GPCA Platform

Ecology & Earth Stewardship








As Greens we understand humans are but one part of the ecosystem with a unique responsibility. That responsibility is to develop an understanding of environmental sustainability and to live and promote those practices that support it. Ecologically sound principles of living can guarantee protection for the Earth and all its people. Our commitment to ecological wisdom leads us to take natural systems as a model for human interaction. The interconnectedness of all things has helped us to realize that our practices of generating waste separate us from natural systems; in nature degraded matter is decomposed and returned to the web of life as nutrients. Our commitment to environmental justice has helped us to understand that in a closed system we all live downstream and downwind. Of special importance is the need to rectify the practice of toxic racism.

Nature uses and reuses everything through continual recycling. We should pattern our use of resources after nature in sustainable cycles.

California alone produces more waste than the whole of China. We squander our resources through wasteful practices like excessive packaging, and throw away useful resources by burying them in massive and useless landfills.

The Green Party promotes conservation and recycling to:

Create a market for recycled goods through legal and tax incentives.
Institute convenient curbside recycling (including yard clippings) in all urban areas.
Manufacture "recycled" paper, labeled as such, out of a specific percentage of post-consumer waste paper.
Rapidly phase out composites and other materials that cannot be recycled.
Educate our children on the benefits of recycling.
Simplify procedures that let people choose not to receive junk mail.
Maintain deposits on glass, metal and plastic beverage containers or incorporate them into broader, more comprehensive community solid-waste recycling programs.
Legislate limitations in packaging and impose penalties for wasteful packaging.
Legislate in favor of recycling used tires, and against burning of tires (tire-derived fuels) in manufacturing. [see Protection of the Atmosphere plank]
Remove obstacles to the sale of items in bulk, and standardize containers to make their reuse easier.
Restructure garbage rates to encourage reduction in the volume of waste.
Design and produce high quality goods that are durable, repairable and, then, recyclable at the end of their useful life; this concept is the opposite of the current "planned obsolescence."
Expand recycling promotion programs to keep the importance of recycling active in the minds of Californians.
Encourage all businesses to minimize their use of `virgin' resources, replacing them with reusable/recycled resources.

Water is essential to all forms of life. The many roles water performs in the natural world deserve our respect and protection. A clean, safe supply of drinking water is of paramount concern to every California resident. Our existing surface and groundwater must be protected from pollution by agricultural and industrial wastes as well as runoff from our homes and roadways.

Cycles of intense drought and flooding have demonstrated the need to reorient our priorities in order to achieve a truly sustainable water policy. Over-development and poor planning have resulted in increasing rain-impermeable areas, which then compound the severity and frequency of flooding and pollution in regions downstream. We must begin to understand and apply a holistic "watershed approach" to managing our state's water resources. The principle of bioregionalism - living within the means of a region's natural resources - should give direction to future water policies.

Conservation (reduce, reuse, recycle) must be an essential part of any water policy. Water conservation also reduces energy consumption and pollution.

MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) is a gasoline additive used to lower auto tailpipe emissions. It has leaked from underground tanks and has polluted drinking water supplies. As of 2001, about 1200 tank sites leaking MTBE lie within 1000 feet of California supply wells or on vulnerable drinking water aquifers serving millions of people.

The Green Party proposes:

Mandate water efficient appliances and fixtures be used in all new construction, and promote retrofitting of older buildings.
Promote native landscaping and other drought resistant / climate-appropriate plants, in order to reduce the need for irrigation. Where irrigation is necessary, promote drip irrigation systems.
Eliminate storm water pollution of our water resources through education of our citizens, enforcement of our laws and holistic watershed management. Promote storm water technologies that detain, treat, filtrate and use storm waters near where it is collected.
Promote the appropriate reuse of the "gray" and "black" waters we produce. Use separation techniques such as dual piping systems where pure water is used for drinking and washing, and reclaimed water is used for lawn watering and similar purposes.
Mandate pre-treatment of industrial wastes to eliminate the presence of metals, solvents and other toxins in sewer water. This would reduce the cost of municipal treatment and encourage wastewater reuse.
Promote passive and natural systems (such as wetlands) for water and wastewater treatment, where appropriate.
Eliminate water subsidies for corporate agribusiness. Higher water prices give agribusiness incentives to conserve.
Assist community organizations to monitor the use of local resources, and to oversee the enforcement of water quality regulations.
Preserve and restore the state's natural water features - California's streams, rivers, lakes, bays, wetlands and groundwater aquifers - which are vital to achieving sustainable use of state water resources.
Immediately ban the use of MTBE. Use ethanol which is produced from corn. Prevent future such sources of pollution. (See the Transportation plank for ways to reduce gasoline use.)

A stable atmosphere is essential for maintaining human, animal and plant health.

The Earth's protective ozone layer is being depleted by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-destroying chemicals. This has already resulted in increased cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth's surface causing changes in plankton populations - basis of the ocean's food chain. The extent of this ozone destruction has been confirmed by data from satellites and is far greater than most experts had predicted. Doctors fear a serious increase in skin cancers and immune system disorders.

Our fossil-fuel dependent life-style releases huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Cattle release large quantities of methane. These and other gasses tend to trap the Earth's heat and prevent it from being radiated back into space. This contributes to a gradual destabilization of the earth's climate - the warming trend known as the greenhouse effect. Fragile ecological systems cannot adapt quickly enough to survive expected climate changes. Damage to the crop producing capacity of many agricultural areas will lead to widespread hunger.

