The Platform of the Pacific Green Party

Table of Contents

The Platform of the Pacific Green Party 1

Preamble 1

Grassroots Democracy 2

Campaign Finance Reform 2

Media Reform 3

Election Reform 3

Social Justice 4

Human Rights & Nondiscrimination 4

Education 4

Health Care 5

Social Services 6

Worker Rights 6

Equitable Distribution of Resources 7

Taxation 7

Ecological Wisdom 8

Population 8

Energy 9

Clean Air 9

Water 10

Urban Land Use 10

Wilderness and Biodiversity 10

Sustainable Agriculture 11

Waste Management 12

Transportation 12

Community-Based Economics 12

Nonviolence 13

War and Foreign Policy 13

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice 14

Drug Policy 15

Animal Rights 15

Preamble

The Pacific Green Party is optimistic that together we can overcome the many challenges facing our great State of Oregon. This platform outlines a program of courage and commitment to remedy these challenges.

To recreate a vibrant democracy, substantial reforms are necessary. At all levels of government elected officials must be held fully accountable to the people electing them. Robust civil societies spring from dynamic community involvement. These are the foundations of free and democratic cities, states, and countries.

Our economic system concentrates unprecedented wealth and power in the hands of a very few. Violence, illness, and oppression rob the many of the opportunity to thrive. Our democratic system, the cornerstone of our party’s philosophy, continues to be eroded.

As a society we extract resources from and dump waste into our environment at an unsustainable pace. We risk collapse of the ecosystem on which we depend unless we make an immediate and dramatic change in our practices.

These Ten Key Values of the green movement motivate all of our policies:

Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice
Ecological Wisdom
Nonviolence
Future Focus and Sustainability
Respect for Diversity
Decentralization
Community Based Economics
Feminism and Gender Equity
Personal and Global Responsibility

The Pacific Green Party is a genuine alternative political voice. Together we can change the course of our state to create a better future for ourselves and for generations to follow.

Because of the synergy and overlap between these Ten Key Values, we have organized this platform to correspond to the first four values, also called the Four Pillars.

The issues of concern to Pacific Greens are not limited to Oregon. The two Senators and five Representatives from the State of Oregon are charged with helping to shape the nation and the world we share. Pacific Green Party candidates for these positions will be guided by this state platform and by the platform of the Green Party of the United States (http://www.gp.org).

This Platform was adopted on 15 April 2012 by the registered members of the Pacific Green Party at the State Meeting held in Eugene. It was amended on 06 June 2020 at the online nominating convention. It is our collective intended direction, not a litmus test.

Grassroots Democracy

Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives and not be subject to the will of another. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will also work to create new types of political organizations which expand the process of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in the decision-making process.

Campaign Finance Reform

Action Items:

Propose a ballot measure for a Constitutional Amendment to the Oregon Constitution to eliminate the “personhood” of corporations.
Propose a ballot measure for a Constitutional Amendment to the Oregon Constitution to disassociate the spending of money from speech, so to allow meaningful limits to prevent those with money from purchasing influence in government
Support efforts to eliminate corporate personhood and reverse the Citizens United decision and the false identification of money as speech.
Ban all corporate donations for Oregon elections, whether for offices or initiatives
Restrict out-of-state money donations for Oregon elections, whether for offices or initiatives

At every level of government, decision-makers are increasingly beholden to wealthy special interests. Multinational for-profit corporations have particularly strong influence. In order to restore genuine democracy, We the People demand:

Strict limits on campaign contributions to officeholders with a public funding apparatus in place for public financing for all campaigns for public office.
Lower the number of signatures required to place an initiative on the ballot
Require full disclosure of any organizational influences on the crafting of the wording of all ballot measure.

Media Reform

Action Items:

Reassert that the full-spectrum airwaves are a part of the Commons
Increase citizen access to all media, including internet, television, and radio. Provide public funding. End corporate monopolization of internet access by establishing community broadband.
Increase the number of frequencies reserved for public use
Repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 and Related Subsequent Provisions within Copyright Law which has resulted in the intimidation, prosecution, and/or conviction of people in our country for sharing information.

