PLATFORM OF THE GREEN PARTY OF OHIO

Adopted by the Convention of the Green Party of Ohio on August 24, 2002

The Ohio Green Party platform commits its members and organization to developing a sustainable healthy future for all Ohioans.

The GPOHIO exists in order to focus the political power of the people to:

- foster participatory democracy,
- preserve and restore viable ecosystems,
- establish social justice and equity,
- promote and practice nonviolence as a means of conflict resolution, and
- ensure the rights of a community-based economic system for all people. (1)

FOUNDATION AND BACKGROUND TO Ohio Green Party Platform

This platform statement of the values and positions of the Green party of the State of Ohio are based upon the unifying values of Greens worldwide. We stand on the national platform of the Green Party of the United States, and thus do not repeat national platform planks in this platform. We, the Green Party, see our political and economic progress, and our individual lives, within the context of an evolving, challenging world.As in nature, where adaptation and diversity provide key strategies of survival, a successful political strategy is one that is diverse, adaptable to changing needs, and strong and resilient in its core values: democracy, practiced most effectively at the grassroots level and in local communities.Social justice and equal opportunity, emphasizing personal and social responsibility, accountability, and nonviolence. Environmental and economic sustainability, balancing the interests of market- and value-driven business, of the community and land, of living and future generations.(2)

OHIO PLATFORM FOR A HEALTHY OHIO

In this Ohio platform we make clear our choices to change our state government. We articulate new values and opportunities that can propel the State of Ohio into a better form of managing our wonderful resources and people. In order to develop a sustainable healthy future for all Ohioans we believe the following actions should be taken by the Ohio Legislature and signed into Ohio law by the Governor.

I. Grassroots Democracy

If Ohio is to achieve a sustainable healthy future we must reestablish our basic democratic electoral processes. In the United States, corporations wield greater rights under law than people do. Corporations successfully claim constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. They use the protection of government to deny these rights to their employees. Judicial and legislative decisions that have made it possible for big business to stay beyond the reach of democracy need to be reexamined for the health and well being of all Ohioans.

Ohio needs Clean Money Campaign Reform to end the influence from "campaign contributions" and support publicly financed campaigns for all qualifying candidates who show community support.
We need to include everyone in elections by adopting same day voter registration.
We should make every Ohio vote count by allowing instant runoff voting, multi-member legislative districts using proportional representation where feasible, end to gerrymandering, easier ballot access for minor parties, permitting coalitions between parties, and when there is no one worthy of our vote, we should have a binding none-of-the-above option and other similar reforms.Multi-member districts combined with proportional representation allows for more representative government. Single member districts, plurality takes all predominate in Ohio and the United States but there are at least three offices are non-districted: school board, at large city councils and county commissioners.
The Green Party of Ohio calls all public officials of the State to the highest possible ethical standards. No State Public Official shall receive personal benefit or campaign advantage from those entities that receive public benefits. This should include, but not limited to, tax abatements, unbid contracts, tax increment financing, etc. (3)
The Green Party of Ohio supports a unicameral state legislature. A unicameral legislature will make Ohio government more open, accountable, responsible and effective by avoiding "secret" conference committees, cutting costs, and eliminating delays caused by waiting for action in the other body.

II. Justice and Nonviolence

Ohio cannot establish a sustainable healthy future while leaving some behind and doing injustice to others.

The advent of a "prison industrial complex" in Ohio has become a disgrace. The Green Party raises a united voice in opposition to the terrible inequities within the criminal justice system, the systemic injustice and prejudice, and the commercialization of prisons. The Green Party opposes privatizing of prisons. Instead we recommend increasing intensive probation, community restitution for nonviolent offenders and similar proven creative approaches that reduce prison costs.
Regarding drug crimes, we recommend changing to a strategy aimed at reducing casualties of drug use from the present policy of funding an ineffective war on drugs. We strongly support Ohio changing all necessary laws to require a program of treatment for drug addiction in lieu of prison for nonviolent drug offenders.
We support a preventive approach to justice issues. Investment in job training, job creation incentives, poverty elimination and adequate social services, are offset by savings from reduced crime that results from such investments.
At the same time, we need to maintain law enforcement approaches that are firm and directly address violent crime, street crime, and trafficking in hard drugs. Violence that creates a climate of further violence must be stopped. While having tough penalties for violent crimes, it is inappropriate to have a de facto policy of leniency to ``white collar crime''. We believe broad corporate crime legislation should be enacted and enforced.
We recommend that Ohio law require meaningful, effective, independent civilian review of all complaints of police misconduct for all state, local and county police powers.
We advocate Ohio judicial reform that opens up the court system, makes it affordable and accessible to ordinary citizens, and provides for more efficient administration of justice. Our system of justice must be made convenient to rich and poor alike. Guarding it against attempts of all special interests to control our civil justice/civil jury system.
As a matter of conscience, we oppose the death penalty. (4) Additionally, The Ohio Green Party stands firmly opposed to capital punishment due to its ineffective nature, racially biased patterns and its error rate.