Also, increasing incidents of emission of carcinogenic toxics into California's air directly threaten human and animal health.

The Green Party demands that these dangers be countered by:

The U.S. holding to its time line to ban the use of CFCs and other ozone destroying products, and promote research of replacement substances where substitutes are not readily available.
The U.S. legislating reduction of its carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2005.
Cooperating with the rest of the world in reducing the use of fossil fuels by large scale conservation, and by converting to safe, renewable energy sources.
California banning the burning of tire-derived fuels (TDFs), as these have been shown to increase the toxicity of the air we breathe. Recycling of used tires is an eco-friendly alternative to incineration. [see the Recycling plank.]
Implementing the provisions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The U.S. should work on other international agreements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Halting deforestation. Global warming is aggravated by deforestation since plant life, primarily forests, breaks up CO2 through photosynthesis. We must undertake domestic and international reforestation programs to help preserve the atmosphere.
Establishing an environmental trust fund with money raised from pollution fees and other public revenues. The fund should be administered by an appropriate governmental agency and used to assist programs such as reforestation, conversion to non-polluting energy sources, and development of substitutes for ozone-destroying substances.

The California public has a right to know what is being emitted into the environment from all emission sources and all chemical formulations.

The Green Party of California supports as pristine an environment as is possible, the maximum effort to recycle chemicals, the replacement of toxic compounds with less toxic ones, conservation, and waste minimization. The California public has a right to know what is being emitted into the environment from all emission sources and all chemical formulations.

The major California air pollution sources in 2006 were in order of decreasing emission tonnage: road vehicles; non-road vehicles; businesses and industries; and consumer/household items. For water pollution arising from air pollution, please see the Water platform plank.

The major polluters have traditionally settled their legal cases rather than face formal trial. Such settlements have been as high as $400 million as from Los Angeles Airport in 2004 for air pollution from planes and refueling tankers.

Governor Schwarzenegger and the Democratic Party legislature proposed in 2006 that California utilities generate at least 20% of their electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2010, and 33% by 2020. Furthermore in AB32 (2006), greenhouse emissions are to be reduced 18% by 2012, and 25% by 2020. California can do better than that.

Bio-methane sources in rural areas are another cause for concern. Thus in the San Joaquin valley, bio-methane emissions, primarily from dairy operations, exceed emissions from motor vehicles. Subsidized methane digesters and electric co-generators are used to remedy such emissions ("netmetering"). The healthcare cost of San Joaquin valley air pollution is about $3 billion/year, about $1,000/person/year. Similar bio-methane problems occur in Riverside and San Bernadino counties.

Emissions in California related to global warming have jumped 85% between 1960 and 2001 according to Environment California in 2006. The U.S. emits about half of the world's car-caused greenhouse carbon dioxide emissions, while California emits 10% of the U.S. total. California should be a role model for the United States in minimizing greenhouse gases.

The State of California should:

End the Air Pollution Credit ("Offset") System of the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The current air pollution credit system allows large corporations to distribute their air pollution over many emission sites. This causes local high air concentration emissions to offset the planned turnarounds or maintenance of their individual industrial plants. Air pollution thresholds should apply to each individual industrial plant to safeguard local communities who live near the emission source. The current air pollution credit system also allows large corporations to purchase air pollution credits from other corporations that are in compliance. Such inter-corporation purchase of credits must also end as it undercuts prevention of environmental pollution. Hybrid systems of "trading emissions" may be supported as interim measures if there are definite upper thresholds for individual emission sources and a plan to lower overall emissions relative to the previous 5 years for high polluters.
Promote the Use of Alternative Sources of Energy Relative to Fossil Fuels. Subsidies, regulations, and tax incentives should be provided for use and development of solar, wind, and other systems of alternative energy sources in California. See also the Energy Plank. Needs assessments, cost/benefit studies, and environmental impact statements need to be developed for every new public power/energy source or facility where alternatives to the planned source or facility are specified, including all proposed off-shore facilities within California territorial limits. The state should promulgate the following goals relative to use of alternative/renewable sources of energy relative to total sources of energy used: 65% by 2035; 40% by 2025; 25% by 2015. Tax incentives should be provided to utilities that achieve these goals.
Promote the Implementation and Development of Sustainable Technologies. Subsidies, regulations, and tax incentives should be provided for development and use of sustainable technologies that feature the maximum in recycling (for example, water and toxic chemicals), the minimum use of toxic chemicals, the minimum in air pollution emission and waste production potential, conservation, the minimum in perturbation of natural ecosystems, source controls, and that feature the highest efficiency technology, all commensurate with the use of best available technology, cost, and practicability. All non-motor vehicle sources of chemicals must have labels and/or material safety data sheets that account for at least 95% of the mass stating the chemical composition of a material, and for each constituent stating what the potentials for air and water pollution are, the potential toxicity, and protective measures.
Promote the Lowering of Emissions from Mobile Sources by Building New Transportation Systems that Are Earthquake Stable and that Feature Transport Systems Not Based on Fossil Fuels. While bus and truck systems are still essential for public transport, subsidies, regulations, and tax incentives are needed to develop and use rail, escalator, and conveyer links involving no transporting vehicles that run fossil fuels. As interim measures, old inefficient diesel trucks need to be upgraded or replaced, and tunnels/underground sites with high fossil-fuel derived pollution need to be progressively replaced. See also the Transportation Plank.
Increase Fuel Efficiency in Mobile Sources that Use Fossil Fuels to Decrease Air Emissions. Licensed automobiles using fossil fuels should achieve greater than 30 miles to the fossil fuel gallon. Cars not achieving this minimum mileage per gallon should not be licensed. The current average recommended federal rate is 27.5 mile/gallon formulated in the 1970s, but it is not enforced. See also the Energy Plank.
Control Greenhouse Gas Emissions Independent of Federal Policy. Global warming needs to be controlled by California to limit emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the air in accordance with the Kyoto Treaty. Emissions should be capped for the state's ten worst emitters of the previous five years. See also the Energy Plank.
Continue Toxics Release and Environmental Pollution Inventories. The California public has a right to know what is being released annually into the California environment from industrial, home, and government sources.
Educate Workers and Management in the Principles of Air Pollution Prevention. Corporations and the state should educate workers, staff and management on the major principles of air pollution prevention. Such education would cover the state and federal legal situation, emission controls, air pollution history, the unit processes involved in the creation of pollution and contamination, how to measure pollution, the interpretation of air pollution data, and the role of human factors.
Report on Legal Cases and Legal Settlements on Air Pollution. Part of public education is the knowledge of what legal cases and settlements have occurred to underline the continuing seriousness and incidence of air pollution, as well as the regular reports of state and federal agencies on air pollution data.
Create a California Environmental Ombudsman Office to Settle Legal Cases and Disputes about Environmental Pollution. The establishment of a neutral but skilled body involving university professors, environmental lawyers, and certified environmental professionals to hear disputed environmental cases would help the legal system deliver more informed judgments.
Support California State, County, City, and Local Legislative Measures Designed to Decrease Air Pollution and Increase Emission Source Control, and to Advance the Development and Use of Alternative Sources of Energy. While the California Chamber of Commerce has stated that limiting emissions in California will shift emissions to foreign countries because of job outsourcing, this specious argument needs to be answered by insisting on support for measures to alleviate California pollution that endangers local communities, especially in the case of start-up of new industrial plants, new mobile sources, and those industrial sources that have bad track records.
Continue Netmetering Payback beyond 2010 to Remedy Bio-Methane Emissions in Rural Areas. The government subsidy ("payback") to promote use of current technology to assure control of bio-methane emissions ("netmetering") in rural areas is ending in 2010. It needs to be extended indefinitely to decrease greenhouse gas emissions from animals.

