Maine Greens Hold Convention; Select Presidential Nominee; Elect Party Officers

PORTLAND – The Maine Green Independent Party held its annual convention this past weekend at the Maine Historical Society in downtown Portland.  The convention selected Jill Stein of Massachusetts as its preferred Presidential candidate by a narrow margin in a vote of 17 to 14, with Roseanne Barr a close second. Maine Delegates to the Green Party’s National Convention in Baltimore in July will carry the vote proportionally.

Party members were elected to vacant offices on the state party Steering Committee.  Asher Platts and Anna Trevorrow, both of Portland, were re-elected to serve full terms on the Steering Committee.  Newly elected Steering Committee members include George Johnson Hamilton of Auburn and Randall Parr of Appleton. Standing additional members of the Steering Committee include Whitley Newman of Portland, Tom MacMillan of Portland, and party Treasurer, Anthony Zeli of Portland.

Asher Platts, who is also a candidate for State Senate district 8, was chosen from among the new Steering Committee to serve as the new Party Chair.  “We’ve done a lot of work as a steering committee in regards to strategic planning for the party, especially in regards to fundraising in light of Augusta ending tax check-off donations to political parties. We’ve begun over the past year to implement key parts of our strategy for growing the party, and  I look forward to working with fellow Greens across the state on making that vision into reality.”  Platts will be serving his second 2-year term on the state party Steering Committee.

Tom MacMillan, also a candidate for State Representative district 118 in Portland’s West End, was chosen as Party Secretary.

Convention photos and more information can be found at www.mainegreens.org.

May First - General Strike Against the Status Quo

The Maine Green Independent Party is proud to join the growing list of organizations, businesses and individuals calling for a general strike on May 1, 2012 to express solidarity with workers across the world who both celebrate the achievements of the global workers’ rights movement and press for further progress.

We call on the more than 31,000 Greens across the state to join with Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Maine,  Occupy USM, Teamsters, the Maine AFL-CIO, local businesses and others in showing our true power as members of the 99%, by halting the flow of capital for just one day.

Events in Portland will be starting with a student and teacher walkout of USM at 10:30am, followed by a free university on Payson Smith Green.  Events are also schedualed all day by Occupy Maine in Congress Square.  Find a location near you (or start one) at www.mainemayday.org.

Occupy Wall Street is also engaging in a range of activities, ranging from teach-ins, gift economies, and street theater, to direct action.

Hope to see you!

Portland Green Independents Champion Rejection of Corporate Personhood

The Portland Green-Independent Party commends the Portland City Council for its passage of a resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment abolishing the concept of “corporate personhood.”

The Council passed the resolution in a 6-2 decision Wednesday night. The resolution specifically calls on Maine’s Congressional representatives to support a Constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Court’s recent, highly controversial decision, Citizens United v. FEC. That ruling allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advertising, thus further entrenching the influence of powerful business interests in elections. Councilor and Green Party member, David Marshall introduced the resolution, which he helped draft with members of the Portland Greens, the League of Young Voters and Occupy Maine protesters. The resolution was co-sponsored by Councilor Kevin Donoghue and Mayor Michael Brennan.

Though the resolution is largely symbolic, it nonetheless generated over an hour of public testimony from concerned citizens from in and around Portland. While Councilor Cheryl Leeman, one of the two dissenting votes, along with Councilor John Coyne, questioned whether it is the City Council’s place to take a stand on such a broad, national issue, most of the resolution’s proponents who showed up for the vote believed it is.

“It is absolutely the business of the City Council,” said Portland Green, Anna Trevorrow in her public comments. “The community has come together and asked you to make a statement.”

The Portland Greens offer their gratitude to the City Councilors who voted in favor of the resolution and to Councilor Marshall for proposing the measure. We also extend our thanks to the various local progressive groups who worked with us on crafting the language of the resolution—specifically members of Occupy Maine and the Portland branch of the League of Young Voters.

"The PGIC looks forward to taking this fight to end corporate personhood to the next level. We hope others will join us in our efforts," said Adam Marletta, Chair of the Portland Green Independent Committee.

A letter to Governor LePage from our Chair

Dear Gov. Paul LePage,

I have been following the stories in the media that talk about your agenda ever since you took office. In the interest of keeping a civil discourse with you and your administration, I will only comment today about the recent story that you would like to spearhead efforts to reduce Maine’s dependency on oil in half. Let me start by saying that I commend this notion.

For far too long, politicians have maintained that they care about the people they are elected to represent, and that they care about the environment. I hope that this time, Gov. LePage, you are truly looking out for the best interests of the people and our planet, and not just the companies that want to sell natural gas and wood pellets.

