The Green Party’s Preamble is giving me chills because we finally have a party that is speaking the honest truth about the corrupted democratic system that is forced on Americans and the destruction of the planet as the means for profit which is also the capitalist system that is forced upon Americans. The Green Party sees these injustices and wants to fix these broken systems. Being honest and open from the start is a hard thing to come by these days.
The Green Party is coming from an “anti-capitalist, anti-racist, feminist” perspective.
Because many of their proposals and policies would greatly alter the capitalist system and make changes to our democratic system, the Green Party is aware that there is going to be a struggle and a battle from those who control the current capitalist and oligarchical systems in the US. This is the self-awareness that is necessary to make change and the reality of who and what the Green Party is up against.
They also touched on their Four Pillars and Ten Key Values:
Part 1: Democracy
Just reviewing the topics, the Green Party’s platform is significantly different from the other party’s because the focus is on changing and addressing the actual issue. These are the issues below that the US democratic system is hindered and repressed by and the Green Party wants to tackle the issues head on.
Section I Democracy
Political Reform
Electoral Reform
This is a massive section and even bigger plans for change. The Green Party wants to: eliminate the Senate, employ ranked choice voting, open primaries for all parties, expand the House of Representatives, abolish the electoral college, create a People’s Commission for Presidential Debates, publicly fund presidential conventions, include a None of the Above option for all open seats, and allow for voters to recall any elected official through initiatives.
Wow, now that is some progressive plans that would all help to fix the imbalances under our current structure. Abolishing the Electoral College is a definite must, and really, all of these policies are necessary for the democracy to function properly with the power in the hands of the people. There are some innovative plans here that I have never thought of but I think they would be feasible and truly change the current disproportioned electoral process. These policies scare both the Republicans and Democrats because it takes away their power and allocates it back to the people, which is why they attack the Green Party, especially the Democrats because when you compare the two party’s, the Green Party proves it is progressive while the Democrats prove their conservatism agenda.
Voting Rights
Create a “right to vote” law allowing everyone over 18 the right to vote, protect American voters from state’s eliminating access to voting, expand the House of Representatives, let teenagers practice voting, allow felons to vote in jail, make Election Day a holiday, and provide statehood to the District of Columbia.
Ballot Access
Make it easier for other people and party’s to enter the race through-elimination of ballot access laws that discriminate against small parties or individuals, create protections through achievable requirements, and create a national baseline standard for ballot access.
Campaign Finance Reform
All elections must provide full public financing, amend the Election Campaign Act to a 1% threshold for a party to receive public funding, amend the Constitution to exclude corporations from protections and money to be excluded as a form of speech, create campaign financing reform laws that provide transparency without loopholes, and replace the FEC with an independent group that has the authority to enforce campaign laws.
Thees would shore up many of the huge holes within the democratic process of elections which are not as democratic as they should be, and many of these policies would rebalance the entire campaign financing issues. Another policy to include would be to limit the amount of donations, and the number of times a person or group can donate to one candidate within a year.
Election Integrity
The Green Party would like to make sure all votes are counted in a verifiable system, use publicly-owned voting equipment, and create a National Elections Commission that provides a standard set of guidelines and procedures for elections.
Reducing Corruption and Good Government
To achieve these goals the policies that would accomplish that are: expanding the Freedom of Information Act to include Congressional records, create a mandate for all members of congress provide all contact with lobbyists and visitors, call for all members of Congress all of their finances and possible conflicts of interest, authorize the SEC and IRS to investigate and hold accountable Congress members that profit off of insider trading, ban all elected officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists and individuals, allow outside counsel to investigate legislators, elongate the lobbying cooling off period to two years, create binding ethics requirements for the Supreme Court (and much more), expand the Supreme Court, try out different ways to allow the public to interact with Congress, increase polling places and give poll workers a raise, increase the ways Americans can access information about the political system, provide all documents at every level of government be Internet accessible, reinvigorate the GAO, create and enforce tougher anti-bribery and gratuity laws, and support cities ability to choose their police force.
The only thing I would want to add is that the Supreme Court needs term limits and each vacancy should be up for popular vote.
Proportional Representation
The Greens want to eliminate the Senate. Now that is some progressive thinking and something that could make a tremendous change in legislating because there is such a holdup between the two houses. The Senate is not necessary for the democracy to function. Why is there a need for two houses to approve legislation when it already goes through a rigorous committee round?
Abolish the Electoral College
Yes! Finally a party proposing a change that US voters need as does an actual democracy. The electoral college is a thing of the past. The election of the president should be by popular vote otherwise it does not reflect who Americans actually voted for and strangles democracy.
Enact Ranked Choice Voting
The Green Party wants to employ ranked choice voting so that voters know their least favorite candidate will not receive any votes from them and ensures the majority decides their most favorite candidate. This also opens up elections to more parties, which is desperately needed at the moment. The more choice for voters, the better and more represented voters will be.
Community
Families and Children
The Green Party supports all social policies to protect families, federally funded preschool, earned income tax credits, ensure living wage for everyone, expand and protect Social Security, and supporting nonprofit careers.
Alternative Community Service
Create jobs in community service to offset military service and providing jobs in the Conservation Corps to help the environment.
Both are wonderful ideas, one of which the Democrats stole from the Green Party. The Democrats put many of these jobs in the Conservation Corps within the federal bureaucracy but the Green Party wants to include more environmental groups and for the Conservation Corps to be permanent.
Free Speech and Media Reform
“Greens will strengthen citizens' influence over the broadcast media, break up the dominant media conglomerates and boost the number of community and non-profit news outlets, all to fortify the media's crucial watchdog function and to help create a more diverse and lively exchange of ideas in America.”