Our oceans, with their enormous diversity of life and function, are essential to life on Earth and must be preserved.

Yet today the oceans are threatened by both governments and businesses who want to exploit ocean resources without considering the consequences. Exploitation of undersea mineral wealth is often done without regard for the environmental damage to land and sea. Greed and indiscriminate harvesting techniques lead to needless devastation of marine species.

Ocean vessels contaminate the sea through leaks large and small, and by dumping their refuse with impunity. Whole oceans are threatened with radioactive contamination by ships transporting weapons-grade plutonium, and by oceanic testing of nuclear weapons. The oceans are further contaminated by heavily polluted streams and rivers, and by undersea toxic dump sites with secret contents.

The Green Party supports ocean protection measures:

The U.S. signing the Laws of the Sea Treaty that establishes the global sharing of ocean resources.
Support the National Oceans Protection Act which bans offshore drilling to a distance of 50 to 175 miles from U.S. shores.
Support the California Sanctuary Act that established permanent protection of state waters.
Establish environmental standards for ocean-going vessels.
Ban ocean transportation of nuclear and toxic wastes.
Map undersea toxic dump sites and, where possible, recover and treat the toxic wastes.
Ban drift-net fishing, a practice that indiscriminately kills marine mammals and other species not intended for the catch. Ban importing of fish and fish products from countries that use drift-nets.
Legislate phasing out U.S. factory trawlers while promoting sustainable, community-based fishing.
Ban the importing of coral products and the destruction of breakwaters which are necessary to protect dying reefs.
Maintain the ban on international whale trade debated at the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES).

Forests are indispensable to human and animal life and must be protected.

Vast forests once covered most land. They moderate the Earth's climate and provide habitats for myriad species of wildlife. The Earth's remaining forests are a critical resource in that useful products, especially medicines, originate in the forest. Today's global market economy, in the hands of multi-national corporations, irresponsibly uses and often destroys this valuable and irreplaceable resource.

The governments of many countries are selling off their rain forest land to cattle growers for the production of cheap beef, most of which is exported to First World countries such as the U.S. Unsuitable rain forest land is also given to subsistence farmers who, in a few seasons, ruin the soil, while in the meantime landowners hoard prime agricultural land for speculation. In California, on both state and federal lands, trees are harvested and the raw logs are exported, causing jobs to be exported.