Information is power! The airwaves belong to the people of the United States and not to corporations. The First Amendment protects the freedom of the press, and the internet can function as a virtual “press” for all citizens. We must keep access to the internet and the freedom of the press it provides protected. The leasing of the airwaves needs to bring revenue to the state that reflect the growing commercial value of those airwaves. The airwaves must also remain available for the open sharing of information for the betterment of the democracy. We the People demand:

All media outlets provide free airtime to all candidates and to all sides of ballot initiatives
All cable and satellite television providers must broadcast all local stations in their least costly option
No single entity or person be allowed to own more than one broadcast outlet in the same locality
The Internet be considered part of the information commons with no grant of special privileges for users who can afford to pay more than others
Stronger internet privacy law, granting passwords, encryption, and other forms of electronic privacy the same privileges as sealed envelopes
Some portion of airtime on broadcast and cable television be made available to citizens who would not be able to afford advertising time. This includes encouragement of local broadcast media such as low-power neighborhood radio stations and adequate funding of public media
That satire and critique in the media be protected by Oregon’s free speech protections if interpretations of the “fair use doctrine” in Copyright law fails to protect it
“Sunshine laws” to grant citizen and media access to records of all government decision-making. Exceptions may be made in an extremely small number of situations involving privacy and security and must be approved by a joint legislative/executive council

Election Reform

Action Items:

Adopt instant runoff voting (IRV) as authorized in Article 2, Section 16 of the Oregon Constitution.
Adopt proportional representation also authorized in the same section.

Our elections and our government do not live up to our ideals of free and open democracy. The current plurality voting system gives the office to the candidate receiving the most votes, even if that candidate did not receive a majority. We are particularly concerned with mechanisms that shut out diverse opinions. We the People demand:

A reduction of ballot access barriers for third parties and independent candidates, includes the repeal of HB 2614, which places unreasonable restrictions on independent candidates change how Oregon House members are elected
Use State-wide proportional representation to allocate the seats based upon the percentage of the vote received by the several parties, rather than gerrymandered districts which have aided the two-party dominance of Oregon politics
Proportional allocation of Oregon’s Electoral College votes
Require that the drawing of all redistricting maps by a special nonpartisan body. Many legislative races are uncontested due to gerrymandering by Democrats, Republicans, or both. An election with only one candidate on the ballot is meaningless
Voting rights for all, including prisoners. Voting is a safe way for prisoners to participate in society as part of their rehabilitation
Continued use of Oregon’s mail-in ballot system. We oppose the use of paperless electronic voting machines, the operation of which cannot be independently checked; and a random hand audit of ballots.

Social Justice

All persons should have the rights and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law.

Human Rights & Nondiscrimination

Action Item:

Divest from Arizona, Alabama, and any state that criminalizes human rights issues such as documentation status and abortion or contraception rights.
Advocate the passage of the “Economic Bill of Rights” as discussed by the economics platform plank.
Recognize the humanity of all people born in this world and block laws that marginalize or dehumanize any segment of humanity, especially Latinos, Muslims, and the LGBTQ communities who have been recently targeted by hate-groups.
Support legalization of voluntary sex work between consenting adults, together with appropriate public health measures.

We acknowledge the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. We seek to end all discrimination based on economic class, race, gender orientation, disability, age, spiritual belief and all other forms of cultural fragmentation. We the People must:

Strengthen and strictly enforce anti-discrimination legislation.
Allow all qualifying people, irrespective of sexual orientation or marital status, to adopt children.
Continue affirmative action programs to remedy past and present discrimination in employment, housing, and education.
Recognize Native American land and treaty rights as agreements between sovereign nations.

Protect the rights and safety of immigrant workers from exploitation.
Prevent ICE from separating immediate family members by deportation.

Education

Action Items:

Withdraw Oregon from “Every Student Succeeds Act” as this top-down programs centralizes and nationalizes the local issue of educating our children
Student loan indebtedness is a 21st Century version of indentured servitude. Make all Oregon public colleges and universities free to Oregon residents who have lived here at least three years.
Fully fund health and physical education as a response to the growing problem of childhood obesity.
Improve school breakfast/lunch programs to include more locally grown whole foods and less processed foods
Ensure that school grounds are zones of tolerance that do not accept any physical, verbal, emotional, or electronic bullying or harassment of any person for any reason

Education is a right to be shared, not a privilege to be sold to the highest bidder. Oregon citizens deserve a quality educational system with sufficient and equitable funding so that all levels of public schools are safe, well equipped, and staffed by appropriately trained professionals. We the People demand:

An emphasis on the teaching of skills for a democratic society including communication, conflict resolution, environmental awareness, and respect for diversity.
Affirm that cultural and immersion programs are positive tools of diversity and empowerment in education.
Reduced class sizes to ensure a quality learning environment for students and work environment for teachers.
Schools offer pass/fail and portfolio options as alternatives to standard grades.
Schools explore the cost/benefit of e-readers (i.e. Kindle, iPad) for students to combat both the back strain from heavy textbooks and the technology divide.
Honor the multiple intelligences of students by providing vocational, academic, professional, and artistic educational pathways.
Full funding and support for Special Education, English Language Learner, and accelerated programs.
Prohibit corporate and military advertisements in public K-12 schools, except passively in high school career centers.
Expand community college opportunities for continuing education and job training for all adults.
Because Oregon is a state of many languages, we oppose efforts to make English the official language of Oregon. To affirm this, schools will offer second language programs to broaden the learning of all students.