In case you are unaware, there is great controversy surrounding the method of extraction of natural gas, called hydraulic fracturing. Hydrofracking, or fracking as it is commonly called, involves digging wells up to 8,000 feet deep, way past the depth of water wells, and introducing millions of gallons of water and chemicals to extract the gas. According to the filmmaker Josh Fox, who created the documentary Gasland, many times the wells will leak because safety precautions have not been taken or from weak well casings. The chemicals used to extract the gas, which are often lethal, can end up in the water supply with the gas itself.

In order to truly reduce Maine’s dependence on gas and oil, we need to invest in changes in our energy system that will operate on renewable, clean energy that will have little to no impact on our environment, including drinking water. We can also start with weatherization of government buildings and schools that include replacing old doors and windows with more energy efficient ones. There are also easy ways to help our state get off oil completely, such as replacing old water boilers with electric ones and connecting them to solar panels. Ground-source heat pumps (sometimes referred to as geothermal heating) can be used to heat homes and buildings, as has been done with the new section of the Portland International Jetport and the new Hampden Academy Project in Hampden, completely eliminating the need for oil to be used for heat.

The startup costs for switching to new technologies such as these can be daunting. However, if you look at the history of our infrastructure, I am sure you will see that wherever there has been significant progress made in infrastructure development, it is has been an accomplished collaborative between government entities and the private sector. From railroads and trains to cars and airports, our government has chipped in its fair share to help the common good.

What I would propose is a 2 cent gas fee to every gallon of gasoline sold in the state. This could be set aside as an “alternative energy fund,” and used to help fund the changes necessary to help reduce our oil dependency. I stress the need to help our schools because with rising gas and oil prices, we cannot afford to wait to invest. We need strong political will to make the changes necessary and to avoid cutting services as well as teaching positions that are vital to our communities. We also need to remember that the state is supposed to be paying 55% of its share to schools, something it hasn’t done ever since the legislature voted on it, and even after the people of Maine voted on a ballot initiative, ordering the state to do so.

With the money put into schools to install newer, more efficient heating systems, it is likely that those school districts would find themselves with a lot more money in their budget without having to pay so much for oil. This could be a starting point for helping fund the 55%.

I know that raising taxes is a politically dangerous idea, especially during a recession. The reason this taxation should be applied to gasoline is to spread out the tax burden more evenly and with only two cents per gallon, an average customer will only need to pay between 20 and 60 cents more per fill-up. But given that the money would be used very wisely – to reduce energy costs and help our government and schools save money, the overall energy savings would be realized by all taxpayers and celebrated when we reach the goal of reducing oil use by half.

If there are other ways of raising revenue for this idea that don’t include making cuts to other expenditures, I would like to hear them. I extend this letter to you and hope it will be well received. We must take strong and quick action to reduce our dependency on oil, domestic and foreign. We must stop the destruction of our environment in order to extract oil and natural gas. We must hold all elected officials’ feet to the fire when it comes to representing the best interests of all Americans and not just the interests of a few wealthy corporations.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, Governor. Please let me know if I can help implement these ideas and how the Green Independent Party can assist. Please also know that we are watching how things are shaping up for the upcoming legislative session and that we will be vocal about who is and who is not representing the interests of all Mainers.

Sincerely,

Nathan M. Shea

Chair

Maine Green Independent Party

Maine Greens call on Governor to protect Mainecare

The Maine Green Independent Party denounces Governor Paul LePage’s attack on Mainecare. 

The LePage administration and their allies in the legislature created a false crisis in our budget by pushing through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest of the wealthy in our state and now LePage seeks to place the burden of these giveaways on the backs of the working and poor, by ending healthcare coverage for 65,000 ordinary Mainers. This is nothing but a stark reversal in the movement for universal, non-profit health care.

We call on the LePage administration to act for the benefit of working class Mainers, not the wealthiest 1%. The Green Independent Party calls on our government to treat quality health care as a human right, not as a privilege that politicians can take away. Since our founding in 1984, the Green Independent Party has worked towards establishing a system of health care for all which, unlike the status quo in Augusta and Washington D.C., will protect all residents from having to make the choice between health or housing, between medical bills or food.

Green Party Thanks 2011 Candidates

During the 2011 election, the Maine Green Independent Party endorsed three candidates for municipal office in Portland.

David Marshall sought the newly created office of directly-elected mayor. Marshall, who has served on the Portland City Council since 2006, was one of the primary catalysts for the directly elected mayoral position. He ran his campaign speaking about five issues: investing in school buildings, growing population in the downtown districts, getting homes and businesses off of oil, stimulate economic development with better mass transit and creating a 24 hour pothole guarantee. He ran an extremely competitive campaign in which a number of candidates raised more money than he did, but several of them finished well below him. He finished in fourth place of 15 candidates after knocking on 20,000 doors and having thousands of conversations with people across the city. His campaign also trained many new activists to the Portland committee and established a citywide information database which will help all Greens who seek office in Portland in the future be more competitive.