The Green Party calls for actions to protect our forests:

Overhaul California and U.S. Forest Service rules to protect our forests and use them wisely.
Review, reform and restructure all federal and state land-use policies so that our practices become environmentally sustainable, and forests will provide a continuing supply of high quality wood products.
Stop building logging roads in national forests at taxpayers' expense. These roads not only cost more than the revenue from timber sales which they expedite, but they also contribute to soil erosion and silting of streams which ruin fish habitats.
Ban the harvest of Ancient Forests.
Ban the export of raw logs and other minimally processed forest products (pulp, chips, carts, slabs, etc.), which causes American job loss.
Offer subsidies to local watershed-based mills. This will maximize employment opportunities through value-adding processing, and promotes sustainability and worker control.
Use work projects, goats and other sustainable methods to control undergrowth rather than spraying herbicides, especially near communities.
Grow and use hemp as a plentiful and renewable resource for the manufacture of paper and other forest products.
Protect significant archaeological, historical and cultural sites.
Support the rights of people indigenous to the rain forest, and their ecologically sound use of the forests - such as rubber extraction, nut gathering and collection of medicinal herbs. We should end the importation of rain forest beef.
Forgive the debts of Third World countries that need help in halting the destruction of their rain forest lands. [see Third World Debt plank]
Develop labels that identify ecologically sound forest products. This would help consumers to support ecologically sound forestry.
Maintain and restore values such as the protection of wildlife habitats, fisheries, biodiversity, scenery and recreation. We must accept responsibility for the effect local actions have on the global economy and ecology.

Ecological wisdom demands an agricultural practice that conserves water, soil and energy with a minimum of pollution.

However, the bulk of our current agriculture consists of large-scale agribusinesses that rely heavily on the use of chemical biocides and fertilizers rather than organic methods. Economic subsidies mask the true cost of farming practices that deplete the land and pollute the soil and water. Precious water resources used to grow monoculture crops and raise animals in factory farms are often unsanitary and cause great misery to the animals. This system has resulted in the loss of half the nation's topsoil, pollution of aquifers and waterways, a massive waste of natural resources, and a decline in the nutritional quality of our food.

Rising new industries such as organic cotton and industrial hemp are testimony to a shift in public perception and demand for more sustainable products. Current cotton cultivation practices cause it to be one of the most polluting crops, using a defoliant in addition to the standard biocides. Industrial hemp, with a natural resistance to pests and weeds, had been a staple in our society until 1937. Hemp is replacing tobacco on experimental farms in Canada. It is a viable alternative to the use of forest products, and is a durable clothing material and food supplement.

The Green Party calls for:

Providing incentives for small-scale family farms, biological diversity in crop cultivation, and regional approaches to food supplies rather than the transportation of food over long distances to markets.
Implementing soil conservation practices, such as contour planting and bioregional restoration, to curb topsoil loss. Using crop rotation, compost and other organic fertilizers so nutrients will regenerate the land.
Reordering of agricultural colleges to teach organic and sustainable farming methods. Schools like the University of California Agricultural Extension should perform research in organic farming methods and integrated pest management as a way to replace our present emphasis on chemical biocides and fertilizers.
Banning the development of plant varieties that are tolerant of increased levels of chemical biocides. Ending genetic engineering in agriculture and the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment.
Implementing pollution fees on non-organic fertilizers, and using the resulting revenue for environmental restoration.
Ending importation of agricultural products treated with chemicals banned in the U.S.
Educating the public to increase acceptance of organic produce rather than favoring the appearance-enhanced variety grown with biocides.
Fully deregulating the growth and production of industrial hemp, with assistance to farmers for converting to hemp cultivation.
Educating the public on the differences between industrial hemp and its cousin marijuana.
Opposing the weakening of the current California standards that define "organic food."

Ecological wisdom demands an end to methods of pest and weed control that poison the Earth, disrupt ecosystems, and threaten the health of people and other living things.

Massive biocide use is a failed policy perpetuated by agribusiness and the chemical industry. These businesses value profits over human and ecological health. The more biocides are used, the more target organisms develop resistance to them, and biological controls are disrupted. Pesticides directly endanger farm workers, neighboring populations, wildlife and, ultimately, consumers. Aerial spraying is particularly dangerous since it results in a wider distribution of the poisons.

The Green Party demands a rapid curtailment of biocide use by:

Quickly phasing out biocide use. Sustainable, integrated pest management (IPM) with organic pest control methods should be substituted.
Immediately halting aerial spraying of biocides and herbicides, including spraying by cities, school boards, Caltrans and other government agencies. This is especially important near human communities and water supplies.
Establishing neighborhood groups acting in concert with government agencies to monitor local pesticide use. The California EPA should investigate violations in biocide use, with appropriate public oversight provisions to diminish bias from government and industry. The EPA should improve standards used to determine the safety of chemicals allowed on the market.
Stop exporting to other countries pesticides that are illegal in the U.S.

We must adopt attitudes and practices that respect the rights of present and future generations to a healthy environment. Toxic waste poisons the ecosystem rendering it unhealthy and often unlivable.

Through pollution, toxic wastes and radioactive contamination, our society is seriously damaging our environment. Once toxic materials are released into the environment it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to contain or neutralize them. EPA standards for the control of toxins are inadequate, poorly enforced, and allow for the export of known toxins to other countries. Identification and clean-up of toxic sites, even critical superfund sites, are severely inadequate.

The Green Party promotes an aggressive policy to control and counter toxins:

Develop, or bring back into common use, alternatives to toxins so that we can eliminate their use.
Contain and neutralize toxins at their point of use. Once the toxins are introduced into the environment, controlling them becomes difficult or impossible.
Fine companies convicted of dumping toxins at a rate higher than it would have cost them to neutralize the poisons in the first place.
Apply a standard of "dangerous until proven safe" to questionable substances, with the burden of proof on manufacturers and industrial users rather than on the public.
Cleaned up toxic wastes on military and industrial sites. Companies hired to perform toxic clean-ups must not have previously profited from the production, supply or use of those substances. Companies that previously profited should be required to perform clean-up services at cost.
Make companies that supplied the toxins at military sites pay at least 50% of the clean-up costs, with government funds from the military budget used for the balance.
Set and enforce stringent standards through a revitalized EPA. We must not let businesses influence or hinder the EPA's work.
Support "strict, joint and several liability" as enacted under Superfund legislation as the surest method of tapping the 'deep pockets' of corporate polluters, and ensuring that responsible parties pay for hazardous waste cleanups. Liability reform must not become a shield protecting polluters' profits.
Protect the right of everyone to a healthy environment regardless of race, income, or national origin. Poor, minority or immigrant communities should no longer be convenient locations for hazardous facilities and toxic dumping. These acts of toxic racism violate the principles of environmental justice. [see Environmental Justice plank]
Develop community-based systems to identify and organize "neighborhoods at risk," and to initiate actions to counter pollution.