Health Care

Action Items:

Institute a single-payer health care system for Oregon by seeking a waiver from the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, just as Oregon got a waiver for the initial introduction of the Oregon Health Plan (1993).
Until a single-payer system is instituted, no private health care insurance provider will be permitted to operate in Oregon unless it covers preexisting conditions, contraception, and abortion services for all its members.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of good health. We acknowledge that personal health depends on public health. Public health requires the health of the natural, built, and social environments. The health status of others provides benefits to all, including future generations. We the People must:

Use precautionary, preventive approaches in decisions regarding public and private health concerns.
Insist that comprehensive health care not be tied to employment alone.
See that health care includes medical, vision, dental, mental health services and hospitalization, and is protected as a basic right for all Oregonians.
Guarantee the right of all patients to choose their health care providers.
Support all modalities of healing including yoga, dance, herbs, homeopathy, acupuncture, ayurvedic, massage, reiki, et al., thus supplementing allopathic medicine with many forms of healing.
Guarantee the right of all patients to make personal medical decisions, including those involving abortion and the end of life such as Oregon's Death with Dignity law.
Support Oregon laws that protect children from parents irresponsibly withholding safe and effective medical care.
Ensure the availability of rehabilitation and adaptive aids, to allow those with disabilities to achieve maximum independence.
Monitor toxic chemical facilities and high voltage power lines and prohibit locating such facilities near residential areas, other public areas such as schools, and minority and low-income communities.
Oppose the implementation of 5G wireless technology, as the high density of non-ionizing microwave and millimeter-wave radiation in pulsed and phased radar arrays has not been adequately proven safe for public health or the environment.

Social Services

Action Items:

Maintain extended unemployment benefits for all unemployed workers within each county until the county unemployment rate drops below 7%.
Invalidate the foreclosure of any primary residential home when title recording rules are not followed. Grant full title to the purchaser and cause the bank or mortgage lender to forfeit any claim to that property.
Bar the use of drug-testing from public assistance qualifications.

Wall Street got bailed out, but Main Street Oregon remains deeply troubled by the Great Recession. Poverty and homelessness are on the rise. Many families are now reaching the limits of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Many unemployed and displaced workers are reaching the limits of their Unemployment insurance benefit. In order to reverse the trend of growing injustice to our most vulnerable citizens, We the People must:

Restore and fully fund domestic discretionary programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) and programs for persons who are unemployed or disabled.
Allow exemptions from work requirements for:
welfare recipients pursuing higher education,
homeless people looking for housing,
victims of domestic violence who need time to find safety and independence, and
single parents of children under the age of five years.
Ensure the existence of an adequate supply of affordable housing through public subsidies, equitable rent controls, and other means.
Strengthen and enforce tenants’ rights, including a ban on evictions without just cause.
Expand community-based services for homeless people, create land held in Commons with public camping rights, and ban employment discrimination on the basis of housing status.

Worker Rights

Action Items:

Establish a preference for state contracts for local businesses that employ local people as their primary workforce, specifically businesses that outsource less than one-third of their work
Pass an Oregon version of “The Employee Free Choice Act” (HR .1409 /S.560)
Seek a means to implement a 20:1 wage goal, to reduce the income disparity between the highest and the lowest paid workers in any given business.
Require employers to pay all costs for employees needing technical training to maintain their employment.
Encourage and support worker owned businesses as well as worker collectives and cooperatives.

In order to empower workers, promote their dignity, and institute economic democracy, We the People must:

Guarantee the right to organize and bargain collectively through democratic unions.
Guarantee the right to establish councils that have access to all relevant information about their businesses and that participate in the management of their businesses.
Guarantee the freedom of association and the right to have their unions and labor associations be free and independent of government and employer influence.
Strictly enforce robust health and safety standards in the workplace.
Require employers to provide all workers with equal pay for comparable work, based on skills, effort, responsibilities, and working conditions.
Vigorously prosecute workplace harassment, including protecting the worker right to employment whose claims were not substantiated in the court of law.
Set and maintain a living wage, indexed to the cost of living.
Maintain and extend protection for whistle-blowers.
Work to make day care services affordable and keep public schools open five days a week with full-day kindergarten, as schooling is a part of many working families' child care arrangements.
Expand unemployment benefits to sustain and train those who are laid off or underemployed.

