Boston lost its Lion King in March with the passing of Melvin H. King at the age of 94. It is impossible to summarize the impact that Mel’s life had on the city, and on the people who endeavor to do justice to his life and vision. State Senator Lydia Edwards put it this way: …
Continue reading Mel King, Rest in Peace / Rest in Power / Rest in Love.
John Rensenbrink, whose thinking and vision and activism helped birth and steward the Green Party in the U.S., became an ancestor on July 30, 2022, one month before his 94th birthday. His invaluable account of the early history of the party can be read here. Sadly, Elie Yarden, who passed away just five weeks later, …
Continue reading John Rensenbrink, 1928-2022. Presente
With tremendous sadness, we share the news of Elie Yarden’s passing. Elie’s profoundly unique take on the promise and potential of the Green Party in the U.S., the Green-Rainbow Party in Massachusetts, and the basic concept of an ecological political party and international Green movement prepared to encounter and transform a deeply un-ecological society continues …
Continue reading Rest in peace, Rest in power, Rest in balance, Elie Yarden. 1923-2022.
In light of the failures of our political, economic, and social institutions to rise to the challenge of a national public health and economic crisis, it seems more important than ever to get clear on possible pathways to new political, economic, and social paradigms.
Continue reading 8 Principles of a Regenerative Economy
We are reposting this important announcement from the New Economy Coalition, in its entirety. COVID-19 Solidarity Response: We are at a fork in the road. Like many of you, we are reeling. In these uncertain times, our first priority has been to make sure our team is safe and cared for. We are adjusting internal …
Continue reading This is a fork in the road moment.
Today, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey to announce non-binding Green New Deal legislation that would strive to “achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers” and “create millions of good, high-wage jobs.” The Green Party of the U.S. issued this response.
Continue reading Green Party Response to Democrats’ Green New Deal
Another world is not only possible, she’s on the way and, on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully you can hear her breathe.” — Arundhati Roy
In 2008, Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Rosa Clemente said the Green Party is no longer the alternative, the Green Party is the imperative. Just under 162,000 Americans voted for her and the party’s Presidential candidate, former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney that November. While diehard Greens were moved by the slogan, it is safe to say that neither the campaign nor the party convinced the American voter that this was the case.
Eight years earlier, the Green Party had been reborn, of sorts, when its Presidential ticket of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke received 2.8 million votes or 2.7% after polling as high as 7% nationally. Indeed, much like Bernie Sanders did in 2016, he filled arenas — even New York’s Madison Square Garden — with enthusiastic supporters willing to pay for seats at a political rally. But Nader’s politics — both his critique and his agenda — were more progressive than they were Green. And the volunteers and supporters flooding the Green grassroots base were largely ignorant of the party’s history, philosophy, and even relevance. I can say this endearingly because I was in this camp.
Continue reading The Green Party is the imperative for 2016 and beyond
Rosa Clemente, the Green Party’s 2008 Vice Presidential candidate, declared during her campaign that “the Green Party is no longer the alternative, the Green Party is the imperative.” Events since then have not really borne her out. Was she wrong? Was she just using hyperbolic rhetoric? Or was she simply ahead of her time? In …
Continue reading Writing Challenge: Is the Green Party the imperative?In April of 2015 at a forum on the British Columbia carbon tax at MIT, I heard Merran Smith of Clean Energy Canada (http://cleanenergycanada.org) say if you add up the GDP of all the individual countries which have some kind of price on carbon, either an emission trading scheme (ETS) or a direct tax, it adds up to 42% of global GDP now and, by the end of 2016 when another five provinces in China come on board, it will be over 50%. (You can hear and see Merran Smith say this at 28:20 into this video of the MIT event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?… ).
Having heard expert after expert say, “We need a price on carbon” in order to address climate change, this struck me. Was Merran Smith correct? Have we already begun to put a price on carbon? Looking a little further, I found a variety of carbon pricing structures – carbon taxes, emissions trading schemes, and even internal prices on carbon from individual businesses.
The World Bank 2015 carbon report advance brief ( http://documents.worldbank.org… ) puts it a little differently than Clean Energy Canada:
“In 2015, about 40 national and over 20 subnational jurisdictions, representing almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), are putting a price on carbon…
“The total value of the emissions trading schemes (ETSs) reported in the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2014 report was about US$30 billion (US$32 billion to be precise). Despite the repeal of Australia’s Carbon Pricing Mechanism in July 2014, and mainly due to the launch of the Korean ETS and the expansion of GHG emissions coverage in the California and Quebec ETSs, the value of global ETSs as of April 1, 2015 increased slightly to about US$34 billion. In addition, carbon taxes around the world, valued for the first time in this report, are about US$14 billion. Combined, the value of the carbon pricing mechanisms globally in 2015 is estimated to be just under US$50 billion…
“In addition, the adoption of an internal carbon price in business strategies is spreading, even in regions where carbon pricing has not been legislated. Currently, at least 150 companies are using an internal price on carbon. These companies represent diverse sectors, including consumer goods, energy, finance, industry, manufacturing, and utilities.”
Continue reading The Current Cost of CarbonCosta Rica has provided all of its electricity from renewables, usually a mix of 68 percent hydro, 15 percent geothermal, and 17% mostly diesel and gas, for the first 100 days of 2015. The Tico Times reports (http://www.ticotimes.net/2015/04/22/costa-ricas-renewable-energy-streak-is-still-going-but-what-does-that-really-mean)
“The clean energy streak is likely to continue. Last Friday [April 17, 2015] ICE (Costa Rica Electricity Institute) released a report estimating that 97 percent of the country’s electricity will be produced from renewables this year. This is good news for Costa Rican residents, who will see their electricity prices drop up to 15 percent starting this month.”
In 2016, Costa Rica is a launching a satellite to monitor CO2 across the world tropical belt
(http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/04/22/costa-ricas-first-satellite-to-be-launched-into-space-in-2016)
“…the first Central American satellite, built in Costa Rica, will be launched into space in 2016. The satellite will collect and relay daily data on carbon dioxide to evaluate the effects of climate change.”
Costa Rica announced in 2009 that it plans to be a carbon neutral country by 2021 and they are following through on that planning.
Continue reading Costa Rica: 100% Renewable Electricity for 100 Days, Carbon Neutral by 2021