Greens promote the healthiest possible environment for current and future generations. We therefore strongly oppose current energy policies which continue producing nuclear wastes which can not be stored safely.

Ionizing radiation is inherently injurious to life. While unavoidable background levels of radiation exist, we must minimize future releases of radiation into the environment. Any increase in radiation, no matter how small, adds to the cumulative damage of living organisms.

Historically, nuclear electric energy was a spin-off from nuclear weapons production for the military. It gave an ideological justification for continued proliferation of nuclear technology around the world. It served to make nuclear fission appear more benevolent, and promoted the myth that nuclear power was cheap and safe.

The Green Party calls for a halt to contamination and to continued production of wastes:

Immediate halt mining of uranium, most of which occurs on indigenous lands here and on other continents.
Halt all U.S. research and development of new nuclear weapons systems and continue dismantling existing stocks.
Stop U.S. involvement in international proliferation of nuclear weapons, and sign a meaningful Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. [see Disarmament plank]
Adopt a policy for the safest possible storage of existing radioactive materials, and discontinue attempting their "disposal" in land repositories.
Rapidly phase out production of electric power from nuclear sources, and oppose the National Energy Plan's call for construction of hundreds of new nuclear plants.
Curtail the medical profession's overuse of radioactive isotopes in diagnostic and treatment procedures, and increase research for alternatives.
Recycle medical radioactive materials when possible, and develop storage-to-decay facilities for short-lived medical wastes.
Ban shallow land disposal and incineration of all radioactive wastes.
Hold all nuclear producers responsible in perpetuity for wastes they generate.
Establish strong, enforceable penalties for radioactive contamination of the environment.
Disallow "deregulation" of any level of wastes to "Below Regulatory Concern" (BRC) status, or their use in consumer products.
Establish independent monitoring networks for all military and civilian nuclear facilities.
Ban irradiation of food products.
Ban nuclear materials in international transportation and trade.
Ban nuclear materials aboard craft launched into space.

Conservation, efficiency and renewable energy sources are essential elements of our proposed energy policy.

The 2000-2001 California energy "crisis" reminded us to reaffirm this. We need to develop strategies that recognize that fossil fuels are formed in geological time and cannot be replaced in the short term and they are being depleted rapidly (except coal). Moreover, our current dependence on fossil fuels (especially coal) is creating unacceptable environmental damage, including climate change that will bring great hardship to many humans and non-human life.

Conserving energy will reduce the need for fossil fuels and dangerous nuclear energy. We can also lessen our dependence upon energy sources by driving more fuel efficient cars and by simplifying our lifestyles to include things such as living closer to our work. [see Transportation plank]

U.S. dependence on imported oil contributes to our military involvement in other parts of the world. Elimination or reduction of this dependence would eliminate or diminish the reason, or the excuse, for such military involvement. In addition, with concern about further attacks, security of California energy resources becomes more important. Decentralizing energy production is important to improve security from attack and also for less dependence on large facilities feeding into massive grids that are easily disrupted.

Proposed state and national energy policies would loosen environmental protections. Clean air, clean water, endangered species, and the Alaska Wildlife Refuge are all threatened. Many local communities, often poor and minority, are being threatened by mining activities, waste storage, waste incineration, dirty production facilities and other assaults. Nuclear Power is being promoted as a solution to global warming but it leaves long-lived and dangerous wastes in its wake [see Environmental Justice and Nuclear Contamination planks]

Streamlining of permits in response to the 2000-2001 energy "crisis" has changed the process for siting power plants. It sidestepped previous environmental legislation and the process by which residents participate in the decision making. Also it has lead to an increase in the number of fossil fuel peaker plants which are used when demand for power is the highest. They are less efficient than new full-size natural gas plants and they emit much more pollution per unit of energy produced.

Regulation vs. Deregulation vs. Public Power

California's failed attempt to deregulate energy utilities points out the dangers of investing our energy future in the hands of an energy market committed only to the maximizing of profits. Deregulation has failed to produce the promised rate reduction for residents, but rather has caused our bills to soar.

Deregulation gave the three privately held California utilities a cash windfall that allowed their holding companies to control the allegedly competitive market. They have invested in energy plants in the U.S. and worldwide, and own billions of dollars in assets not touchable by the state to rectify the outstanding utility debts. Under deregulation, many of the state's utility generation facilities were sold to out-of-state companies who then sold that power on the open free market at exorbitant profits.

A growing pool of experience shows that Municipal Utilities Districts and other public power agencies run more efficiently and provide better customer service than Investor Owned Utilities.

