Wheaton, IL – A big thank you to all of you who contacted your representatives or state senators, or who sent in witness slips opposing HB 1633, the obnoxious ALEC-sponsored bill that would have sweepingly criminalized certain forms of protest against what its proponents called “critical infrastructure” (such as oil or gas pipelines). As one of our allies put it, it should have been called the “Protect Big Energy From the People Bill.”

With your help, the bill stalled out in the Senate and had to be tabled, effectively killing the bill as the Spring session ended! Here is a press release from our allies in Defending Rights & Dissent. With our coalition partners in the Illinois Coalition Against Fracking, we will continue to watch the General Assembly for efforts to revive the bill. Meanwhile, thank you!

Illinois Green Party Speakers Bureau

Would you like to have an Illinois Green Party speaker give an informative presentation to your chapter, civic group, or other organization? Would you like to host or organize a presentation to help spur interest in the Green Party and help you get a Green Party chapter organized?

If so, and if you or your group are willing to secure a venue with a suitable screen for PowerPoint or other visuals, and can publicize the event, we can help make it happen. We have speakers able to provide presentations on a number of important topics, from basic introductions to the Green Party, to environmental topics like the climate crisis and sustainable transportation, the often-ignored issue of U.S. militarism and war, the case for single-payer health care, and more.

If you believe that you can bring in an audience of at least 15 people or more and would like to have an ILGP speaker make a presentation, just let us know. Depending on the logistics, appearances may be made in person or via Skype or similar platform. Contact [email protected] to make a request or for more information. Also: If you are an ILGP member willing and able to make a presentation on a specific topic in person or by Skype, or have presentations already prepared, please contact us via the same e-mail with a description of your presentation or topic.

Green Party of the United States National Meeting Coming Soon!

The 2019 Green Party Annual National Meeting will be held July 25 – 28, in Salem, Massachusetts, with mass transit connections from Boston’s Logan Airport. Just click on the link for registration and other details. Several Illinois Greens will be attending and some will be presenting workshops. We hope to see you some of you there!

Illinois Green Elected Official Peter Schwartzman Co-Authors New Book: The Earth Is Not For Sale

Our own Peter Schwartzman -- an elected alderman of the City of Galesburg, and professor of Environmental Studies at Knox College -- is out with a new book containing a vitally important message: There are real solutions to life-threatening problems like the climate crisis, world hunger and the collapse of our eco-system. He also maintains that pessimism is uncalled for – what is needed is urgent focused action to transform our social structure, energy systems and food production and distribution systems. Those are some of the central themes of The Earth Is Not For Sale, a book he co-authored with his father and fellow Green David Schwartzman, a Howard University professor emeritus, biogeochemist, environmental scientist and active member of the DC Statehood Green Party.

One reviewer writes: “The book offers a critique of fossil fuel dependent capitalist energy policy which, from its origins in the 18th century through to the present has developed as a system of production which puts profits above all else, with control over labor and the commodification of natural resources as an inevitable result. The consequence of this is both the destruction of the natural environment endangering the biodiversity of our planet and extremes on inequality that force nearly a billion people to live in hunger and want notwithstanding economic growth and levels of food production that could meet all human needs. The Earth is Not for Sale, however, also critiques those who put forward a de-mobilizing pessimism rooted in the notion that climate change has reached the point where there is nothing we can do – or – more to the point, that the future will necessarily entail acceptance of food and energy scarcity, that the vast majority of the world will never be able to enjoy more of life than a struggle to survive. “

To their credit, the authors have not put their book for sale on Amazon. It is, however, available here.

Would You Like to Serve on Our Coordinating Committee?

You, too, can be “the life of the party”! The Green Party, that is. In between membership meetings or conventions, our Coordinating Committee helps set the party’s direction and priorities. Under our By-Laws, if you have been a duespaying ILGP member (see below) for the previous 6 months and submit a formal request for the designation to the Executive Committee, you, too can be a participant. The Coordinating Committee meets by phone conference on the third Sunday of each month, at 8 p.m. To submit a request to become a Coordinator, just send your request in to [email protected] and/or [email protected].

Upcoming Meetings

Shawnee Green Party Business Meeting

When: Wednesday, June 12th, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Carbondale Township Hall, 216 E. Monroe St, Carbondale
(please use back entrance, through the green door, off Monroe, not front entrance at 217 East Main St.)

Contact Rich Whitney at [email protected] for more information.

50th Ward Green Party Meeting

When: Sunday, July 14, at 1:00 p.m.

Where: Home of George Milkowski, 3026 W. Chase, Chicago.

Contact George at [email protected] for more information.

Do you have news items you would like to include in this newsletter? We are now trying to publish regularly twice a month. Please send your item of interest to Rich Whitney, at [email protected]. Thanks!

Reminder: If you have not already done so, please become a dues paying member of the Illinois Green Party. Becoming a duespaying member is a requirement for participating in our decision-making. We are a grass-roots party and we rely on member contributions – no corporate funding allowed – to finance our activities. This is the party that fights for you, but we ask you to support it. A political party is only as strong as its members make it, by what they do or fail to do. For “us” to succeed, you need to be an active part of “us.” We are not asking a lot – standard dues are just $60 a year, and only $12 a year for persons of low-income – but we do ask you to make this modest contribution to help our efforts to build a better future for all Illinoisans.

Illinois Green Party Outreach
http://www.ilgp.org/