PA Green News, March 2022

By Chris Robinson

PA Greens say, “No War With Russia!”

On February 12, the pre-Valentine’s Day crowd at Philadelphia’s Love Park was joined by 75 demonstrators who gathered for a rally to stop the U.S. escalation of tension with Russia. The protest called for an end to U.S. military and economic moves against Russia. Signs said, “Fight Racism, Not Russians!” and “Union Contracts, Not Military Contracts!”

“The drumbeat for war should be shown for what it is -- a distraction,” declared Hillary Kane (Cedar Park), a member of the Green Party of Philadelphia City Committee (GPOP, www.gpop.org). “It is a convenient distraction from all of the ills plaguing Biden domestically -- from the COVID pandemic to the housing crisis to the climate crisis. We need to focus our energies on those issues, not some trumped up conflict with Russia.”

. . . . “The U.S. is in a crisis of its own,” said GPOP member Georgie Georgeson (South Philadelphia). “I can think of far better uses for our tax dollars than to line the pockets of war profiteers and gamble with the lives of our youth and the lives of innocent Russians and Ukrainians. Biden should exercise diplomacy and focus instead on fulfilling his campaign promises and making tangible improvements in the lives of his constituents.” Story here

Stop Banking the Bomb Promoted by PA Greens

by Riley Mahon, GPOAC Steering Committee.

Stop Banking The Bomb (SBTB) is a Pittsburgh-based campaign targeting PNC Bank for its illegal investment in nuclear weapons. In total, PNC has invested 1.6 billion dollars in eight nuclear weapon manufacturers. Nuclear weapons have been banned under international law since January 2021. The SBTB coalition has more than two dozen organizations as members, including the Green Party of Allegheny County [GPOAC] and the Green Party of Butler/Venango Counties. SBTB demands that PNC Bank immediately sell all of its assets invested in nuclear weapon manufacturers and make a binding commitment to never again invest in weapons of mass destruction. . . .

Stop Banking The Bomb regularly has rallies, die-ins, marches, and other events to put public pressure on PNC Bank. They held a recent teach-in on January 25 to educate people about their movement, the role and history of nuclear weapons, what PNC Bank does as a company, and the international treaties banning nuclear weapons. Story Here

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Philly Greens Denounce Corruption of Elected Officials

by Jarrett Anderson in Philadelphia Weekly, January 6, 2022

Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon joined the long list of local elected officials who have been convicted of corruption. . . . One might assume that a City Councilmember would view themselves as a civil servant, but the federal jury’s recent decision in Henon’s case suggests otherwise. Audio and text exchanges revealed that Councilmember Henon had gone to bat, not for his constituents, but for his powerful labor leader friend and campaign donor John Dougherty. Story Here

Recently, the following local Democratic elected officials have gone to jail:

• City Treasurer (2005),

• PA State Senator (2014),

• PA Representatives from Districts 198, 191, and 192 (2015),

• U.S. Congressman (2016),

• PA Representative from District 197 (2016),

• Philadelphia District Attorney (2017),

• PA Representative from District 190 (2018),

• another PA Representative from District 190 (2019), and

• Philadelphia Sheriff (2019).

. . . . [The Green Party] invites our neighbors to reject the political corruption of the corporate duopoly and demand that local officials be the type of civil servants our communities need.

National Green News

Edited by Noah Alter

The Green Party Stands for Social Justice

A brief introduction to the Green Party’s position on 13 important issues, featuring quotes from the Green Party Platform and important news releases. Show More

Stop the Saber-Rattling! Greens Call for Immediate Diplomacy to Resolve Ukraine Crisis!

Green Party leaders from all corners of the country are calling upon President Biden and his administration to immediately put an end to the dangerous military tensions between NATO, its allies and Russia and to pursue a more diplomatic solution to the crisis. . . .  [The continuous threats of military action and sanctions against Russia are escalating this crisis to an increasingly dangerous level, particularly for our friends in the Ukraine.]

“The risk of this conflict erupting into a disastrous large-scale war is too great to ignore in order to please arms makers and bellicose politicians,” said Madelyn Hoffman, 2020 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from New Jersey and a member of the Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) . . . .

The Green Party supports the recognition by the U.S. of the sovereignty of nations and their right to self-determination. It is our obligation to take disputes with other nations to the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly for negotiation and to solve disputes through diplomatic means. The Green Party urges both the U.S. and Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and to pursue possible grounds for talks on secondary issues.

“The U.S. should restore the security guarantees it gave to Russia in return for German unification 30 years ago and instead use this crisis as an opportunity for nuclear disarmament negotiations,” stated Howie Hawkins, Green Party 2020 presidential nominee. . .  show more  

Global Green News

Edited by Hal Brown

The Gambia, a less polluting country, suffers the most from climate change

 . . . According to a study conducted by the NGO Climate Action Tracker (CAT), The Gambia is one of the countries most committed to the fight against climate change. . . . But despite its efforts to fight against global warming,

The Gambia is very threatened. Its capital, Banjul, could be flooded if nothing is done. . . .
Several crops, such as rice fields, are already threatened by this rising sea. This is the case along the border with Senegal, in the south of The Gambia, where the ocean is advancing inexorably.

Even if The Gambia is considered one of the least polluting countries, with a tiny carbon footprint: barely 0.01%, far from 28% in China or 14% in the United States, it remains paradoxically one [of the] countries most vulnerable to climate change. . .  show more

The Green Party of Brazil Combats Illegal Mining in the Amazon

The Partido Verde (PV), the Green Party of Brazil, filed an allegation of non-compliance against General Augusto Heleno, the Minister of Institutional Security. General Heleno has authorized illegal mining in a protected area of the Amazon. . . . The truth is General Heleno has been emboldened by the Brazilian President to push for mining whenever possible. Illegal mining has hit record highs under the leadership of the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro . . . .

In order to preserve their land, which feature biodiversity hotspots and natural carbon capture wells, the Amazonian Indigenous groups have gone abroad to seek extra help. Brazilian Indigenous groups have filed a complaint against their government with the International Court at The Hague in the Netherlands. However, Bolsonaro is unlikely to be moved by any of their sentiments or the limited pressure from the international community . . .  show more

Greens React to EU’s proposed Green Label for Gas and Nuclear Investment

. . . On December 31, 2021, the European Commission drafted its green energy taxonomy and proposed that nuclear and natural gas projects could count as “green” investments under certain conditions. However, many concerns and controversial ideas were raised by environmental activists and different stakeholders, especially investors . . . . Robert Habeck, leader of the German Green Party, responded to EU’s proposal on January 25, 2022,”which in my view contradicts the very idea of the taxonomy by designating gas and nuclear as eligible for financial markets . . . would not have been necessary.” He also stated,” If nuclear energy stays in the taxonomy as proposed, Germany should vote no.”

. . . “It’s a huge waste of time and a defeat for Europe,” Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, member of the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament, mentioned. “Every euro put into natural gas and nuclear power prevents us from taking the big steps towards a truly renewable world. It is much faster and more ecological to invest directly in 100% renewables.”  show more

GPPA MEETING DATES FOR 2022

• Sunday, March 13, 2022
• Sunday, June 12, 2022
• Sunday, September 11, 2022
• Sunday, November 13, 2022

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Green Star is a publication of the Green Party of Pennsylvania Communications Team * 2022