California's deregulation law provided a small fund to promote renewable sources, low income assistance, and energy efficiency. The rejected alternative for renewable sources, which was pushed by environmentalists, would have required all electricity generators to produce 10% of their energy from renewable sources. This left a voluntary effort by independent power suppliers to market "green power" to customers. The effort resulted in very little new renewable power sources.

Global Climate Change

In the last decade, the Earth has experienced some of the highest average temperatures ever. The United States is responsible for emitting approximately 25% of all greenhouse gases worldwide. Energy generation, including transportation uses, account for most of this. The Kyoto Protocol committed our country to reducing emissions to 1990 levels. It should be adopted nationally and should commit our state as well to reducing emissions to 1990 levels. [see Protection of the Atmosphere plank]

The Green Party of California proposes:

Phase out fossil fuels as an energy source to the extent possible and convert to renewable sources. Require all electricity sellers to procure at least 10% of their energy from renewable sources. This Renewable Standard Portfolio for California should rise to 20% by 2010.
Use subsidies, incentives and regulations to encourage the development of such renewable sources as passive solar for heating and cooling buildings solar water heating, solar electricity (photovoltaics hydrogen fuel, biomass geothermal, ocean, wind and small scale hydroelectric). For example, reinstate the "direct access" option for residential consumers so that they can get power from companies using renewable sources.
Establish higher energy efficiency standards for lighting, home and office appliances and industrial motors; and increase rebate and replacement programs.
Require energy efficiency, passive solar and solar water heating in building codes. Do not permit homeowner associations and condo associations to restrict member owners from installing solar equipment on their commonly held rooftops and hanging out laundry.
Support a massive project of energy conservation. We must make up for years of under-funding of energy conservation. We need more efficient appliance purchase rebates, small business conservation loans and grants, training and small business development for energy service providers, energy conservation innovation and curriculum in public school science courses on how renewable energy sources work.
Include information in utility bills about where to obtain energy saving products.
Restructure electricity rates so that residents are not paying more than big business. Require large users who have not done all they can to reduce energy use to pay more for electricity. Develop a tiered residential pricing system that takes into account family size.
Work toward full public ownership and democratic control of energy production and distribution.
Require utilities to accept net metering (the selling of the excess power to the grid by private generators) to encourage building of alternative energy generation and stipulate that it be done at retail rates.
Use "time-of-use" pricing as much as possible and install time-of-day meters for large users.
Create an incentive program to encourage conservation by landlords. Landlords refuse to pay to insulate homes, etc. because the tenant pays the energy bill, so the landlord has no financial incentive.
Cities or utilities should have someone designated to educate energy wasters. Someone that people would be able to call when they see careless energy wasting, like parking lot lights left on all day at a big box store.
Stop subsidies for the research and development of nuclear power and oppose license extensions for nuclear power plants. Shut down existing nuclear power plants and replace them with renewable sources. Repeal the federal Price-Anderson Act, which limits the financial liability of the nuclear industry in case of accidents. Insurance companies will not cover nuclear power plants, so this liability is a subsidy to the nuclear power industry now borne by taxpayers.
Repeal Governor Davis's "permit streamlining process" for siting power plants. Use solar to meet peak demand.
Adopt the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and implement measures as soon as possible to reduce national and state carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels.
Employ union labor in green energy projects.
To better distribute renewable sources, there should be more emphasis on individual solar power from photovoltaic panels installed on every roof possible and subsidized by the government with increased buy-down rates and low-interest loans to those who need them.
Make our supply of energy more secure through decentralized energy production, including new technologies such as hydrogen fuel and fuel cells, and less dependence on outside sources of energy. We should seek more energy independence within California borders.
Prohibit sale of power generating and distribution assets to out-of-state power companies who would not be subject to California Public Utilities Commission oversight and control.
When Green Power marketers reenter the market here they should provide new renewables and avoid top-down, anti-democratic, funder-led objectives.
Replace aging, inefficient and polluting plants.

The Green Party urges the adoption of a transportation policy emphasizing the use of mass transit and alternatives to the automobile and truck.

California needs transportation that minimizes pollution and maximizes energy efficiency. California alone is responsible for 1/20th of the global greenhouse gas problem. Automobiles contribute a significant portion of this - the number of cars in California is increasing at twice our human population growth rate. Surfaces impermeable to rainwater, polluted storm run-off, paved-over or polluted wetlands, the heat island effect (increased temperature from heat-absorbing pavement), air pollution, and acid rain are all directly related to an ecologically unbalanced transportation system.

Our current transportation systems depend on oil for energy. Petroleum is a finite resource and it will run out some day. World oil supplies will decline in the near future. Postponing the development of conservation technologies and alternative energy sources will cause the inevitable transition from oil to be that much more expensive and difficult.

Massive subsidies to the auto and fossil fuel industries, as well as unworkable approaches by urban planners, maintain the auto's dominance of our cityscapes. The practice of upgrading streets to relieve traffic congestion just generates new traffic because access is now easier. People then take jobs further from their homes or purchase homes further from their jobs. Some people shift from public transit to private cars because the trip time in cars is shorter. When fewer people use public transit, it loses funding. As service deteriorates, even more people use their cars and the cycle continues

To counteract these trends and reduce auto use, the Green Party advocates the following strategies:

Pedestrians and Bicyclists

Make streets, neighborhoods and commercial districts more pedestrian-oriented.
Increase the greenery on streets to encourage people to get out of their cars. This also helps reduce the heat-island effect.
Implement traffic-calming methods so that the design of local streets promotes safe speeds and safe interaction with pedestrians. Create small, walkable auto-free zones.
Develop extensive networks of bicycle lanes and paths.
Include bike racks on all public transit. Provide adequate bike parking at all transit stations and other public destinations.
Provide free bicycles for tourists, visitors or others without bicycles so they can ride around town pollution-free. Provide necessary support services to encourage the use of bicycles.

