GP RELEASE Green Party: Victory by either Romney or Obama will be a global climate setback

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

For Immediate Release:
Monday, September 3, 2012

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


While Obama and Romney ignore global warming, Green presidential nominee Jill
Stein and other Green candidates promote real solutions

• Unless Stein can join the presidential debates, there will be no discussion of
fossil fuel consumption, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, hydrofracking,
mountaintop detonation mining, and other threats to the environment and public
health


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party candidates and leaders said today that the delay
of the Republican National Convention in Tampa and hurricane Isaac's Gulf Coast
landfall should remind voters of a worsening crisis that both Mitt Romney and
Barack Obama keep ignoring: global climate disruption.

Greens expressed alarm over Thursday's news that the Obama Administration has
granted Shell Oil approval for dangerous oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean in a
fragile region off Alaska, especially when a critical oil-spill containment
vessel still awaits certification.

• Andrew Groff, Green candidate for US Senate in Delaware
(http://www.andrewgroffforsenate.us):

"Unless Green presidential candidate Jill Stein is allowed to participate in the
presidential debates, there will be no discussion of what we need to do to curb
catastrophic climate change. On one hand, Romney is appeasing the know-nothing
extremists and junk-science believers in the GOP who deny human responsibility
for global warming. On the other hand, President Obama has proposed minimal
steps to deal with global warming -- and then undercuts them by surrendering to
the corporate energy lobby, supporting off-shore drilling in US coastal waters,
repeating the myth of 'clean coal', and allowing hydrofracking and mountaintop
detonation mining to continue. All of these are immediate threats to public
health and the environment and contribute to the fossil-fuel consumption that's
pumping more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The effects are
already evident in the drought and growing instability of weather patterns in
the US."

(See also "Climate Change: An Information Statement of the American
Meteorological Society," August 20, 2012,
http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/2012climatechange.html)

• Martin Pleasant, Green candidate for US Senate in Tennessee
(http://www.martinpleasant.com):

"Jill Stein and other Green candidates are running on a platform that will put
millions of Americans to work and restore economic stability by combatting
global warming with new jobs in conservation, developing new and safe energy
technologies, retrofitting buildings and homes and redesigning public
infrastructure for energy efficiency, expanding public transportation to reduce
car traffic, a carbon tax as an incentive to promote safe and clean energy, and
other ideas. Obama and Romney keep talking about independence from foreign oil.
The real problem is America's addiction to fossil fuels, regardless of where
they come from. Only Dr. Stein is offering solutions."

(More on Dr. Stein's 'Green New Deal': http://www.jillstein.org/green_new_deal)

• Ursula Rozum, Green candidate for US House in New York's District 24
(http://www.ursulaforcongress.com), author of "Solve climate crisis to make
economy humane," Syracuse Post Standard, April 20, 2012
(http://www.greenpapers.net/?p=240):

"The Obama Administration has turned out to be a disaster on the global warming
front. He wants to banish the 2C goal (keeping the world's average temperature
from rising more than two degrees Centigrade) from international negotiations on
climate change (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19161799).
President Obama is also promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a new
international trade pact that will serve powerful corporate lobbies by
overrriding environmental protections and allowing more logging, drilling,
mining, and transportation of raw materials in the Pacific rim, as well as
weakening labor rights and imposing more restrictive intellectual property
rules. TPP was negotiated in secret and is supported by Mitt Romney. Greens
oppose it. There will be no discussion of these enormously important issues in
the Obama vs. Romney debate. A victory for either candidate on Nov. 6 will spell
more disaster for our planet."

See also:

Green Party Platform on Climate Change
http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2012/ecological-sustainability.php#ClimateChange

"Green Party to Obama: Whether foreign or domestic, it's time for America to cut
oil and gas from our energy diet"
Green Party press release, January 31, 2012
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=474

"Solar Utopia: Another future is possible!"
With articles and essays by David Schwartzman, DC Statehood Green Party
candidate for the US Senate, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, Howard
University
http://www.solarutopia.org

"Framing in the context of fracking"
By Cecile Lawrence, Green Papers, August 29, 2012
http://www.greenpapers.net/?p=340

Green Party Eco-Action Committee
http://www.gp.org/committees/ecoaction/index.php