III. Environmental Wisdom & Energy

Environmental wisdom is the key to Ohio's health and the capacity to sustain a positive future.

Investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy is key to sustainability. Just as ecological materials management is governed by the concept of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" (in priority order), ecological energy management must be governed by the principle of Conservation, Efficiency, and clean renewables. Of highest importance is to use less, then to use wisely, and to have clean production of what is used.

We call for the development of state energy policies that include taxes and/or fines on energy "waste," and the funding of energy research, including credits for alternative and sustainable energy use such as solar, wind, hydrogen and biomass or energy derived from industrial grade hemp or organic waste.

The Green Party calls for the retirement of the aging nuclear power reactors in Ohio, as soon as possible, since they are currently deteriorating, unsafe and not economical as a source of power for Ohio.

The Green Party recognizes that there is no such thing as nuclear waste "disposal." All six of the "low-level" nuclear waste dumps in the United States have leaked. There are no technological quick fixes which can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the duration of its hazardous life. Therefore, it is essential that generation of additional nuclear wastes be stopped. Current methods of underground storage are a danger to present and future generations. Any nuclear waste management strategies must be above ground, continuously monitored, retrievable and repackageable.

The Green Party strongly opposes any shipment of high-level nuclear waste across Ohio to the proposed Nevada waste "repository" at Yucca Mountain or any other centralized facility. The Green Party believes that this proposal is part of a move to re-fire on a fast-track, the commercial nuclear industry, if they can get their unsafe waste product ``safely disposed of.''

We call for independent, public-access radiation, safety and maintenance monitoring at all nuclear facilities in Ohio. We will require a neutral team of scientists and engineers to appraise the Davis-Besse and Perry plants.

In addition to aggressive energy conservation and efficiency measures, The Green Party of Ohio advocates the rapid and mandatory conversion to the best available clean technology in all existing and new power plants located in Ohio.

The Green Party of Ohio advocates the reduction of solid waste creation in the state. A "bottle bill" and "litter tax" are both elements of public policy, which are supported by the Green Party. A Green Party endorsed "bottle bill" would require a small deposit on all containers, including jars, cans, jugs, glass and plastic bottles to be paid at the time of purchase and to be refunded through source-based refund centers. Packaging, including wrappers, bags, boxes, etc., would be required to bear the name of the producer or marketer of the product, and remain the property of the producer or marketer.Waste in general needs to be reduced. Wastes, which are hazardous or toxic, need to be eliminated or minimized. The producers of waste must bear the responsibility for the ultimate conversion, recycling or ultimate disposal of these wastes.

The Green Party of Ohio opposes the disposal within the state of Ohio, wastes which are generated outside the state of Ohio. The challenge to any interpretation of US constitutional law, which would require Ohio to take possession of out-of-state-generated wastes is supported by the Green Party of Ohio and should be in the program of the Secretary of State, Governor and Attorney General. Aggressive measures need to be taken to end the use of Ohio as a dumping ground for solid and liquid wastes.

IV. Agricultural Sustainability

The Green Party of Ohio endorses, supports and seeks to implement an Agriculture Policy in the State of Ohio that follows basic Green principles that will insure a healthy food supply in Ohio:
A. Factory farms ("industrial farming") threatens to further erode the family farms and the general quality of life in our rural areas. Family farms are the basis of community-based economics and essential to rural development and a healthy, diverse economy.
B. The Green Party stands in opposition to a genetically engineered foods future as delivered by unaccountable transnational corporations. Ralph Nader has called for consumer revolts. The time has come! We are united in our opposition to foods that are presented unlabeled when genetically changed. U.S. biotech firms needs to be shown for what they do, food production for profit, not health.
C. Genetically modified "Terminator" seeds that are more about "intellectual property rights" and corporate profit than they are about sustainable agricultural practices, Third-world economic independence, and health, should be banned. Labeling should fully disclose where genetically engineered (and/or irradiated) food is being supplied. Consumer choice needs to be based on full and complete disclosure. Whether it is Bt corn, genetically modified maize, or GM oilseed that finds its way into a menu of other products, the consumer needs to know and choose.
In addition to these general policy directions, we promote for Ohio:

