water

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News Blaze: California Greens Suggest ‘Rational’ Plan for Water

Posted on by Ronald Hardy

NewsBlaze covers the Green Party of California release on California’s water problems:

Governor Stumbles Over Water Dilemma; Greens Suggest ‘Rational’ Plan

California Greens today said Governor Arnold Shwarzenegger has “stumbled” over the State’s water issues. They say the recent rains don’t fix the problems, because the problems are long-terms and deep-seated.

The following statement came directly from the Greens.

Recent heavy rains may solve home gardening dilemmas, but it won’t fix California’s water problems, and it won’t help Gov. Schwarzenegger understand the state’s deep-seated water troubles, the Green Party of California said in response to the governor’s call for a special session to deal with the water mess. A session that never materialized this week.

California’s most progressive political party approved, at its recent state convention, a new Water Planning Plank that would be “rational (and) workable.”

“It appears the governor is trying to spend money that California does not have on solutions that California does not need,” said Wes Rolley, Co-Chair, EcoAction Committee, Green Party US. “There are rational, workable solutions that will supply California’s people with water for decades. Unfortunately, the political system seems not to be interested in pursuing them.”
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Jack Lindblad enters race for California’s 39th Assembly District

Posted on by Green Party Watch News Network

Jack Lindblad, an architect in the San Fernando Valley, is running hard for a seat in the 39th assembly district. Focusing on water issues, sustainability and a steady-state economy, Lindblad is using Twitter and his own Blogger site to promote his campaign.

Lindblad is also active in support of his local Pacifica Radio station, KPFK.

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Eco Action Committee issues brochures for Earth Day, water, 7th Generation Amendment

Posted on by Green Party Watch News Network

The Green Party’s Eco Action Committee has recently issued three brochures designed to promote ecological protection.

The first, issued on March 7th and covered here at Green Party Watch earlier, addresses water issues here and abroad.

The second, issued on April 4th, addresses a proposed Seventh Generation amendment to the Constitution which would read

“The right of citizens of the United States to use and enjoy air, water, sunlight and other renewable re-sources determined by the Congress to be common property shall not be impaired, nor shall such use impair their availability for use of future generations.”

This proposed amendment has been encouraged by Winnona LaDuke, GP Vice-Presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000.

The third, issued on April 14th, addresses Earth Day, and the Green Party’s role in protecting the planet. That brochure, just in time for Earth Day 2009 can be found here.

All these brochures are free to download and distribution by individual Greens is a great way to build, or create, a strong local group of like minded people into a focused Green Party chapter.

H/T to Mato Ska of California for the links.

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Water, elections and the Green Party

Posted on by Green Party Watch News Network

Water is the focus of Proposal 380. This concept was first delivered to the EcoAction committee email list on June 3rd. The full text of this and the final proposal are below the fold.

The proposal is action oriented and focused on ways that Green candidates and Green Party chapters can develop expertise in a crucial area with few non-government or non-corporate experts to compete against. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will take the fundamentally different approaches to water issues Greens will.

Mato Ska will discuss this proposal again this Sunday at 3 PM East Coast time on GPW Radio. Voting on the proposal runs from now to the 22nd. Currently there are 27 “yes” votes and one “abstain” from 16 states. No caucuses have voted as yet. 34 states or caucuses must vote to meet the .66 quorum requirement.

This story at the Independent says

Water scarcity ‘now bigger threat than financial crisis’

The Bronx Greens are carrying a front page story

Buried Secrets: Is Natural Gas Drilling Endangering U.S. Water Supplies?

by Abrahm Lustgarten of ProPublica.org.

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Mato Ska on GPW Radio

Posted on by Green Party Watch News Network

In a webcast at Green Party Watch Radio, California Green Mato Skadiscussed Proposal 380, which says

Protecting water is a priority for the Green Party at the national, state and local levels

During the discussion, Mato Ska explained the reasons behind Proposal 380, how he and the rest of the EcoAction Committee see it benefiting state and local Green Party chapters and candidates, and gives real life examples of how this proposal will both separate the Green Party from the corporate parties and connect our own friends who may not normally think of one another as allies. Family farmers who need water for crops and city dwellers who want a reliable source of safe clean drinking water both have a shared interest in water conservation, re-use and recycling.