Josephine Okot sought to become the first person of African birth to ever hold office in Maine by seeking the school board at-large position. A mother of two, Okot ran on the promise that when elected, she would force the city’s school board to focus more on the issues of school violence and bullying. She also sought to increase city graduation rates by helping more students meet mentors. Lastly, Okot wanted to save taxpayer money and create a culture of public transportation by getting middle and high school onto public transit whenever possible. She ran a strong, Green campaign and met many people who strong support the notion that Portland’s immigrant community needs a voice on the school board. She gained nearly 5,800 votes and won several polling precints against the incumbent while finishing with just under 40% of the vote.

Dr. Jack (John) Safarik sought the office of Water District Trustee. Safarik, who has run as a Green Independent in the past for State Representative, pushed forward the issues of maintaining the watershed and making sure that large water companies such as Nestle and Poland Spring would not be able to compromise the regional water supply. Safarik obtained about 33% of the vote in a two-way race.

The Portland Green Independent Committee and the Maine Green Independent Party are extremely proud of our 2011 candidates and appreciate all of the hard work and dedication they put forth. The issues they supported are not forgotten and will continue to change Portland for the better. We look forward to the 2012 campaign and the struggle for a more sustainable and just future.

Youth Uprising by Roy Meredith

Roy Meredith is a member of the York County Greens and Founder of the SMCC Greens

One of my friends, Jennifer, has three jobs.  Often, the only time I get to talk to her is midnight, before she heads off to work.  Even then, speaking with her reveals a young woman who is about to collapse.  Her share of the dialog often consists of nothing more than “hmm” or barely audible affirmatives.  On top of all this, she suffers from a multitude of serious medical issues, and nobody is there to help her except her boyfriend.

But Jennifer is hardly unique.  Many of my classmates work at least two jobs in addition to attending college full-time, jobs which thanks to lax regulation are not unionized and offer little security.  And once we graduate, most of us are tens of thousands of dollars in debt and face dismal prospects for careers that suit our education.  Already, we’re projected to have a shorter life expectancy than our parents, a first in this country’s history.  By any measure, the standard of living for young Americans has dropped significantly.

What we’re dealing with, however, is not a complicated problem.  The laws which shape our lives are made by people who, more often than not, are at least in their forties.  They are voted into office by people who, more often than not, are also at least in their forties.  Is it any surprise that their policies usually only benefit those who are older than 40?  The median age for a member of the 112th Congress today is the highest it has ever been in the history of the institution.

Some of examples of this callous indifference are deeply disturbing.  In July this year House Majority Leader Eric Cantor demanded that college students start paying interest on their loans - while still in school.  In August, the Maine attorney general and the chair of the Maine Republican Party accused college students of widespread voter fraud.  And anybody who followed the massive crackdown on voting rights in red states this year knows exactly what this means.  Such an accusation is meant to set the stage for tougher restrictions on college students in the voting booth.

How does that old saying go? Use it or lose it? That’s the funny thing about rights.  The only reason why lawmakers like Cantor or Charlie Webster are able to get away with their disgusting proposals is our own apathy.  In 2010, for example, there was a 60% decline in voter turnout for ages 18 and 19.
Whenever I talk to Jennifer or some of my other friends about politics they try to change the subject.  Sometimes they even tell me I shouldn’t care.  And that’s exactly the problem.  Too many young Americans are unable to connect the commotion in Washington to their poor fortunes.  That kind of ignorance is incalculably dangerous.  Almost everything that impacts our lives is determined by politics, including military drafts, regulations on student loans, federal student aid, affirmative action, and job security.  It isn’t sane - let alone wise - to leave those decisions to people are generations apart from our needs and concerns.  It’s time to get active again.

But that goes beyond voting or protesting.  The people of Generation Y need to start running for elected offices on a massive scale.  Federal offices are mostly out of the question – in order to be a senator one has to be at least 30 years old – but local and state positions of leadership are certainly up for grabs.  In Maine, the minimum age for a state house representative is only 21. There’s nothing to hold us back from taking control over our own lives. 

The moment for optimism is now.  Students and other youthful activists were the bulk of Arab Spring earlier this year.  Within 18 days, a single age demographic managed to bring down a corrupt dictatorship in Egypt that had ruled with an iron fist since 1982. The task we face in America isn’t even half as difficult.  This country still is, after all, a democracy.  Let’s get moving.