At its State Committee meeting on June 13, the Green Party of Pennsylvania’s (GPPA) 48 elected delegates and friends passed by consensus a new Green Party Platform. It is structured around Four Pillars, social justice, grassroots democracy, peace/nonviolence, and ecological wisdom.

“During the last Presidential election, the real winner nationwide was ‘I’m-not-voting-for-either-of-them,’” said Michael Bagdes-Canning, a Green Party member from Butler County. “Fully one-third of registered voters either chose to not vote or to vote for someone other than Trump or Harris. In Pennsylvania, the same dynamic is playing out -- only more so. Of the people who have registered to vote since last September, seventy percent chose not to affiliate with either of the two corporate parties. People are disillusioned with politics.”

“The new Green Party’s Platform speaks to these disenchanted voters,” continued Bagdes-Canning. “It embraces the rights of people and rejects the notion that our rights are subservient to the rights of corporations and the billionaire class. The Green Party says that we have a right to healthcare, clean air, to a government that serves us, a living wage, a place to lay our head, and safe places to walk. The new platform is a visionary document in an age where settling for less is the political prescription proffered by Team Red and Team Blue. On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Green Party is the only political body that embraces the founding ideals.” Bagdes-Canning is the mayor of Cherry Valley, PA.

“Unique among political parties, the Green Party of Pennsylvania recognizes that preventing people from meeting basic needs is violence,” explained Theron Gilliland, Jr., a Green Party member from Allegheny County. “Living wages and affordable housing, protections for LGBTQIA+/queer/trans individuals, harsh penalties for dumping poisons into the environment, and universal single-payer healthcare at home are just as critically important as global freedom from United States' military imperialism and economic neo-colonialism. The Green Party also recognizes that state violence is too often turned inward against racialized groups, the unhoused, the mentally ill, and those already present in the supposed criminal ‘justice’ system.” Glliland is the leader of GPPA’s greenwave team.

“The new Green Party Platform clarifies the party’s emphasis on the rights of ALL people for social and environmental justice,” said Barbara Laxon, a Green Party member in McKean County. “A major part of this will be the establishment of universal, single-payer healthcare, which has been a demand of the Green Party since its beginning. Universal, single-payer healthcare is a form of social justice which, in part, remediates the environmental harms created by big polluters on our air, soil, water, and food. Big polluters frequently defile the areas where people are least able to fight back and least able to afford preventative and palliative care for the illnesses that result. The U.S. is the only wealthy nation on earth that does not provide universal healthcare. Only the Green Party is fighting for the right of every person to have the healthcare they need.” Laxon is co-leader of the GPPA core team.

Marci Henzi, a Green Party member from Allegheny County, said, “I believe the new Green Party Platform breaks new ground in calling out the two corporate parties which subtly place barriers on the public’s perception and recognition of the legitimacy of the Green Party. The new platform calls for reforms which will protect and improve our democracy. We must fight for the lowering of intentionally engineered restrictions on ballot access for all parties. Our point of view is that democracy will be strengthened when all parties are recognized and when all votes are counted. Our new Platform makes it clear that in a democracy, the Green Party has a right to be seen and heard but not to be intimidated.” 

“Most political parties these days stand for vague generalities which mean different things to different people,” said Chris Robinson, a Green Party member from Philadelphia. “In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party claims to “believe in individual rights and responsibilities, safe communities, excellent educational opportunities, parents’ rights, secure borders, and limited government.” The Democratic Party, even more vaguely, says it “is committed to fighting for all the people of the Commonwealth and to building a Party that encourages and celebrates the broadest possible base of participation.” With the new Green Party Platform, GPPA has come forward to let voters know exactly where it stands on all of the major issues.” Robinson is leader of GPPA’s communication team.

The Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA), https://www.gpofpa.org, is an independent political party which stands in opposition to the two corporate parties. GPPA candidates promote public policy based on the Green Party’s Four Pillars: grassroots democracy, nonviolence, ecological wisdom, and social justice/equal opportunity. For further information about GPPA, please email [email protected]. Please follow GPPA on social media: Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/gpofpa/ and Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/pagreenparty/