Mass Transit

Redirect resources and subsidies that currently go to enhancing auto capacity into expanding transit options like mass transit that provide service to the most people at the lowest financial and environmental cost.
Develop affordable and accessible mass transit systems - they should be more economical and convenient to use than private vehicles.
Deploy non-petroleum powered or highly efficient busses. Such technologies as fuel cells, hybrids, bio-diesel and electric are currently available or are close to full development.
Encourage employer subsidies of transit commuter tickets for employees, funded by government congestion management grants.
Use existing auto infrastructure for transit expansion where possible. Light rail could be established in expressway medians through metropolitan high-density corridors.
Include transportation issues in land use decisions, such as the need for mass transit to have a market and be viable, and cross commuting (people commuting to a place where they could and should live). [see Urban Land Use plank.]
Provide easy-to-understand and thorough information concerning mass transit schedules, routes and rates. Make this information convenient and accessible to potential commuters.
Design mass transit with roll-on access for the physically disabled. Hoists and lifts are clumsy and time-consuming.

Autos

Place a moratorium on highway widening and use the money for mass transit and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Lower toll fees and provide further incentives for carpools and rideshares.
Discourage unnecessary auto use by limiting free parking in nonresidential areas well served by mass transit.
Substantially increase the taxes on gasoline, but allow some compensation for low-income drivers. [see Creating the Right Incentives plank.]
Legislate a "gas guzzler" tax on new vehicles that get a lower mpg than the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards and offer "gas sipper" rebates for vehicles that get a higher mpg.
Schedule an increase in CAFE standards to 60 mpg for cars and 45 mpg for light trucks within five years.
Develop and market to the general public fuel-efficient cars, such as hybrids, as well as fuel cell, solar, electric and other non-fossil fuel powered vehicles for local travel.

Long Distance Travel

Make airports accessible by local transit systems.
Legislate further incremental reductions in airplane noise and air pollution.
Emphasize the use of light and heavy rail for freight transportation as an alternative to air and truck freight.
Build high-speed rail systems between cities as an alternative to airplanes and cars - especially over highly traveled medium-length routes like San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Well-considered Urban Land strategies are essential to the well being and quality of life of all residents of and visitors to California. Growth must be planned to maximize urban potential and minimize impact on natural resources. Undeveloped lands, wilderness and agricultural lands are necessary for the ecological sustainability of the Earth and must be preserved.

Because the Earth is essentially a closed system, it cannot tolerate unrestrained growth without serious environmental consequences. However, uncontrolled growth and over-development are seen by some as inevitable, or economically desirable ends in themselves. The consequence of this over-development has been and continues to be environmental destruction as areas exceed their natural carrying capacities.

By following the specific items set forth below, planners can design Urban Land Use strategies that will help reduce each person�s �ecological footprint�. Presented by Wackernagel and Rees in their 1996 book Our Ecological Footprint, this term refers to the amount of land the average person actually uses, given overall consumption of housing, food, energy, etc. A smaller ecological footprint per person means less impact on our environment.

The Green Party supports coordinated urban land use patterns that help preserve agricultural and wilderness lands. The Green Party proposes to:

Support ecologically sound, sustainable development and community movements that encompass principles of long-term planning, regenerative ecological design, and the co-existence of human populations with other species and natural systems. Support the use of �green� technologies that restore natural ecosystems while improving the quality of life for humans.
Support the use of the �ecological footprint� model, among others, to help communities assess the burden they place on their local, regional, and global environment, and in understanding where they can apply the above concepts in their own communities.
Encourage appropriately higher-density communities and urban infill development as two possible solutions to prevent urban sprawl into agricultural and wilderness areas.
Integrate an increased and sufficient number of affordable housing units into urbanized areas to address the dwelling needs of all citizens, regardless of income. These units should remain a part of the affordable housing stock for the life of the units.
Support population densities in urbanized areas with appropriate infrastructure to facilitate public transit travel, shopping, recycling, renewable energy production, urban forestry, habitat restoration, public park renewal, and the re-development of brownfields.
Support urban planning and development that protects current residents from displacement and encourages a wide variety of housing that will attract a wide variety of new residents.
Support environmental justice policies that give communities a voice in planning future development with the goal of preventing concentration of polluting infrastructure in under-represented poor and/or minority communities.
Plan open spaces, parklands, greenbelts, and public garden plots as components of all development plans to maintain a high quality of life.
Locate schools, places of employment, medical facilities, and shopping areas within easy walking or bicycling distances from residences, or at mass transit stops.
Include bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, for instance safe, inter-connected bike paths and pedestrian-only malls, in development plans.
Support efforts of cities and counties to re-develop, restore, and revitalize impacted local ecosystems.
Support the long-term goal of re-establishing land use patterns and electoral districts consistent with a bioregional model of land use. Make land decisions cooperatively to match ecological demarcations of space.
Explore closed-loop sewage treatment systems and urban graywater systems wherever possible.
Change tax and planning laws to promote decentralized, renewable energy infrastructures in urban and suburban areas.
Change tax and planning laws to promote restoration and revitalization of degraded lands, improvements in watershed management, and protection/reintroduction of listed, threatened, or endangered species in suburban, rural, and agricultural areas.
Educate Californians about reducing levels of consumption including over-consumption of living space.