Equitable Distribution of Resources

Action Items:

Strengthen existing usury laws with a maximum cap on annual percentage rates to 12 percent.
Establish and maintain a minimum living wage.
Establish a maximum wage not exceed 50 times minimum wage.
Reclaim any and all properties owned by absentee landowners whose property remains vacant or foreclosed without sufficient action to make these properties accessible to the economic well being of Oregon.

Growing income disparity is undermining democracy. To promote a just distribution of the goods and services amongst all Oregonians, We the People must:

Replace the measurement of Gross National Product with measures that internalize normally “external” measurements such as environmental impacts and human well-being.
Seek passage for an Economic Bill of Rights as advocated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.
Provide complete funding for continuing education and job training to all adults, especially the unemployed and underemployed.
Protect the rights of injured people to sue negligent corporations.
Shift our economic orientation towards continuous improvement in quality of life for our communities and away from:
Unsustainable increases in rates of consumption,
Prison incarceration, spending, and labor, and
Military funding and misadventures.
Demand total debt-forgiveness.

Taxation

Action Items:

Replace Ballot Measures 5, 47, and 50 with a graduated property tax. Increase tax rates on vacation homes and all properties of higher value, defined as in excess of twice the county’s median value
Currently Social Security stops taxing incomes over $110,100 (2012). Oregon will institute a tax on all incomes over the Social Security maximum on both the individual income earners and on the businesses paying those salaries in an amount equal to whatever the current Social Security tax rate is, thus closing this regressive loop hole in the tax code. These funds will supplement the General Fund.
Reform Oregon’s kicker law to set aside any excess as a rainy day fund
Repeal Oregon’s “super majority” rule which unreasonably obstructs tax measures
Reverse the inequity of income tax distribution. According to Extended General Fund Revenue Outlook, 6.8% of income tax will come from corporate source whereas 93.2% will come from individuals. Within 10 years, ensure that businesses will pay 35% of income tax with individuals picking up 65%.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are the price we pay for civilization”. Taxation serves three positive purposes: funding programs which benefit society as a whole, discouraging harmful practices, and countering the concentration of wealth that results from unregulated markets. We the People must:

Identify federal corporate subsides as taxable corporate revenue for the purpose of state taxable income.
Enforce the Oregon estate tax on estates of over $500,000. People have the right to leave their children a legacy, but not a dynasty.
Enact a more progressive state income tax, including raising the income level below which no state income taxes are due.
Support the Oregon tradition of not having a regressive sales tax, with the exception of luxury and tourist taxes.
Abolish the Oregon lottery as it is state-sponsored gambling.
Identify and implement taxes on point-source pollution.

Ecological Wisdom

Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature. We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society which uses resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which protects the environment and replenishes the soil, move to an energy efficient economy, and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

Population

Action Items:

Fully fund Planned Parenthood clinics throughout Oregon.
Acknowledge that unchecked population growth of any species, including humans, will stress the geography they inhabit, and will, unless limited, lead to catastrophic consequences.

We must expand our efforts to reduce our individual environmental impact, and yet understand that these efforts are not sufficient. Unchecked growth in human population will adversely impact the habitability of the planet. We the People must:

Advocate voluntary Zero Population Growth.
Empower women by educating all people.
Demand responsibility from men and educate them on effective male-based contraceptive methods.
Provide free birth control for all who desire it and require licensed pharmacists to fill such prescriptions.
Prohibit health care providers or insurers who fail to cover all aspects of reproductive health from doing business in the State of Oregon.

Energy

Action Items:

Oregon will not permit any liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal or pipeline
Oregon will not permit coal exports from any port nor permit coal transport through the state.
Oregon will exercise its power to regulate greenhouse gas emission from cars, factories, and any other source
In light of the March 11, 2011 earthquake near Honshu, Japan and the nuclear disaster that followed, Oregon will close the current nuclear reactors at Reed College, Oregon State University, and any other commercial or research reactor in Oregon, and Oregon will block any and all future nuclear energy research or development in the state.
In light of countless oil spills including the May 3, 2010 Gulf Oil disaster, the Oregon coast will remain a drill-free zone.
In light of the ongoing threat to the water supply, Oregon will ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in any natural gas exploration that may be occurring now or in the future.