We support the development of incentives for the conversion to organic farming methods and increased enforcement of the State's existing organic certification program and direct Ohio's extension services to enhance their support for organic food production methods.
Programs to encourage development of a processing industry that is based in Ohio and supports Ohio's small farmers. That lack of local processing plants limits the markets to which farmers can sell their produce and is inconsistent with a bioregional approach to agriculture.
Encourage homeowners to produce their own food through organic practices.
Support community gardens in local communities.
Develop and implement legislation that will make growers and patent holders of genetically modified organisms liable for cross contamination with other farmers' crops. Penalties should be severe enough to discourage this from happening.
Provide support for direct marketing efforts of Ohio's farmers to Ohio's consumers.
Target government food procurement (such as school lunch money or university cafeteria purchases) towards small, local farms. Make the preservation of Ohio family farms a priority especially among low income farmers.
Develop a system for US DA food stamps to be used at Ohio farmer's markets easily, just as WIC (Women, Infants and Children) vouchers are used currently.
Restore large farms' oversight to the Ohio EPA, reversing the law that transferred this authority to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Protect productive farmland from sprawl.
The Green Party of Ohio calls for the immediate legalization of industrial Grade hemp for agricultural and industrial purposes. The Plant's versatility cannot go unnoticed for its environmental and economical potential to the people of Ohio. It is a perfect revenue crop for farmers and workers of Ohio. Hemp is non psychoactive and can yield numerous products including organic food, Clothing, Paper, Building materials, fuels, and biomass energy without cutting down more trees and using pesticides. It will further help end the reliance on "dirty" and foreign energy sources.

V. Health Care

Fundamental reform of our nation's health care system is necessary to provide affordable, quality and accessible healthcare for all Americans. Currently, we are the only industrialized country without a national health care system. Until universal national health care occurs, Ohio must take action to provide universal health care to all Ohio citizens.

We call for passage of legislation by the Ohio General Assembly that guarantees comprehensive benefits for all Ohioans in a single payer system, administered by the state, which can be funded by the private and public monies currently committed to health care.

This health care should include long-term care, care for the mentally and chronically ill and provide treatment for drug addiction in lieu of criminalization for nonviolent offenders.

We affirm the right of every Ohioan to privacy in all matters regarding his or her physical and mental health and we oppose all laws which would restrict or deny any proven medical or clinical procedure of a patient's choosing or which would restrict or deny access to information about any available choice of protocols or procedures. We respect and uphold every woman's right to self-determination in matters of reproductive health without recrimination, intimidation or interference. We believe pre and postnatal counseling should be recognized as an essential component of health services.

VI. Education

The State of Ohio must ensure that its citizens receive appropriate education opportunities in order to eradicate poverty, reduce crime, and assure proper medical care. We call for a comprehensive and holistic approach to insuring the equitable, quality education programs in Ohio. Ohio needs to the educate all of Ohio's children to sustain the well being of the entire state. The Ohio state constitution article 6 says we " will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state" The Ohio Green Party stands behind this article of the Ohio Constitution.

The Ohio Green Party supports equitable funding of all Ohio school districts, and we support the following three goals of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding:

Meaningful civic education should be mandatory for Ohio's secondary school curriculum. Students should be involved in programs that teach them the power of democracy and the responsibility of citizenship at an early age. Programs such as student government, peer mediation and peer counseling should be used to address the ever-growing trend of emotional and psychological abuse among students that has shown in recent years to lead to violence. In this way, students should be encouraged to be part of the solution.

The GPO recognizes that 20% of the adults in Ohio function at the lowest levels of literacy and that only 85% of the adults over 25 have a high school or equivalency diploma and calls for the end of the marginalization of adult literacy programs. We support funding of programs that offer adult literacy education, vocational training, and family literacy as a means to break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty. (5)

VII. Labor and Employment

Labor is the activity of sustaining our future and ourselves. We recognize the individual responsibility of work and support freedom of association in the work place.

The Green Party of Ohio endorses legal right to organize and join unions with democratically elected leadership. In Ohio's Public sector, Greens are concerned with an employee's right to join a union, and with associated collective bargaining rights.

We encourage the use of mediation as a tool for resolving disputes in the workplace. If the state of Ohio strengthened this tool our productivity and desirability as a work site would be greatly enhanced.

The Green Party of Ohio recognizes that all Ohioans who work need to make a living wage. Corporations receiving public subsidies and contracting for public work must provide livable wage jobs, and observe basic workers rights.

Forcing welfare recipients to accept jobs that pay wages below a livable income ("a living wage") drives wages down and exploits workers for private profit at public expense. We reject "workfare" as a form of slave labor for the private or public enterprise.

VIII. Economy and Taxation

Ohio corporations are chartered by the State, "for the public good", and the State has the power to control corporations through their charter. Ohio has in the past even revoked charters that are abused. We need to implement legislation, specifically the state corporate code, that will enable Ohio citizens to control corporations for our service. We also need to ensure that state officeholders, specifically the Attorney General, fulfill their obligations to challenge corporations that exceed their chartered authority or seek to govern.

Ohio taxation needs to be fair and equitable. We need to eliminate tax loopholes and other forms of corporate and personal welfare for those with large assets. This will help provide resources for the investments in education, infrastructure and innovations needed to grow a healthy Ohio through the twenty first century.

References:
1. By-Laws of the Ohio Green Party, Article 1, section B
2. A Call to action from the Green Party National Platform approved in Denver, CO June 2000.
3. Based on the Central Ohio Green Party Platform approved 2001
4. The Green Party National Platform approved in Denver, Co. June 2000
5. National Institute for Literacy using US Census 2000 census statistics.