To do so the Greens propose: give ownership to the public of the electromagnetic spectrum, create solid anti-trust laws for the media, ban commercial broadcasters from using public airwaves for free, reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, establish public interest obligations for broadcasters, support Public, Educational and Governmental Access Television, allow licensing of low power FM stations, support greater opportunities for women and minority owners of media outlets, provide free Internet for all Americans, support net neutrality, free and equal airtime for all candidates, allocate funding for nonprofit broadcasters, prohibit advertising in government buildings and in schools, repeal the Telecommunications Act of 1996, reduce mailing costs for journals and nonprofits, promote programs that encourage Americans to watch less tv and spend time with family, and create a network for non-commercial programs.
Foreign Policy
Peace and disarmament
To disarm and create peace the Green Party policies are to: uphold the UN charter, would take disputes with other countries to the UN General Assembly, the US government must recognize
Road to peace in the Middle East
The perspectives in which the Green Party incorporate in regards to the Middle East are: ecological wisdom, social justice, grass-roots democracy, and non-violence. A very important aspect of their policy is for a hearing into the use of weapons of mass destruction. They also want all weapons dismantled that are found in the region.
The proposed hearings should go beyond weapons of mass destruction and look into how US weapons aided in the genocide of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians, along with US diplomacy.
Iran
Under the Green Party the US would work with Iran under the UNSC joint plan of action signed in 2015.
Israel must end their nuclear program and remove/dismantle nuclear weapons as Iran has kept their side of the agreement.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict
First and foremost, the Greens condemn all forms of colonialism and oppression. They go on to: reject Zionists claim that Palestine is their exclusive land, refuse to impose their views and would prefer to listen to all communities of the region for their input, support a one-state solution under Palestine rule, want to see Palestinians retake their land that was stolen and the Palestinian people are given restitution, demands an immediate arms embargo and withholding of foreign aid to Israel until they exit from Gaza completely, will change the US position in the UN that was not supportive of Palestinian resolutions to those that are supportive, hold investigations and hearings of all war crimes and human rights abuses committed by Israel, and supports the BDS movement.
This is an amazing series of policies that would help the formation of Palestine and end the ongoing genocide. The only aspect that should be added is that the US government will also be subject to an investigation (through an independent review) for their role in aiding Israel’s genocide through the provision of arms, funding, and intelligence.
Foreign Policy- trade
The Green Party endorses plans to: restructure trade agreements so that countries protecting human rights and the environment cannot compete with foreign companies that cut costs, end the debts of nations in the World Bank and IMF, reform laws in the IMF and WB to protect the peoples right to their resources, protect labors right to organize, create an independent committee that oversees that foreign worker’s rights are being protected, ensure that states can create stricter laws protecting health and the environment, support states refusal to do business with subpar companies, go after corporations that locate headquarters outside the US to evade taxes, tax cross-border currency transactions, supports the expansion of NGO’s, provide funding to the UN fund for reproductive healthcare which includes abortions, and ending the economic sanctions of Cuba.
These all sound like achievable ideas that would greatly help people globally. The only other thing that could be added would be for a creation of a committee to review the tariffs in place and review the impacts on Americans and whether altering the tariffs would benefit Americans and international trade.
Human rights
Corporations cannot receive human right protections. This is something that corporations are trying to seek out and should never be accepted in any court.
Another action that the Green Party should include in their platform, is the need for the US to sign and ratify all of the UN treaties regarding human rights that the US has evaded (such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child).
And the Bill of Rights should include protections of human rights.
Women’s rights
Greens want to sign the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women to protect women in the US. They would also like more support against the trafficking of women and girls.
It’s good to see a party that wants to join a treaty/convention because that means they want those rights protected for their people and for accountability of the perpetrators. Political parties that avoid treaties, conventions, or accords are the parties that are seeking to oppress and remove those rights. If they are not committing those acts, then why not participate?
Puerto Rican independence
The Green Party calls it like it is, Puerto Rico is a colony of the US and not represented in any way within the US legislature. To remedy this, the Greens propose that Puerto Rico become an independent state from the US. They also plan to address the environmental impacts from US colonization and the fiscal impacts as well.
Puerto Rico should be a sovereign nation that is free from the US colonial oppression and the plan the Green Party has presented is very thorough and honest about the role the US has played in oppressing the Puerto Rican people.
Kurdistan
The Green Party is reaching out to the Kurdish people who have no state and are attacked and persecuted. The Green Party wants Kurdish political prisoners to be set free and for the global community to support the Kurdish people.
Domestic Security
To address domestic security, the Green Party plans to: urgently handle all environmental degradations, an investigation into the September 11th terror attacks, repeal the US Patriot Act, ban all forms of torture, restore habeas corpus, revoke the 2011 Patriot Act reauthorization, removal of the National Security Letters, ban the use of warrantless wiretaps, amend the constitution to affirm our rights are human rights and do not apply to corporate entities, eliminate laws that discriminate based on faith, oppose the death penalty, support students free speech rights, ensure that treatment towards immigrants is Constitutional and upholds human rights, support laws and policies against illegal search and seizure, and ban the government from collecting our internet data.
Demilitarization and Exploration of Space
The Greens do not want to see the military and space exploration mixed together. They want peace in space and for space to remain about science and exploration.
Space does not need to be weaponized at all. It should always remain a completely military free area of science.
Section II Social Justice
Civil Rights and Equal Rights
Respect for diversity
Being inclusive and respectful of every human being and establish relationships that honor that diversity is a key value for the Greens.
Women’s rights
The Green Party is pledging that they are “committed to increasing participation of women in politics, government and leadership so they can change laws, make decisions, and create policy solutions that affect and will improve women’s lives.”
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against all Women
Social Equality
Greens want the patriarchy to end and for women to be heard and safe. There policies for women’s rights include: passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, equal representation in Congress, signing and joining the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, authorize the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee to investigate sexual harassment, and for women to be in equal numbers at all peace talks.