The human demand for energy continues to grow. The burning of fossil fuels is an unsustainable option, both because oil reserves are rapidly dwindling (peak oil) and it impacts the catastrophe of runaway climate change. In order to develop methods of using energy in an ecologically viable manner, We the People must:

Establish carbon taxes to internalize the costs of fossil fuel use and accelerate the transition to alternative fuel sources.
Adopt aggressive standards for automotive fuel efficiency.
Promote mass transit and other alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles such as bicycling.
Promote energy conservation through subsidizing LED bulbs instead of incandescent and “Compact Fluorescent” bulbs.
Design efficient new buildings to reduce energy consumption during both construction and the life-time of the building. This includes co-generation and passive solar.
Use and fund research into sustainable and minimally polluting alternative energies.
Enforce environmental regulations rather than permitting pollution through the sale of credits.

Clean Air

Action Items

Close the Boardman plant immediately.
Block any coal development in or transportation through Oregon; “clean coal” is a lie.
Prohibit the use of Oregon roads and resources for supporting the Keystone XL Tar Sands Project.
Ban and close down all waste incinerators.

In order to improve air quality, we as a society must acknowledge that airsheds are commons, and their resources are not for sale. Continued dependence on fossil fuels will further degrade the air we breathe. We the People must:

Safeguard and expand The Clean Air Act to ensure the reduction of urban smog, acid rain and ozone depletion.
Establish pollution taxes based on emission levels.
Ratify The Kyoto Accord on global warming and exceed its requirements for the reduction of greenhouse emissions.
Enforce and accelerate the elimination of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting chemicals.
Require retrofitting stacks to ensure the cleanest emissions possible and ban all new emissions stacks. All air emitted should be as clean as it came in.
Require statewide vehicle inspections for compliance with DEQ emissions standards.
Require agriculture to meet DEQ emissions standards and ban concentrated animal farming.

Water

Action Items:

Disallow any future commercial bottling of Oregon water and phase out any existing bottled water industry within 10 years.
Develop a zero loss policy on wetlands.
Work to restore wild rivers via dam removal, opting for modern, non-dam, hydro and wave power.
Empower communities to limit growth to maintain available, local water supplies.

Without water there is no life. Our collective understanding of water needs to shift away from ownership of water rights towards the vision of water as a part of our collective commons. In order to preserve and restore valuable sources of clean water and the natural habitats of aquatic species, We the People must:

Strengthen existing point and non-point pollution discharge laws.
Develop and implement comprehensive watershed management plans.
Restructure the industrial, agricultural, and municipal water rates to encourage efficient water use.
Expand the use of passive and natural systems (such as wetlands) for storm water and waste water treatment.
Protect the right of the people to collect and use their own rainwater.
Encourage a transition to the agricultural and residential use of drip irrigation.
Develop an infrastructure to support the appropriate re-use of “gray” and “black” waters.
Require the installation of water-efficient appliances and fixtures in all new construction and encourage the replacement of water-inefficient appliances and fixtures in older buildings through economic incentives.
Educate the public regarding the need for reducing carbon and methane outputs to minimize climate change. Our water supply needs winter snow pack in the Cascades, Wallowas, Siskiyous, Blues, Coast, and all our mountains.

Urban Land Use

Action Items:

Repeal Measure 37 which prevents Oregonians from collectively making land management decisions.
Require all urban areas with populations of 20,000 or more to have an Urban Growth Boundary to encourage higher density and smart growth.
Require all neighboring municipalities whose boundaries are less than ten miles apart to develop a non-competitive regional development plan.
Change building codes to allow alternative, earth-friendly building practices, including but not limited to straw bale, cob, adobe, and micro-homes.

In order for urban environments to provide residents with a high quality of life that has minimal impact on the ecosystem, We the People must:

Promote high-density communities that prevent urban sprawl and incorporate urban design for livability and beauty.
Develop communities that encourage interaction and involvement. Incorporate mass transit systems, bicycle and walking routes, and minimize dependence on automobiles.
Retain and aggressively pursue open spaces, park lands, farmlands, private forest lands, wildlife passages, and green belts.
Block expansions of Urban Growth Boundaries without a vote of the people in the impacted regional development plan area.

Wilderness and Biodiversity

Action Items:

Repeal The Mining Act of 1872, minimize the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals, and tax extraction where it occurs.
Protect gray wolf packs that have migrated into Oregon while creating co-existence plans for range owners and farmers.
Maintain the ban on sport hunting cougars with dogs.
Ban the unsustainable practice of corporate clear-cutting on state and federal lands.

