Albany, January 14, 2019 – At a meeting of the Green Party State Committee in Rensselaer on Saturday, the Green Party of New York affirmed its legislative priorities for 2019: Climate Change, Electoral Reform, Single-Payer Healthcare, and Marijuana Legalization. Party officers said they were committed to organizing for the passage of bills on these issues in 2019. They also said that they would be a presence at the State of the State address on Tuesday in Albany.

Howie Hawkins first began promoting a Green New Deal (GND) when he was the Green Party candidate for Governor of New York in 2010. He discusses the origins of the GND, including the role of the European Greens in 2006, and analyzes the present Green New Deal proposals by Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

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Climate activists are urging Governor Cuomo to declare an emergency climate mobilization in New York in response to the recent report by the United Nations that we have only 12 years left to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Cuomo is expected to preview his 2019 legislative agenda, including on climate, in a speech on Monday.

Albany, NY -- Green Party of New York officers said Gov. Cuomo's State of the State preview was short on everything except Andrew Cuomo's positioning for the 2020 Presidential election. The party leadership said Cuomo's plans on climate change and health care will doom millions of New Yorkers who already suffer from the intensifying climate catastrophe, and from the ongoing health care emergency of nonexistent or expensive, poor insurance. They also stated that Cuomo's proposals for electoral reform needed to include RCV, proportional representation, and full public campaign financing.

The Green Party of New York announced its 2019 Legislative Agenda on December 13 in a press conference held Legislative Office Building in Albany, NY.

Speakers included Mark Dunlea, recent candidate for Comptroller on the Green Party line, CJ Chapman, local health care organizer and activist and Peter LaVenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York.

The Green Party of the United States is urging Congress and state legislatures to adopt a Green New Deal (GND) to respond to the climate emergency while committing to a full employment, sustainable economy.

Howie Hawkins' Green Party campaign for Governor in New York in 2010 was the first time a comprehensive Green New Deal agenda was promoted in the United States. It was based on a call for a Green New Deal in Europe developed a few years previously by the European Greens and others. The GND was a central focus of Jill Stein's two Green Party presidential campaigns in 2012 and 2016.

This week progressives nationwide are talking about a Green New Deal and, while mainstream media is saying that insurgent Democrats came up with this, we beg to differ! We applaud the efforts of Democrats for finally adopting what the Global Greens began to work on in 2006 while noting that the delay of 12 years is very significant when it comes to climate change.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein talked about the platform of the Green party. Topics included the influence of money in politics, the progressive stances of the Green party, the Green party jobs plan called the “Green New Deal,” a proposed universal system of free higher education, and the threat of climate change. She also responded to telephone calls and electronic communications.

The United Nations last month announced that we have 12 years left for an emergency worldwide mobilization - unprecedented in human history - to halt the use of fossil fuels and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

Failure to take such dramatic action increases the likelihood that human civilization as we presently know it will cease to exist. Floods, sea level rise, wildfires, heat waves and droughts will make parts of the planet uninhabitable. Climate refugees will likely be in the hundreds of millions. Support systems involving energy, food and water will break down, leading to wars over such resources. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, could die.