More under the fold as I find the time to write it up, but don’t wait, listen to the show now! Continue Reading →

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GOVERNMENT, PLANNING AND THE POLITICS OF WATER

Posted on by Mato Ska

 

In addressing the issue of water in the West we must be willing to address that prior solutions have not addressed the core problem. Today, we continue to base solutions through increasing supplies. In the past, it has been simply a matter of addressing increased demand for water by increasing the supply combined with conservation. Reservoirs and dams were built with wide surface areas resulting in huge evaporative losses, aquifers were pumped to the maximum, urban water conservation was voluntary and private wells were unmetered. Supply was there. Sometimes new sources, such as Owens Lake in California, or the San Juan /Chama diversion in NM were piped to urban centers to increase supply.

Supply solutions are still available. Desalination of ocean waters, dredging reservoirs and deep aquifer drilling are playing a new role in the discussions as the old sources dry up or prove unable to address increased demand. New deep water, low surface area, high altitude reservoirs can be built. Brackish water can still be tapped from deep aquifers and desalinated. Water pumped in rural areas with low demand can still be piped to urban areas. In other words, there remains the capacity to continue to address water management and administration in the same old way.

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EcoAction Committee Passes Water Resolution

Posted on by Mato Ska

RESOLUTION
Presenter: EcoAction Committee
Contact: Martin Zehr, 415-337-5773, m_zehr@hotmail.com


Subject: Protecting water is a priority for the Green Party
at the national, state and local levels.


Background and Purpose: Water is the source of life. El agua es vida. The Green Party seeks to safeguard the well-being of future generations and restore ecological systems. Clean and available water is a critical priority which government can and must secure for all people.


Proposal: The National Committee of the Green Party of the United States provides the principles listed below as guidelines to Green Party candidates and organizers to increase the visibility of water issues in Green campaigns and increase our ecological focus in electoral and political activities.


We propose:


• to work together with our neighbors in making decisions on water issues that recognize the stake that
future generations have in those decisions; (Future Focus)


• to recognize our dependence on a finite supply of fresh water, the importance of oceanic waters and the aquatic life that provide oxygen and food for the planet; and to respect the integrity of ecosystems and the natural patterns of water; (Ecological Wisdom)

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Draft EcoAction Committee Proposal for Green Party Statement on Water

Posted on by Mato Ska

The EcoAction Committee considers the importance of the water resource a critical priority in this election year and every year after. The Green Party advocates for the future well-being of generations to come by actively working to implement the necessary legislation, electing the committed candidates and establishing the required administrative and political measures in every state. We actively work in accordance with our Key Values to make the changes needed to empower the people to make the decisions regarding the water resource that impact on their daily lives.
 
We want:
* to work together with our neighbors in making decisions that recognize the stake that future generations have in those decisions; (Future Focus)

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EcoAction Committee Focuses on Water

Posted on by Mato Ska

In a resolution intended to focus attention on the national and international issues surrounding water, the EcoAction Committee of the Green Party of the United States has raised the concerns of Greens and provided a template for further internal discussion, public education and candidate consideration. In the context of global warming’s impact on water supplies and international efforts to privatize water, the EcoAction saw the need for a defining strategy for Greens in moving together and building unity for this concern that impacts on everyone.

The Committee intends to have states consider the language of the proposal and provide input on the langauge prior to introducing it before the National Committee for approval. During this time states can add language that will be based on their own particular understandings and consider the steps they can take locally and within their states to provide leadership on this issue.

The proposal states:

“The EcoAction Committee considers the importance of the water resource a critical priority in this election year and every year after. The Green Party advocates for the future well-being of generations to come by actively working to implement the necessary legislation, electing the committed candidates and establishing the required administrative and political measures in every state. We actively work in accordance with our Key Values to make the changes needed to empower the people to make the decisions regarding the water resource that impact on their daily lives.

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Martin Zehr on India, Shiva and Water

Posted on by Green Party Watch News Network

New Mexico Green Mato Ska aka Martin Zehr has written for some time at OpEdNews.com. In a pre-view to an article he will publish there next week, Ska kindly sent this along for GPW visitors to enjoy first.

INDIA, SHIVA AND WATER

State control of resources and resource management has always been accepted on the basis that the public will can be more readily integrated with water management and allocations and diversions. Today there remains an additional concern for Greens and local water users. The disproportional influence of developers, Realtors and the home construction industry in local elections requires that structural reforms be made in resource management and urban planning issues. In addressing the position of Vandana Shiva and others on privatization of water and the World Bank there becomes a glaring contradiction between the needs of complex societies and water management. I include an article by the World Bank to provide a link between the accuser and the accused. The comparison is interesting if only in the context of the inadequacies of Vandana’s critique of globalization that are vague and nebulous.

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