In order to preserve and expand the capacity of regional and global ecosystems to provide humanity with sustenance and enjoyment while allowing natural evolution to continue, We the People must:

Strictly enforce the Endangered Species Act with an expanded scope.
Permanently protect all remaining pristine public lands and all remaining old growth trees.
Eliminate commercial logging on all public lands. Ban the use of timber from public lands for commercial purposes.
Ban the construction of new roads and the use of herbicides in public forests.
Mandate the use of sustainable logging practices (selective cut) on private forest lands.
Increase the required buffer zone for stream corridors to 150 feet on both sides of any river, creek, or stream.
Re-introduce native species of plants and animals into areas from which they were eradicated.
Control the intentional and unintentional transport of species in order to prevent the introduction of non-indigenous species.
Maintain the international ban on commercial whaling and offer sanctuary to groups like Sea Shepherd (including protection by the Coast Guard) who intercede on behalf of these giants of the sea.
Ban the trade in coral reef species.
Ban dragnet fishing.
Create international accords that reduce fish harvesting to sustainable levels.
Prohibit oil and gas drilling off our coast and on public lands.

Sustainable Agriculture

Action Items:

Eliminate barriers to hemp and cannabis production.
U.S. patents on naturally originating organisms and plants will be unenforceable in Oregon.
Ban the importation and sale of patented seeds in Oregon. Fine corporations holding such patents when their seeds cross pollinate the crops of any Oregon farmer. The amount will be 50% greater than any fine leveled by the corporation upon the farmer. The collected fine will reimburse the farmer for any federal court or corporate imposed fine or penalty.
Protect arable farmland as an Oregon resource from needless urban growth boundary expansion.
Ban concentrated animal farming.

In order to establish an ecologically-sound agricultural system that maximizes regional self-reliance and supports family farm communities, We the People must:

Encourage strict standards for organic and biodynamic certification.
Support organic and biodynamic farming by applying the principles of permaculture.
Support soil conservation practices such as contour planting, crop rotation, and composting.
Promote Community Supported Agriculture programs and community farmers’ markets.
Ban the research and production and sale of genetically engineered substances and organisms.
Ban the use of Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), broad spectrum antibiotics for healthy animals, and any other product that harms animal, human, or environmental welfare.
End the expansion of corporate agribusiness at the expense of family farms. Eliminate subsidies (including irrigation) to corporate agribusiness.
Establish taxes on non-organic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides.
Support the ability of residents to responsibly raise domestic farm animals.

Waste Management

Action Items:

See that all existing Superfund sites in Oregon are fully cleaned within ten years.
Require producers and commercial consumers of industrial and agricultural hazardous materials to fully document the trade, use and safe disposal of these materials.
Require all producers to be fully responsible to provide for the tracking and disposal of consumer-sold hazardous materials.

Recycling is not enough. We must reduce consumption, reuse, and re-purpose items before recycling to extend the useful life of all resources. In order to move towards the elimination of wasted resources and hazardous waste, We the People must:

Establish resource extraction taxes to encourage the re-use, recycling, and reduced use of raw materials. Tax income on resource extraction shall be earmarked to resource preservation and restoration.
Require manufacturers to take responsibility for the full life cycles of their products.
Increase percentages of recycled post-consumer content in products.
Encourage the recycling of paints and other commodity construction materials by waste management companies.
Encourage curb-side composting pick-up in urban areas by waste-management companies.
Ensure composting facilities are properly covered and aerated to avoid impacts on low-income communities that normally host such facilities.

Transportation

Action Items:

Block current efforts to create a “gas” tax on electric vehicles; electric vehicle owners should not be penalized for their conservation effort.
Support funding for and redirecting federal subsidies to mass transit and alternatives to single-occupancy automobile transit.
Pass the Idaho Stop Law in Oregon to legalize existing safe bicycle behavior on public streets.