"Climate change is here — and worse than we thought"
By James E. Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies,
The Washington Post, August 3, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-is-here--and-worse-than-we-thought/2012/08/03/6ae604c2-dd90-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html

"Who’s afraid of the big, bad drought? Romney and Obama say they want to help
farmers, but refuse to mention the cause of the drought that's hurting them"
By Andrew Leonard, Salon.com, August 10, 2012
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/10/whos_afraid_of_the_big_bad_drought/

"The TPP & the Environment: A Behind-Closed-Doors Deal for the 1%"
Citizens Trade Campaign
http://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/TransPacificEnvironment.pdf

"Obama Trade Document Leaked, Revealing New Corporate Powers And Broken Campaign
Promises"
By Zach Carter, The Huffington Post, June 13, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/obama-trade-document-leak_n_1592593.html


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191
• 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention, July 12-15 in Baltimore,
Md. http://www.gpconvention2012.com
• Green candidate database and campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Ballot Access Page http://www.gp.org/2012/ballot-access.html
• Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
• Green Papers http://www.greenpapers.net/
• Google+ http://www.gp.org/google
• Twitter http://twitter.com/gpus
• Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• GP-TV Twitter page http://www.gp.org/twitter
• Facebook page http://www.gp.org/facebook

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

Lavender Caucus Buttons

The Green Party Lavender Caucus is the LGBT* Caucus of the Green Party.

If you would like to order a button from them, you now totally can!

Individual is $2.00, for 25 it's $1.25 for each (which is $31.25) and for 50 it's $1.00 each (which is $50.00), shipping is included.

You can order them right now from the Green Party DC office by emailing Brian via office@gp.org.

So if you want to support awesome candidates and a political party that discusses equality based on sexual orientation and gender identity in it's platform, then order some buttons today.

Here's what these totally great buttons look like.

These are the candidates being considered for Lavender Caucus endorsement:

Drew Langdon (www.drewlandgond.org)

Andrew Straw (www.strawforcongress.com)

Asher Platts (aka Punk Patriot) (www.asherplatts.com , www.punkpatriot.blogspot.com) ** Former Candidate of the Day - http://longhairedpoet.com/candidateoftheday/maine/asherplattsforstatesenate/ **

Andrew Groff (www.andrewgroffforsenate.us) ** Former Candidate of the Day - http://longhairedpoet.com/candidateoftheday/delaware/andrewgroffforsenate/ **

Jonathan Dedering (www.dederingforwi.org)

Colin Beavan (www.votecolin.org)

You can find out more about these candidates here:

http://www.lavendergreens.us/lavender_greens_015.htm

Morning News to Keep You Ranting - 07/18

Good Wednesday morning! Here are all the Independent news and views that will keep you ranting throughout the day!


Presidential Politics -


Gov. Gary Johnson: 

Gary Johnson: It’s Not Just A Two-Man Race

"There are other good reasons you might want to be giving Johnson some thought. 

• He’s the only candidate who will be on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington D.C. who shows no interest in bombing Iran.
• He’s the only candidate willing to violate the politicians’ version of don’t-ask-don’t-tell and say out loud what they all know, that the war on drugs is a useless waste of money.
• And he’s the only candidate promising to cut the federal budget — actually cut it, not just slow its growth — in his first year in office."

Dr. Jill Stein:

Jill Stein Green Party Presidential Acceptance Speech

     Dr. Jill Stein recently won The Green Party presidential nomination. Jill Stein is an activist (in the medical community, environmentally, and also involved in her local Occupy Wall Street) from Massachusetts who has been involved in politics since 2012.

Also before the Green Party National Convention, in front of the National Press Club, Jill Stein announced her choice for VP - Cheri Honkala. You can watch Cheri Honkala's speech to the National Press Club, here:

Cheri Honkala is a poor people's advocate from Philadelphia, PA

Mainstream Media Watchdog - 

Green Party Harms its Own Cause

     The Baltimore Sun yesterday made the same tired attempt at saying that the Green Party would be a spoiler. Their particular angle was that the Green Party would 'tip the scale' in Romney's favor and that this would hurt the environment. The President, however, still drills off American shores and still buys oil from foreign countries. So, the question is, is he any better for the environment then Mitt Romney will be?

For more on President Obama's record on the environment, please see this piece from Time Magazine: "Is Obama Bad for the Environment?"