Reproductive rights
The Green Party wants to ensure that women are safe and can freely make the choice about their own reproductive health. Access to abortions, affordable and free contraceptives, and free clinics are all non-negotiables for the Greens.
This is very reassuring. It would also be important to add an amendment to the Constitution to enshrine this protection for all pregnant people to be able to receive an abortion as part of the GP platform. Since this right is being banned for many pregnant people in states across the US, there needs to be concrete protections in place so no more peoples lives are put in jeopardy.
Economic equality
Women make less than men and the Greens want this to change through programs that support women and especially single mothers.
Violence and oppression against women
The Greens acknowledge the increasing violence against women and girls across the nation and world and want to work on the underlying issues through the creation of new laws that hold perpetrators accountable while removing other laws that punish victims.
Pathway to citizenship
Make immigration respectful of human rights, create a streamlined process, undocumented people (DACA and TPS as well) in the US will be granted legal status with a pathway to citizenship, Canadians and people from Latin America should be given border passes, people fleeing from persecution will be given permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship, people with work permits should come and go freely, families should not be separated, political beliefs should not restrict a person’s status of residency, and help refugees around the world resettle in the US.
Reparations and the Black agenda
The Green Party supports reparations for the descendants of slaves which would be funded through the slave trade, removal of slave clauses in the Constitution, restore lands that were stolen from Black Americans, release political prisoners, support all HBCUs and funding, remove all racist paraphernalia from government buildings and land, fund multi-lingual programs, enforce and strengthen all Civil Rights Acts, and protect African American cemeteries.
Justice for Native Hawaiians
Greens plans for Hawaii include: open discussions about Hawaiian sovereignty, Hawaiian sovereignty and independence, return of/compensation for stolen lands, protecting sacred sights, nurture Hawaiian culture, distribute funds for infrastructure, prohibits land sales of the Ceded Land Trust, and the signing of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Hawaii should be independent if the people of Hawaii support independence and many Native Hawaiians do because of the repercussions of colonization has had on Native Hawaiian communities. This plan the Green Party put together acknowledges the horrific injustices and tries to right the wrongs that are still taking place today.
Sexual orientation and gender identity
The Green Party “support full legal and political equality for all persons regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity, characteristics, and expression.” The policies to achieve this are: supporting the right to individuals to choose their partner, recognizing the civil rights of sexual and gender minorities, including inclusive language and ban any form of discrimination at all levels of the government, supporting the rights of individuals in their self-determination of gender identity and sex, creating legislation for a victims impact fund for LGBTQIA people who have been violently attacked or discriminated, ending funding to countries that violate LGBTQIA rights of their citizens, creating laws recognizing same sex marriages and civil unions for those seeking visas, and end surveillance of LGBTQIA rights groups.
Rights of the disabled
What needs to change that the Greens want to implement to support and protect the rights of the disabled: increasing funding for educational programs so that everyone can strive for their goals, actually put the ADA into use, sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on Rights for Persons with Disabilities, funding for in-home services, funding for community programs that offer out-patient services, providing a simple process for SSI for individuals with mental disorders, fostering inclusion for disabled people in society, discouraging stereotyping of people in the media, and funding for programs that teach the community to be more inclusive.
Much more must be done in the area of mental health. We need outreach programs, we need housing, we need hospitals, and care facilities that are humane and listens to their patients needs. This was touched on in the GP platform but a plan needs to be put together so people with mental disorders have places to seek help and be safe.
It would also be important to include disabled individuals on planning committees at all levels of the government to make sure their voices are heard and needs met.
There is a portion that also included adding teacher training to better help students with disabilities and mental disorders, and that is definitely needed because many credentialing programs do a poor job adequately providing detailed information to teachers and how to best meet students needs. The other aspect would be to provide funding for aides in classrooms so that the teacher can meet the needs of their students with extra assistance. Keeping classroom sizes smaller would also help students with disabilities and all students would benefit from smaller class sizes and an aide.
Religious freedom and secular equality
End discriminatory practices and laws against religions and non-religious for offices at all levels of the government, prosecuting religious hate crimes, eliminating religious symbols within the government, remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, end public funding for religious institutions, end voucher programs, eliminate using religion as a reason for refusing medical treatment for children, cease the use of religion as a means to oppress women, and revoke the Boy Scouts charter and any other organization that discriminates a group of people.
Youth rights
While Democrats and Republicans attack youth rights, the Green Party wants to protect them by: acknowledging that youth are not property of their parents, deserving the right to food and healthcare at all stages of infancy and childhood, protecting youth from abuse, neglect, harmful environments, and drugs, education that is stimulating and relevant, encouraging creative potential, allowing young people to decide their educational pathways, providing education on sexuality, expressing ideas in the media and having the opportunities to do so, banning commercial advertising in schools, and lowering the voting age to 16.
Wow! I had never thought of lowering the voting age, but why not give it a shot? It’s a great way to get young people involved in decision making and would do no harm and acknowledge that they are important members of society too and their voice matters.
GI and veterans’ rights
The Green would like to: increase pay for soldiers, provide improved care for injured soldiers and veterans, ensure physicals are given before deployment, honor laws on deployment time limits, provide services for military to civilian life, create a program to ensure the health of veterans who have come in contact with toxic and nuclear chemicals, create an outreach program that monitors soldiers and veterans are understanding their rights, cease medical testing on soldiers, provide full tuition for military members, and defend service members who exit the military due to moral objections.
A couple of areas that should be covered. Women in the military and protecting them from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and discrimination. Also, if the military spending is cut back and weapons are reduced, there should be new and innovative ways to utilize the military instead of deadly force. Teaching diplomacy and peace keeping tools to everyone in the military and finding ways to peace, should be the future of the military if things are to change for the US.