Goods and people must be moved around. We currently rely far too heavily on trucking and on private automobiles. We the people must:

Increase funding for mass transit.
Reduce both direct and hidden subsidies for trucking and private automobiles.
Explore establishing limits on the number of private vehicles that can be legally registered within the confines of urban growth districts as a means to reduce private vehicle dependence.
Ban studded tires as they are unnecessary compared to new tread technology and unduly increase wear and tear on the road.
Support a measure to the voters to repeal the provision in the Oregon Constitution requiring that gas taxes be spent only on roads so that these monies can be spent on a variety of alternative transportation projects.
Establish pedestrian-friendly, safe, and convenient bike routes. Educate bicyclists about and enforce existing laws regarding bicycle-pedestrian interaction.
When replacing vehicles in the government fleet, give preference to hybrid and electric vehicles.
Adopt a fuel standard that exceeds the national standard for the automotive industry.
Expand the national rail system for the transportation of goods and passengers while developing a national high-speed rail system for passenger service.
Hold automobile drivers criminally liable to injuries to vulnerable road users such as bicyclists and pedestrians.

Community Based Economics

Action Items:

Encourage the expansion of local economic initiatives, including the issuance of local currencies and work-time exchanges that foster community interdependence.
Establish a State Bank of Oregon (http ://www .rop .org /oregon -state -bank -campaign -fact -sheet)
Maintain full funding for the Oregon Individual Development Account (IDA) programs, as these foster home ownership, business start-ups, and educational advancement.

We believe that the economy should be localized and decentralized. The current system puts the reins of economic power in the hands of distant executives and stockholders. Furthermore, local manufacturing keeps money in Oregon, avoids waste, and reduces the cost and carbon output of shipping goods thousands of miles from the producer to the consumer. We the People must:

Create taxes, loan programs, and other policies that favor small, local businesses over multinational corporations.
Encourage Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), community gardens, and farmers’ markets.
Oregon governmental agencies will grant preferences to purchase local goods and services whenever feasible.
Encourage the formation of People’s Utility Districts (PUDs) to restore local control of energy.
Assist rural and resource-based communities in developing sustainable economies.
Promote sustainable job creation through watershed, habitat restoration, and tree planting.
Support and promote small businesses, co-ops, and nonprofit community service organizations.
Eliminate subsidies to businesses that diminish the quality of life for Oregon residents through substandard labor practices, social irresponsibility, or environmental degradation.
Use the power of the Attorney General and Secretary of State to revoke corporate charters for criminal conduct as provided for in ORS 60.
Eliminate subsidies to attract and expand businesses that primarily hire new workers from outside of Oregon.

Nonviolence

It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction. We promote nonviolent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community, and global peace.

War and Foreign Policy

We will work to dismantle the US war machine, including both the military-industrial complex and the global hegemony it expands and maintains. To do this, we must overcome our government's exceptionalism and bring it into compliance with the norms of international law and diplomacy.

Action Items:

Adapt the U.N. Charter explicitly into the U.S. code, so that government must adhere to it as domestic law as required by the Constitution.
Immediately cease all acts of aggressive war and other violations of national sovereignty, including assistance to rebellions and coup attempts. Withdraw immediately from Syria and Afghanistan and refrain from further interference in their affairs.
End the use of hostile diplomacy and economic warfare to antagonize other nations.
End military aid and arms sales to countries engaged in regional aggressions in support of US hegemonic interests, in particular Israel and Saudi Arabia.

We reject any pretext for aggression, be it brutal dictators, humanitarian crises, exporting our political and cultural values, false flag provocations, or the aspirations of nationalist movements. While our pillar of peace opposes any aggressive war, it is not intended to marginalize our support for people employed by any branch of the military or right to legitimate self-defense. We remain cognizant of our country's position as a global hegemon and colonizer. We the People must:

Support the right of the Palestinian people to resist colonization and return to the land from which they were unlawfully expelled. We advocate participation in the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement. We reject attempts to designate opposition to Zionism as anti-Semitism.
End mass surveillance and manipulation of public opinion by intelligence agencies, and repeal laws which facilitate this, in particular the USA Patriot Act. We will abolish the CIA and NSA.
End the cold war with Iran and the resurgent cold war with Russia, forestall the emerging economic war with China, and withdraw from NATO.
The US will publicly repudiate the Monroe Doctrine and refrain from interference in the affairs of other sovereign states in the western hemisphere. In particular it will end its efforts to overthrow the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Oregon will withdraw all National Guard troops from foreign exercises and block their current and future deployment.
Applaud the elimination of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and welcome the full and open service of the LGBTQ communities in Oregon’s National Guard and the US Armed Forces.
Prohibit military recruitment in public K-12 schools.
Prohibit in-state development, deployment, or storage of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, land-mine devices or other internationally illegal munitions.
Enforce strict mandatory cleanup of existing nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons sites.
Dissolve the corporate status of any Oregon-based corporation that engages in the business of mercenary work, and bar any similar non-Oregon-based private military contractor from doing business in or recruiting in the State of Oregon.
Repeal NAFTA, GATT, and the FTAA; abolish the WTO; require that all future trade agreements include triple bottom line principles of accounting that guarantee strong labor and environmental standards will be applied and strictly enforced; that local autonomy will be respected and maintained, and that trade disputes will be resolved through open and democratic processes.