Third Party Vote Could Hurt Romney 

     Recently the website UtahPolicy.com looked at recent Gallup Poll results. They claim from looking at this poll data that, "But, the same survey shows those who would vote for a third-party candidate would do so at the expense of Mitt Romney."

     They also claim that, "Americans most likely will not vote for a third-party candidate in 2012. But, if they do, that vote will likely hurt Mitt Romney." They present this argument WITHOUT presenting the margin of error for the polling, without actually providing any previous poll numbers for Romney, without looking at any gaffes that took place prior to or during the polling. Also, they make those claims without acknowledging who was being voted on, Democrats? Republicans? Independents?

(All of this ignoring the 5% of people polled who said they wouldn't vote.)

     So, when you see this kind of thing presented, please remember to consider what is, and what ISN'T being said.

Tours & Festivals - 

Warped Tour -

Today Warped Tour hits Scranton, PA at the Toyota Pavilion. You can find more information here.

Mayhem Festival - 

Today Mayhem Festival hits Oklahoma City, OK at the Zoo Amphitheatre . You can find more information here.

Trespass America Festival - 

Today Trespass America Festival is off, it will resume tomorrow, 7/19 in Milwaukee, WI at The Rave/Eagles Ballroom. You can find more information here.

Summer Slaughter Tour - 

Summer Slaughter will kick off in two days, 7/20, at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA. You can find more information here.

Meat Loaf - 

Today Meat Loaf's taking a day off, but he will be back on the road in New Brunswick, NJ on 7/19 at the State Theatre. You can find out more information here.

PLEASE be careful out there guys!

If you have any indie festivals, tours, concerts, shows, venues, bands, etc that you would like covered and promoted, please feel free to email me at LongHairedPoet@gmail.com

Activism - 

Student Power Convergence

     The Student Power Convergence is gearing up to meet in Columbus, OH from August 10th - August 14th. If you would like to participate in organizing the convergence, or if you would like to attend or donate to the convergence, then please visit the website - StudentPower2012.org - and donate, sign up for the weekly call or register to be a part of the convergence.

If you would like to donate to my going to the convergence, you can do so on this blog page by clicking my donate button.

Community-Wealth.Org (A Project of The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland)

     Community-Wealth.org "focuses on the role community economic stability plays as an essential foundation of civic practice and democratic life."

According to them:

"Across the United States, democratic, community wealth-building institutions have begun to multiply dramatically in number in recent years. Although many ventures are small in size, a number have already become a major presence in their communities and have implications for longer-term community change. The various efforts differ from traditional corporations, on the one hand, and small individually-owned businesses, on the other."

     If you have a small business, are a part of a Collective, help run a municipality or a university, this is something you should check out.


 Band of the Day - 


Eyes of Torment - 

     Today's band of the day is Eyes of Torment. Eyes of Torment are a Metal band from Atlanta, Georgia that were the Mayhem Battle of the Bands winners. They have had the opportunity to play at Mayhem Festival and now will also open the Summer Slaughter Tour when it stops in ATL.

Check them out here.

Featured Candidate


Andrew Groff (Running for Senate in Delaware)


Ballot Access: Yes

Message from Andrew Groff's website:

"We are a grass roots organization. People of all ages and background, people of all faiths and heritage and political views. We do not have millions of dollars in contributions to ply the airwaves and print media. We want to meet as many people as possible. We desire to share our message and invite participation by as many as possible. We do not believe we need to compromise our ideals just to “look like” other traditional campaigns. Our message is about people coming together to creatively develop and define the policies we need as a state and country to pass along to our children the strongest, most prosperous, most peaceful, vibrant and clean country as we can.  As in Scouts, “always leave a place in better condition than when you found it”. We could use a lot of that now. 

It is never too late to do the right thing. No vote is ever wasted. Join us."

     Andrew Groff wants to reinstate Glass-Steagall (reregulate banks), he wants to repeal the PATRIOT Act and he wants to overturn the part of the NDAA that takes away our right to a fair trial.

     You can read more about him at his website, here.

That wraps it up for this Wednesday edition of Morning News to Keep You Ranting! I hope you all enjoyed.

If you have any comments, questions or concerns, you can leave them in the comment section or email me at LongHairedPoet@gmail.com or reach me on Twitter @JAFThrasher

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/16/2898206/gary-johnson-its-not-just-a-two.html#storylink=cpy