Consumer protection
To protect consumers, the Green Party will: increase safety standards across all products, restore consumer protection laws as well as health and safety laws, expand labeling requirements for products, prohibit corporations from concealing information, expand class action rights for consumers, protect whistleblowers and employees who call out illegal actions, opposing tort reform that limits consumers ability to redress grievances and medical malpractice, create laws that protect consumers against predatory lending, ban price gouging, restore fair access to Chapter 7, ban arbitration clauses in consumer contracts, empower and authorize the US Office of Consumer Affairs to protect consumers, and assist communities in creating Citizen Utility Boards which puts the power companies in the hands of the people
These are all wonderful plans that will help consumers and also assist in inflation reduction and the economy overall because those who need money will be able to hold onto their money if they are not putting every cent into their grocery bills because of price gouging as well as electricity prices skyrocketing because the power company would be in the hands of the people and not those seeking to profit.
Adoptee rights
Provide all adoptees with their complete files, fines for loss of files and data that are hefty and enforced, and full reparations for those who were forced to give up a child or to be adopted.
Environmental justice
“Environmental justice is the crossroads of environmental activism and the civil rights movement. It is founded on two fundamental beliefs: that all people have the right to live, work, learn, and play in safe and healthful environments; and that people have the right to influence decisions that affect environmental quality in their communities.”
Come at all policies from a pollution prevention perspective, require polluters to prove that the results of their actions are safe, expand the role of the government to not just protect the commons but to also protect health and the environment, ensure that citations for polluters is not discriminatory in practice, provide rules and regulations in a transparent manner to the public, enforce corrective justice, provide and focus on communities impacted by environmental injustice, and support and enforce the National Environmental Policy Act.
Economic justice
The Green Party supports the welfare program and wants to continue to provide funding for individuals and families that require assistance, and opposes the privatization of Social Security.
Welfare: a commitment to ending poverty
Everyone has the right to food, housing, education, a living wage, and medical care, all voluntary work and taking care of family members is invaluable work, restoring the entitlement act to support people indefinitely, these programs will be funded through the reduction in military spending, eliminating corporate subsidies, and taxing the rich, will create a negative income tax that will maintain adult incomes, supporting living wage jobs that benefit the community and environment, supporting tax incentives to companies that distribute income fairly to reduce uneven incomes, banning welfare recipients from having to accept income at or below the poverty line, and require companies that are subsidized to provide jobs at the living wage.
Education and the arts
Education
The Green Party proposes to: eliminate white supremacy in education, allow teachers to teach outside the Common Core, provide training for teachers in the area of diversity and supporting different cultures, end teaching programs that bring in teachers only for them to leave at the end of their short contract, provide programs that encourage young people to become teachers for their community, provide funding for bilingual teachers and support staff, eliminate police officer presence on campus, provide services for students who are at and below the poverty line, and eliminate structural racism practices. But the Green Party is not done yet they would also like to: provide free tuition for college, eliminate all student loans, oppose for profit schools, increase funding for after-school and daycare programs, provide funding so schools can offer a wide variety of post educational programs for their students (vocational training, languages, distance learning, etc..), provide classes about the indigenous communities in the way of arts and history, offer appropriate education in the most inclusive ways for students with disabilities, elevate teachers to professional status and pay them at a higher level for their training, educate students on ways to peacefully resolve conflicts through programs, offer age appropriate education on sex, race, gender, and ethnicity, prohibit advertising in schools, ban soda and junk food, remove military from schools including ROTC, increase higher education opportunities, create opportunities for students to be involved in civics, provide an environment where parents can be involved, increase arts and physical education courses, support home schooling, oppose policies that restrict science, provide education for prisoners, smaller classroom sizes, ban guns on campus, teach students self-defense, offer drug prevention courses, include education that covers civil rights history and white supremacy, agreeing to a global treaty that 18 is the minimum age for military service, and educate children about farming.
A lot of these plans are wonderful, but this is a lot to overhaul in education. I appreciate that they are offering a really big picture because if the Green Party were to accomplish all of these policies, I know they would add another healthy amount of new policies which would shore up issues and injustices that students and educators face.
Art
Support the artist and their art, remove laws that censor artists, increase funding for the arts, creating public spaces for artists to display their work, promote using nontoxic or using wasteful practices for artwork, offer art programs for all ages of Americans, fund more art programs in schools, teach diversity through art, and offer art in other subject areas like in math for example.
It’s pretty shocking (in a good way) to see a political party showing support for the arts because art is a valuable and essential part of humanity.
Health care
To be healthy, you need a healthy environment, that is the perspective of the Green Party.
The Green Party wants to enact: single-payer insurance plans that covers everything including vision and dental, participation of all licensed healthcare professionals, coverage will remain fixed despite location or employment, cost controls, preventative care is a priority, support for medical marijuana, more services for disabled people, more services for those with mental disorders, create a mental health system that protects patients rights, reduce paperwork for doctors and patients, fair and full pay for doctors, ensure adequate staffing levels at hospitals, creation of a healthcare board of doctors and patients to monitor the healthcare system, and creation of a national healthcare trust fund.
There is a large section the Green Party included for HIV/AIDS and it should include all STDs which are on the rise. To summarize this section, the Greens want increased funding and testing for HIV/AIDs and the decriminalization
Criminal justice
Prison conditions and alternatives to incarceration
Offer alternatives to incarceration, treat substance abuse as a medical problem, place prisoners with mental disorders in mental care facilities, increase funding for rape prevention programs, keep children out of adult prisons, ban private prisons, all prisons should meet humane and sanitary standards, ban new prison developments, all prisoners should have the ability to obtain their GED, protect prisoners First Amendment rights, allow felons to run for office, and conduct studies on racial impact.
Criminal justice reform
Ban the death penalty, ban mandatory sentencing, allocate money to community groups and not increase police, establish an independent third party to review police complaints and violations, no jail time for non-violent crimes, protect victims’ rights, create more gun control legislation.