As Greens, we believe that humanity should share the planet with all its other species.

Our continuing destruction of animal habitats threatens an ever-growing number of species with extinction. This not only deprives these species of their existence, but will deprive future human generations of the enrichment of having these species on the Earth.

For this reason, we emphasize the importance of protecting endangered species and their habitats. All policies concerning human settlement, food, energy, natural resources, water (fresh and saline), coastal development and industrialization should be formulated to prevent further disruption of the non-human ecosystems' ability to maintain themselves.

The Green Party advocates policies to defend wildlife:

Ensure the protection of native animals and plants in their natural surroundings when planning economic developments.
Re-establish habitats for wildlife instead of practicing game species management for maximum sustainable yields.
Reintroduce native species to areas from which they have been eradicated.
Eliminate predator control on public lands, and reintroduce native predators where they would contribute to a viable ecosystem.
Stop any further drainage of wetlands and any further development of shore areas.
Strengthen the Endangered Species Act, as has been recommended by the National Academy of Science.
Educate ourselves about animal behaviors to overcome our culture's irrational fear of wildlife, and learn techniques of co-existence with other species.

Animal farming must be practiced in an ethically and environmentally responsible way.

The current treatment of animals on American farms is unacceptable for ethical, environmental and health reasons. More than half of the water used for all purposes, and 80% of all the grain grown in the U.S., is consumed by livestock. Animal farming is a major contributor to water pollution and the greenhouse effect through the vast amounts of animal waste and methane released into the environment.

Grazing on public lands - called "welfare ranching" because it is largely subsidized by taxpayers - is causing serious damage to ecosystems throughout the western states. The factory farming of cattle, sheep and poultry is an extremely cruel, wasteful, unhealthy and polluting form of agriculture. Animals are kept in overcrowded, unnatural and unsanitary conditions, causing severe physical and psychological suffering. These conditions also cause diseases, so the animals then have to be given antibiotics. Animals are also given hormones to induce rapid growth.

American consumption of large amounts of animal products causes much of our society's cancer, heart disease and other degenerative diseases. In the interests of the environment, health and non-violence, we recognize the value to individuals in adopting a vegetarian diet or even a strict vegan one.

The Green Party advocates humane treatment of farm animals:

Rapidly phase out factory farming and the inhumane treatment of food animals, as other countries are already doing.
Prohibit feedlots and the routine use of hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals, such as genetically engineered compounds like BVT for cows.
Ban the genetic manipulation of farm animals.
Ban the exportation of live animals for overseas slaughter.
Regulate the domestic transportation and slaughter of animals to insure humane treatment.
Transfer the responsibility for enforcing animal welfare laws from the Department of Agriculture to an agency specifically created to protect animals and the environment.
Eliminate all government subsidies, including water subsidies, that go to the meat, poultry and dairy industries.
Terminate permits that allow livestock grazing on public lands.
Initiate public education to encourage people to reduce their consumption of animal foods, including information on healthy vegetarian diets. We should make vegetarian meals available in all public institutions including primary and secondary schools.

As Greens, we replace the traditional western belief that our species is the center of creation, and that other life forms exist only for our use and enjoyment, with an ethic that reveres all life. We don't believe that our species has a right to exploit and inflict violence on other creatures simply because we have the desire and power to do so. Our ethic upholds not only the value of biological diversity and the integrity and continuity of species, but also the value of individual lives and the interest of individual animals.

Throughout history, humanity has exploited other animal species with enormous brutality. We have rationalized this through the belief that the rest of creation has been placed here only for our benefit.

Animal experimentation is an unnecessary, ineffective, and inappropriate research method which must be terminated. For too long, our society has accepted the medical establishment's claim that animal experimentation is necessary, but volumes of evidence shows that not only do alternative testing methods exist, but they might, in fact, be safer and more effective in promoting human health.

The Green Party advocates humane treatment of animals:

Rapidly phase out all animal experimentation.
Rechannel the billions of dollars disbursed annually by the National Institutes of Health for animal experiments into direct health care, preventive medicine and biomedical research using non-animal procedures such as clinical, epidemiological and cell culture research.
Immediately outlaw the use of animals for consumer product testing, tobacco and alcohol testing, psychological testing, classroom demonstrations and dissections, weapons development and other military programs.
Mandate clear labeling of products to tell whether they have been tested on animals and whether they contain any animal products or by-products.
Establish procedures to develop greater public scrutiny of all animal research. The areas to be controlled should include the welfare of laboratory animals, and a halt to wasteful public funding of unnecessary research, such as duplicative experiments.
Immediately end the abuse of animals, including farm animals, and strengthen our enforcement of existing laws.
Immediately outlaw all commercial fur ranching and trapping, and the use of goods produced from exotic or endangered animals.
Prohibit large scale commercial breeding facilities, such as "puppy mills," because of the massive suffering, overpopulation and ill health such facilities produce.
Subsidize spay and neuter clinics to combat the ever-worsening pet overpopulation problem that results in the killing of millions of animals every year. Where unwanted companion animals are being killed in shelters, we advocate mandatory spay and neuter laws.
Ban the exploitation of animals in entertainment and sports, such as dog and horse racing, dog and cock fighting, fox hunting, hare coursing, rodeos, circuses and other such spectacles.

Last updated: 07/23/2006 (BH)