possible, yet this bill does exactly the opposite."

Greens said that the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) in the bill will have little effect, since it sets a goal of only 15% by 2020, and warned that the bill promotes trash incinerators and biomass burners despite the considerable greenhouse gases they emit.

The Green Party calls for aggressive policies to develop alternative energies such as wind, solar, and geothermal, with an emphasis on bioregional self-sufficiency.

"Nuclear and coal power as well as bio-fuels that appropriate needed agricultural land, hike food prices, draw down critical water tables, and degrade soils should be no part of the solution," said Gini Lester, a member of the Illinois Green Party. "We need to move away from corporate business-as-usual and get serious about real energy transformation."

"We can achieve energy independence and more effectively address climate change through the strategic use of alternative energies such as wind and solar, and through increased efficiency and conservation," said Wes Rolley, co-chair of the Eco-Action Committee. Â "There can be no single solution that solves all of our problems; rather, there will be a host of smaller solutions, rooftop solar, in-stream hydro, etc. The key is to make them all work together."

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN

Green candidate database and campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
International Committee of the Green Party: http://www.gp.org/committees/intl

Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

Green Party of Pennsylvania says no to Carbon Sequestration

Green Party of Pennsylvania says no to Carbon Sequestration

GREEN PARTY OF PENNSYLVANIA
http://gpofpa.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Hillary Kane, 267-971-3559
Jay Sweeney, 570-587-3603


No substitute for reducing emissions

This week, the Green Party of Pennsylvania spoke out against a plan by Governor Rendell to bury waste from power plants in the ground. Known as "carbon sequestration," the technique is believed to be more environmentally friendly than releasing toxics into the air.

However, the Green Party believes that injecting toxics into the ground is no solution to the problem noting that sequestered toxins can leak into groundwater and cause other disastrous environmental effects. Carbon sequestration will require capturing carbon dioxide, compressing into a liquid, transporting it through pipelines to a sequestration site and injecting it beneath the earth's surface.

"We should be reducing our carbon emissions not simply moving the by-products around like it's some sort of shell game," said Hillary Kane, GPPA Chair.

Recently, Governor Rendell and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have initiated an effort to explore the state's geologic storage potential for carbon capture and storage or sequestration. Act 129 of 2008 requires research on carbon sequestration. Pennsylvania produces one percent of the earth's greenhouse gases and this is an attempt to reduce the commonwealth's contribution to global warming.

According to the Rendell administration, capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and storing it instead of releasing it into the atmosphere will allow coal resources to be used in a more environmentally friendly manner.

But the Green Party, a long-time environmental leader, disagrees. "Carbon capture and storage is no substitute for reducing carbon emissions. Pennsylvania should be reducing its coal fired power production by 50% and increasing its solar and wind energy production to compensate for this reduction," suggested Wyoming County Green Party chair Jay Sweeney. "Capturing carbon, liquefying it and building a system of pipes to move the liquefied carbon to a sequestration site poses many environmental hazards including leakage into soil and water. The science is unproven and the results could be far more harmful than the benefits." The Green Party of Pennsylvania, (http://www.gpofpa.org), is an independent political party founded on the four pillars of grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom and nonviolence.