The only issue here is that the Green Party did not go call for a ban of all guns, which is the only way we are going to remove the threat of gun violence in the US.
End the war on drugs
Amend the Controlled Substances Act to eliminate drug possession as a crime, reallocate money from the war on drugs to research and counseling, legalize the growth, sale, and possession of marijuana, remove all marijuana offenses for people who have been convicted, create a plan to decriminalize drugs, and legalize mushrooms and other substances that are beneficial to therapy.
Drugs should never be a crime and is just a tool that oppressors use to jail people and to profit off of their labor in jail.
Population
“Human population expands at the expense of other species.”
Free birth control, ending overconsumption, allow women, and help both men and women understand their role in family planning.
Housing and Homelessness
To end homelessness the Greens propose to- ban laws that outlaw homelessness, include homeless people in creating and deciding solutions, encourage voting, ban all agencies from abandoning people on the streets, buy motels and convert shelters to provide long-term shelters, get people into stable housing more quickly, expand social services, raise incomes and create a living wage standard, provide affordable healthcare, and expand affordable housing.
Section III Ecological Sustainability
Climate Change
A new international treaty to reduce emissions 40% by 2020, create a tax system that incrementally increases over the years in order to get the US to stop using gas, remove subsidies for fossil fuel companies, pricing carbon, pay and help developing countries create a carbon neutral plan, create energy standards that reduce energy consumption with the goal being 50% by 2044, create an efficient mass public transportation system, enact a zero waste policy for the country, employ people in lower income communities and people of color, power the US on renewable energy by 2030, ban nuclear power, ban dirty energy, ban industrial agricultural methods, make all farms organic and smaller, subsidize farms that are small and organic, plant more trees, revegetate grasslands, encourage regenerative practices, and offer incentives to land owners that rewild their property. These are all the plans that the Greens have to fight climate change.
These are all policies that could alleviate some effects of climate change and lessen our impacts on the future of the planet. Seeing their plan to include a mass public transportation system and walkable cities, is exactly the progressive agenda the US needs in order to have a healthy future for our planet and for society. Including incentives for organic farming, for instance, is a positive way to promote a chemical free farm which is better for humans and for the entire ecosystem. One aspect that the Greens should include is the banning of all pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and rodenticides. Overall this is a well thought out agenda that would make a huge difference in energy use, consumption, conservation, and protection of the environment,
Energy
Encourage conservation
The focus here seems to be more on diminishing our energy demands through retrofitting our buildings so they require less energy, creating a national standard for energy use, use of heat for energy use and other innovative ways to create energy are needed, and implementing a carbon tax are all part of the Green Party’s plan to encourage conservation.
There is also land conservation that should be included under this plan that states that untouched land shall remain untouched and protected. This is touched on further down under “Land Use" but it should be explicitly stated and a land conservation agenda explained.
Move to reneweables
The Greens would like to support research into storage technology, create tools to support green energy, create programs to that would get solar on all homes, support tradable renewable energy certificates, and ban new hydroelectric dams.
All homes should have solar, but even the California program that the Green Party references is flawed because it still puts a huge financial burden on the consumer. Instead of allowing for untouched land to be used, the government could offer subsidies to pay for the solar panels so that Americans are not burdened with the huge cost or the risk of defaulting from these expensive policies. The companies that plan to bulldoze the desert could pivot to placing those solar panels on homes instead.
Eliminate dirty energy
To eliminate dirty energy the Greens want to: phase out nuclear and coal power plants, end the creation of nuclear waste, halt all new nuclear power plants, ban mountaintop coal plants, ban any new oil drilling, oppose bio-fuels, and ban fracking.
The US has one party that stands against fracking and has it in their platform.
This plan would really hit the dirty energy issue with actual solutions and not avoid the mounting problem which then negatively impacts the health of our planet.
Decentralize the grid
The Green Party will: upgrade the “smart grid”, support net metering, offer tax exempt bonds so that power is publicly owned, and oppose deregulations of energy.
The power will really be in the hands of the people under this plan.
Re-localize the food system
Offering an innovative idea to help fight climate change, the Greens want farms to be growing food closer to the consumers. To accomplish this, they will offer incentives to farmers and look at ways to create farms that are closer to all consumers.
Food should be farm to table because of freshness but also because it lessens the carbon output of food production.
Electrify transportation
The Green Party wants any vehicles on the road to be powered by electricity and not fossil fuels, but the preference for transportation would be through mass public transportation system and biking or walking and creating the infrastructure for these changes to our transportation system and funding for these programs.
This set of policies is exactly what leaders should be implementing in order to reduce our further impacts on climate change . It’s dismantling our polluting current system with a preferable new system that provides everyone with public transportation. People do not realize the changes to individual happiness when a person can rely on public transportation that is reliable and easy to use. The benefits to a system like this are beyond just the money but in overall happiness of people to not be burdened with the costs for gas, upkeep, and purchase.
Requirements for energy transition
The Green Party acknowledges that this will cost a significant amount which will need to come from the government well over $150 billion dollars, coordinating this entire transition will require input and organizing on all levels, students need to be educated in ways that will further advance green energy systems, and goals must be set and communicated to every American so everyone understands the changes and what their role is in these changes.
This is a detailed plan and covers all the bases to make sure everyone understands the energy transitions that are to be made. This is comprehensive planning that makes a difference.
Nuclear issues
Where the Green Party stands on nuclear policies: the Green Party condemns the NRCs use of the word “green” in relation to nuclear power, using nuclear power creates waste that cannot ever be truly disposed of, begin retiring nuclear reactors, object to using depleted uranium in weapons, oppose shipping nuclear waste across the US, storage of nuclear waste should occur on the site it is produced, create a transparent monitoring system for nuclear facilities and the waste they create, create an educational program so the public is aware of nuclear problems, oppose the Civil Nuclear Export Act of 2023 and exporting SMRs, oppose subsidies for nuclear reactors, oppose the creation of new nuclear reactors, oppose deregulation of nuclear energy, and expand the RECA to provide people support for radiation poisoning.