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

Action Items:

Repeal Measure 11 and all mandatory sentencing laws, including “three-strikes” laws, as such laws are a legislative restriction of the judiciary and a violation of separation of powers.
Eliminate the practice of racial profiling and rigorously investigate any allegation of discriminatory practices by any law enforcement officer.
End capital punishment. This cruel and vengeful form of punishment has been ineffective as a deterrent to crime and has been administered disproportionately against minorities and the poor.
Prevent any redefinition of rape that would dis-empower rape survivors from getting the justice they deserve.
Strengthen and enforce laws against corporate crimes such as fraud, defective products, pollution, and unsafe working conditions. Adopt laws that authorize individual court actions to repeal corporate charters when the public interest is violated.

We seek to create a criminal justice system based on prevention, restitution, rehabilitation, reconciliation and restorative justice, rather than one currently used based on vengeance, punishment; and forced labor. In order to realize the concept of equal justice for all, We the People must:

Emphasize prevention and rehabilitation over incarceration.
Provide for compensation, benefits, and oversight processes for public defense attorneys equal to prosecuting attorneys.
Provide mental health services outside the criminal justice system and stop the criminalization of mental illness.
Address the problems in the criminal justice system that are reflected in the racially and economically unbalanced nature of the prison population.
Limit any jury sentence or judgment to the maximum of any offered plea deal.
Strengthen laws against domestic violence, sexual harassment, and hate crimes.
Enforce a moratorium on new prison construction.
End the forfeiture of property unrelated to a specific conviction.
Establish and empower community policing and citizen police oversight boards.
End the use of military-style practices by police forces. Expand gun violence prevention and mandate nonviolence education for law enforcement personnel.
Prohibit the use of horses and chemical weapons such as pepper spray to control crowds.
Investigate and prohibit the use of agent provocateurs to incite violence at citizen protests.
Respect the First Amendment and Oregon constitutional rights of peaceful protesters.
Require protections for law-enforcement whistle-blowers.
Prohibit the privatization of prisons. No corporation should profit from the incarceration of a person.

Drug Policy

Action Items:

End the war on drugs.
Support measures intended to legalize the sale and use of marijuana by adults age 21 and older.

The violations of civil liberties and the violence that continues to result from the “War on Drugs” exceed any of the benefit derived from drug interdiction. Drug dependence is a public health problem that must be countered by treatment, not by war. We the People must:

End the criminalization of drug use and possession.
Demand treatment of drug abuse as a public health problem rather than a crime.
Usher in a general amnesty for all people in prisons, on parole, or charged with drug crimes in which no other violence was perpetrated.
Provide drug and alcohol abuse treatment on demand for all who request it.

Animal Rights

Action Items:

Continue support for the 1994 Ballot Measure 18 passed by the people, opposing the use of dogs in the sport hunting of cougars.
Ban the importation of non-native wildlife in the pet and animal trades, with the only exception being for zoos and aquariums certified by the AZA (http://www.aza.org/).
Ban the private ownership, possession, and trade of native and non-native wildlife.
Support for the reintroduction of native gray wolf packs in Oregon and for the continuation of their protected status.

Cruelty against nonhuman animals is unacceptable, both because of the inherent rights of animals and because those who abuse other animals often go on to abuse humans. We the People must:

Enforce strong laws against animal cruelty.
Demand humane treatment of food animals. Cruel practices such as de-beaking and overcrowding, must be outlawed.
Prohibit the exploitation of animals for commercial entertainment purposes.
Require that ranchers, farmers, and others concerned about the loss of domesticated animals to natural predators demonstrate their adoption of non-lethal deterrents before any lethal means are considered.
Place the burden of proof upon industry that any animal experiments they conduct are necessary and cannot be conducted in any other manner.
Educate homeowners and gardeners about natural and non-lethal deterrents to protect homes, pets, and plants from wildlife and insects. Fund this by taxing pesticides and animal traps to give natural and non-lethal deterrents a price advantage in the market place.
Protect the right to record and document animal cruelty in commercial operations.

Do you like this page?

Showing 1 reaction

Mark Lavin published this page in What We Stand For 2013-10-24 16:57:58 -0700