Again, this is spot on. The only thing that should be changed is to use the word “end” instead of “oppose” because those are two different actions. It would be better for the Greens to state that they want to end subsidies for nuclear energy facilities instead of simply opposing them. Opposing gives someone wiggle room to back track and using “end” would provide voters with more certainty as to how hard the Greens will fight to bring down nuclear energy in the US.
Transportation
In order to reduce pollution in transportation, the Greens will: make streets pedestrian friendly, plant trees and other plants, use traffic “calming” methods to slow traffic (like roundabouts), add bike lanes and paths, provide free bicycles, reallocate money for the auto industry to mass transit, make mass transit affordable, use roads/highways for train lines and other means of mass transit, help commuters move to where they work so they don’t have to commute, expand rail lines, create a new agency to oversee rail line traffic, temporarily stop the expansion of highways, mandate HOV lanes, get rid of free parking so people will be discouraged from driving, increase the CAFE standards, enact a fee and dividend system on carbon output, increase taxes on less fuel efficient cars, remove gas powered cars high efficiency cars that the government uses, electrify truck stops, ban idling of diesel trucks and fine those who do, support carpooling and telecommuting, enforce a smog check on all cars to register, continue the current air quality programs in place, offer incentives so people aren’t traveling for business on airplanes, offer incentives for using virtual meetings instead of flying, provide tax credits for businesses that virtually meet and forego flying, eliminate all tax deductions for business travel, end all subsidies for jet fuel, offer incentives to businesses that create long distance travel using renewable energy, support the No Fly movement, retrofit airports so they are accessible by mass transit, create more legislation to lessen noise from planes and pollution, emphasize the use of trains for freight distribution, and offer incentives to get freight transportation off the highways and onto trains,
Everything offered under Transportation would dramatically lessen our overall pollution we create from relying so heavily on cars. We need a mass transportation system in the US. It would transform lives and offer new jobs to those in sectors that are truck drivers or Uber drivers. It’s really a win-win scenario that must occur so we do not continue to pump the needless pollution from our cars into the atmosphere and into our groundwater.
Zero waste: reduce, reuse, recycle
Phase out the use of toxic chemicals and use nontoxic alternatives, require that manufacturers handle the full cycle of a product including recycling it, support the “precautionary principle”, strengthen right to know laws, hold corporations responsible for their pollution, cease all incinerator use, phase out landfills, regulate toxic wastes, ban the export of toxic chemicals, ensure above ground storage is safe for nuclear waste, close nuclear labs, clean up the damage from nuclear testing and waste, provide transparent nuclear testing at all nuclear facilities, and end animal testing.
Making manufacturers responsible for the entirety of a product is a brilliant plan because the manufacturer could use these materials again for the same product or other similar products and the best way to recycle many items.
Another plan the Green Party should include to reduce our waste is to employ products be refillable in the store instead of sold in individual packaging so there would not be waste created. For example, shampoo and salad dressing would have a refill station in the store instead of purchasing individual bottles of everything. Either refilling or accepting empty bottles to be reused again, is the only other solution to the enormous issue of single use plastics that cannot be broken down. This matter must be tackled or the plastics will continue to remain a problem.
The Green Party could really step up to the plate here with single use plastics and promote and subsidize companies making a green transition to either reuse empty bottles or transforming their business model to a refill model.
Clean air/Greenhouse effect/Ozone depletion
Strengthen and actually use the Clean Air Act and amending the Montreal Protocol to include newer findings and adjust to different chemicals that cause damage to the ozone layer and create greenhouse gases are two ways that the Green Party is addressing clean air and protecting the planet.
Land use
Every property has the responsibility to the people and planet, encourage people to create communal land use, minimize urban sprawl, promote livable urban spaces, create green spaces throughout cities, restore urban ecosystems, match population size to the limitations of the area, support environmental justice policies, expand open space in rural communities, promote livable rural spaces, support ranchers and miners using sustainable practices, reward farmers and ranchers for their help, repeal the Mining Law of 1872, create mining reform, raise the grazing rates and remove subsidies for ranchers, protect old growth forests from logging, ban wildlife damage control practices, oppose the sale of national forests or parks, ensure public ownership of resources, and restore damaged ecosystems.
Reward ranchers for their help? What? With their help destroying ecosystems? I’d rather not support ranchers but support them in transitioning from ranching into rewilding the land their cattle destroyed. That is a plan I can get behind but not one that supports ranching. The Green Party did not go far enough here and it’s a little disappointing to see strong condemnations for certain areas of environmental protections when not pushing hard against these destructive policies and practices.
Water
Greens plan on saving water through: creating and agreeing to international laws conserving and protecting water, opposing the privatization of water, basing decisions regarding water based on the ecosystem, employing water conserving practices, mandating water saving appliances, promoting native plants, promoting drip irrigation, eliminating storm water pollution, reusing the black and grey waters from production, maintaining wetlands and other natural systems, cutting subsidies for agribusiness, create citizen boards to monitor water use, set health standards, create a sustainable water system, opposing corporate pressure for increased access to water, including agencies that oversee land use with those that oversee water use, transfering all water systems to publicly owned programs, and protecting the Great Lakes through a variety of measures.
There should also be international inclusion to water planning especially when it comes to the Colorado River.
Creating legislation that bans corporations from bottling and selling water that is not theirs to sell but stolen from rivers and lakes is incredibly important to include as well.
Lastly, creating legislation that reduces the number of water intensive crops that do not feed people but animals should also be written and passed. Crops like alfalfa require a good deal of water and is used to feed cattle. If people ate less meat and drank less cows milk, then it would reduce the water strain needed to grow the alfalfa and also less cows would mean less harm to the ecosystems they graze in and less carbon pollution from cows.
Agriculture
To grow food responsibly the Greens will: create legislation that will convert farms to regenerative methods, offer incentives to farms who use regenerative farming, regionalize food systems, place farmers and consumers on the USDA, ban sewage and toxic wastes from farms, phase out pesticides, food that causes more environmental impact and harm to health should be priced higher, address “food insecurity through sustainable production”, provide subsidies to farms that transition from dirty energy to renewable energy sources, encourage states to subsidize farms for renewable energy use, promote ethical farming, study GMOs to see if they are harmful or not, require full disclosure labeling on products, and support the restoration of farmlands stolen from Black American farmers.
Here is where I am going to disagree with the Green Party and a phase out of only pesticides without a mention of herbicides. These toxic chemicals need to be banned due to public health concerns as well as environmental concerns. It’s a bit shocking to not see these chemicals not either banned or even opposed by the Greens. While they heavily favor organic farming and regenerative methods, these poisons need to be removed from the population and the environment out of the best interests of everything because herbicides and insecticides/pesticides are so deadly and detrimental to everything it touches.
Biological diversity
Strengthening the Endangered Species Act, will not amend or alter the Convention on Biological Diversity, will support public access to seed banks, educate the public on rewilding native plants, opposes high-tech hybrid seeds, supports the diversification of natural seed varieties, opposes trade agreements that use hybrid seeds, supports rewilding with native plants to areas that have lost those native plants, create educational programs that endorses human and nature coexisting to address fears of nature, oppose human cloning (?), and create a global biological diversity plan, these are the ideas the Greens offer to ensure protecting biological diversity.
The only part that seems a bit obscure is the human cloning because the Green Party did not state whether they oppose it but it seems like they do based on identifying human cloning as essentially owning a human being. If the Greens oppose it and want a ban on it, they should state it clearly.
Ethical treatment of animals
Treating animals humanely through these policies: reallocate money for testing on animals to programs that offer preventative care, phase out the use of animals for experiments, create and require clear labeling of products that test on animals or have animal byproducts, allow greater public involvement of animal research, end animal abuse, ban exotic animal sales, ban breeding facilities of animals, subsidize spay and neuter clinics, ban exploitation of animals in the entertainment industry, end the captivity of cetaceans, promote plant-based diets, end the tethering of dogs and other animals in their yards, ban foie gras, ban furs, ban declawing, fund trap and release programs, ban animal racing, ban animals in circus uses, require all zoos and sanctuaries homing animals be for conservation and not profit, and offer food one day a week that contains no animal byproducts.
Forestry practices
Overhaul the US Forest Service, reform state and federal land use policies so that they are sustainable, end funding for logging roads, ban logging in Ancient Forests, ban raw logs from export, create subsidies for water-shed based mills, ban all clearcutting on public lands, ban herbicide use and use other methods for reducing undergrowth, protect cultural and historical sites, ban beef raised from rainforest land, support the growing of hemp for paper and other materials, forgive debts to countries that need help in stopping the destruction of their rainforests, create labels for products that do not impact forests, protect biodiversity, and mandate that post consumer waste paper that is chlorine free is used for governmental work.
Besides overhauling the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management also needs to be overhauled because they are a major factor in the destruction and use of federal lands that they are charged with protecting but do anything but protect. The BLM is approving the destruction of millions of acres of desert and grasslands across the west to be destroyed and developed into solar farms, as well as their use of lands for cows that decimate the land that they are grazing on. Solar farms should be banned and the Green Party should be calling out the Democrats for such a horrendous “green” policy that they are pushing but is anything but green.
Ocean protection
Greens plan on: creating preserves and protecting 40% of oceans as protected waters, ban off shore drilling, ban liquified gas facilities, phase out nuclear plants use of ocean water, require waste water be processed twice, ban transport of nuclear waste, ban sonar tests, ban whaling and support the international ban on whaling, ban drift-net fishing and fish from countries that use it, ban coral products, ban fish farming, map toxic dump sites, support the Law of Sea Treaty, and require ropeless fishing.
International environmental policy
Our entire planet needs a new framework and the Green Party has several policies to unite the world on human impact on the environment: create a global framework for the 7 measurable boundaries, create a framework to select 50% of land as a nature reserve, and allow personhood and protections to forests, rivers, mountains, etc…
A global plan and push for conservation is lacking because no country has met the Paris Accords and there is no drive to even attempt to meet them right now. What the GP has proposed is a different approach for the international community to work together to combat climate change.
Rights of nature
Greens want to allow laws that recognize the land as an entity that has rights. Lakes, rivers, streams, hills, mountains, grasslands, forests, and all landforms have rights.
A party that seeks to protect the rights of others and not seek to control or destroy for profit, is a party that upholds the foundation of rights. It is so easy to plunder the land for resources or development, but it is the moral thing to do to protect land and not use it for profit. The planet is dying because we have only treated exploited nature, and the Green Party is hoping to rectify our damage through these protections that nature deserves and needs.
Section IV Economic Justice and Sustainability
Ecological Economics
For the Green Party, they would like to create a system where we look at production in a way that is sustainable and restorable. To accomplish this the Greens plan to: call for a more diverse economic system, support community-based economics, advocate for economics that are more egalitarian, endorse true-cost pricing, build eco-socialist economy, look at the economy as an ecosystem and maintain that balance, create a fund for all workers who lose jobs due to the green transition, and support multiple index measurements to assess health and income of the public.
Measuring economic health
Changing the way we assess our economic health, the Green Party would like to use different measurements and are going to: move away from using the GDP and instead use steady state economy which entails a stable population and per capita consumption that do not exceed the carrying capacity of ecosystems, using infant mortality rates, and looking at ways to distribute global wealth between countries.
What innovative ways to assess our economy and the global economy that would keep our consumption in check with the environment and keep wealth equitable between all countries. Never have I thought or heard of any such policies and it is a breath of fresh air to see such progressive policies.
Curbing corporate power
Corporations have excessive power and to rebalance our entire system the Greens will: end corporate personhood, federal chartering of corporations, create legislation that will hold corporations legally responsible, revoke the charters of corporations that repeatedly break the law, empower shareholders to use a democratic system of electing managers, enforce the antitrust laws and add tougher ones on top of the existing laws, and increase funding for oversight of antitrust laws.
With several massive mergers taking place and the Democrats doing nothing to stop them even though they claim to be against such mergers, this is essential in our economy as options for consumers continues to diminish and services offered become more expensive and ineffective because the market is cornered by huge corporate monoliths.
Livable income
This is huge! The Green Party plans to: provide every American with a living wage, support job banks and offer publicly funded opportunities, salary inequalities are due to the policy-makers disregard for workers, and working with other countries to set a living wage through trade agreements.
Absolutely blown away over this very progressive policy of providing a wage to everyone no matter what. This is the way the government should be, a way to help the people they govern and not meant to monopolize and amass wealth from their labor, but offer assistance and support to their citizens.
Fair taxation
The Green Party does not stop there! They keep that progressive momentum going in the tax system through: exempting people from taxes who make less than $25,000 and families that make under $50,000, exempting food, medicine, and prescriptions from sales tax, end corporate bailouts, impose a tax on stock trades for corporations, block monetary transactions with tax havens, decrease the $1 million value on the mortgage interest tax deduction, restore estate tax, apply the FICA to investment income, oppose Social Security privatization, create a wealth tax for people who make over $5 million, create carbon taxes on fossil fuels, eliminate subsidies for resource extraction/degradation corporations (oil, mining, timber), tax resource extractors and not individuals work (as in income tax), create a new system Community Ground Rent/Land Value Taxation, create a new system for pricing called the True Cost Pricing, impose a carbon fee, simplify the tax code, eliminate subsidies and tax credits for jobs sent overseas, and raise taxes on junk food.
The only people who would be against this plan would be the very wealthy individuals because the majority of Americans would benefit on this system. It does not impact the wealthy in earth shattering ways either, so it is fair to them as well.
Local economic development
Protect local businesses from large chains, support cooperative businesses and programs, allow local governments determine large development projects, allow local governments to set higher standards than the federal, invest in infrastructure and restoring the environment, support local living wage laws, allow local governments to create their own currency, require place of origin labeling, and require businesses to divulge all transgressions the business has committed when applying for permits.
How interesting is the idea to have local governments create their own currency. I want to hear and know more about this idea because it could be really helpful to people if it is the way I am thinking that you can earn these community bucks and spend it on services within the community like 50 of the town dollars and you can take the “money” and purchase plants from the communal gardens. What would be even more helpful is if these local dollars could be used on bills.
Small business and self-employed
To help small businesses and people who are self-employed, the Greens plan on: cutting the paperwork and bureaucracy overseeing small businesses and self-employed people, health insurance premiums for self-employed should be tax deductible, state and local governments need to reward the businesses and self-employed that assist and help the community, pension funds should be a source of capital for small businesses, bring insurance costs down expanding insurance pools and actively engaging the insurance industry, provide an agency for people looking to change careers or open a new business, support telecommuting and people who are working from home, and help in-home businesses by removing zoning issues.
Work and job creation
Create low-consumption communities and alternative living arrangement, universal healthcare for everyone, create local currencies and barter system, subsidizing technological development that help the economy, create non-profit corporations, provide support to people looking for alternatives to jobs,
Banking and insurance reform
Buckle up for the Greens policies to reform banking which include: break up the largest banks, regulate financial derivatives, re-enact the Glass-Steagall Act, oppose the federal government guaranteeing speculative investments, ensure middle and low income earners have access to banking, oppose disinvestment services, extend the Community Reinvestment act, strengthen disclosure laws, oppose arbitrary and discriminatory practices, support the development of community banks, support the expansion of credit unions, prosecute financial fraud, fine and imprison banks and lenders for fraudulent practices, forgiveness of all student loans, and support public banking.
The reform for insurance includes: eliminate special interest protections, create single-payer insurance that is free to all, support the industry’s effort to reduce deaths, support secondary-insurance markets, ban companies from being beneficiary over their employees, cap interest rates at 10%, crack down on crime in the financial industry, reduce high pay for executives, support the creation of a Citizen's Utility Board, and tax stock transactions to discourage excessive speculation.
Pension reform
Workers should also be on pension boards for their companies, change federal law so that pension funds do not have to meet the prevailing market rate, create a secondary pension market, and support pension funds that make money and help other businesses.
Anti-trust enforcement
Hold mergers to a high standard if it create a business of over $1 billion, redefine “relevant market share”, Congress needs to actually legislate to end monopolies, and end corporate entitlements.
Advanced technology and defense conversion
End nuclear proliferation, oppose weapons in space, continue public and private space programs, reallocate money to other programs and not the military, ban on patenting life forms, have the TAO look at the relationship between technology and assess its relation to quality of life, create licenses for technology requiring they are in the public interest, allow broadband internet be open to bidding, increase protection for user privacy of the internet, break up software monopolies, support copyright laws of software, open up public debate on nanotechnology, create a public oversight group that regulates nanotechnology, research the consequences and exposure to nanotechnology, support development of other technology that contains nanotechnology, and create safeguards that can control nanotechnology.
National debt
Reduce the national debt by raising the taxes of the wealthy and corporations, and pay the debt immediately.
Monetary reform
Nationalize the 12 federal reserve banks and make the Bureau of the U.S. Treasury in charge of the Federal Reserve, all new money will be debt-free, and all new money will be spent by Congress on the public.