THE TEN KEY VALUES OF THE GREEN PARTY

            Ecological Wisdom. The Greens recognize that the Earth sustains all life processes. Green ecology moves beyond environmentalism by understanding the common roots of the abuse of people. Whatever we do to the web of life, we do to ourselves.

            Social Justice. Greens want to replace the worldwide system of poverty and injustice with a world free of all oppression based on class, gender, race, citizenship, age, or sexual orientation.

            Grassroots Democracy. The powerless suffer the most from resource depletion and toxic pollution. Greens believe in direct participation by all people in the environmental, political, and economic decisions that affect their lives.

            Nonviolence. Greens reject violence as a way of settling disputes – it is shortsighted, morally wrong, and ultimately self-defeating. We are working to create a world where war is obsolete.

            Decentralization. Power and responsibility must be restored to local communities within an overall framework of ecologically sound and socially just values and lifestyles.

            Community-Based Economics. Greens seek a new economics that is based upon the natural limits of the Earth, and which meets the basic needs of everyone on the planet, under democratic, localized community control.

            Feminism. The Green movement is profoundly inspired by feminist values. The ethics of cooperation and understanding must replace the values of domination and control over others.

            Respect for Diversity. Greens honor the biological diversity of the Earth and the cultural, sexual, and spiritual diversity of Earth's people. We aim to reclaim this country's finest ideals: popular democracy, the dignity of the individual, and liberty and justice for all.

            Personal and Global Responsibility. Greens demonstrate a commitment to global sustainability and international justice through political solidarity and in personal lifestyles based on self-sufficiency and living lightly.

            Future Focus. Like the Iroquois, Greens seek a society where the interests of the seventh generation are considered equal to the interests of the present. We must reclaim the future for our children and ourselves.

A. ECONOMY, WORKERS' RIGHTS, AND WORKERS' POWER

            The Illinois Green Party is dedicated to ending the domination of our economy by large corporations and the tiny minority of wealthy individuals who control those corporations. We aim to build a new type of economy in which the major decisions regarding the production and distribution of wealth are made democratically by the people. The workers - who produce society's wealth - and their communities should be in control of their economic activity, not controlled by it.

            The very existence of the corporation as a form of business ownership, at least as it exists today, is in conflict with the fundamental principles of democracy, humanitarianism, and social accountability. By definition, a "corporation" is a legal fiction – a business entity or organization that (by an 1886 U.S. Supreme Court decision) has been given "rights" comparable to human beings yet does not have the same legal responsibilities as human beings. The corporation was created in order to facilitate the rapid expansion of capital and, at the same time, insulate the profiteering owners from legal liability. While originally subject to strict regulation under state charter, the corporations over the years have eroded these social controls and now exert much more control over governments than governments exert control over them. Today there are very few legal obstacles that interfere with corporations exploiting workers to the hilt, literally killing them by subjecting them to unsafe working conditions, plundering and poisoning the environment, defrauding or cheating consumers, etc., and even if caught, the corporation cannot be sent to jail or otherwise effectively controlled. It is rarely prevented from repeating its criminal conduct. It is even rarer for the responsible owners to be punished. Instead, it is the abstract "entity," the corporation, that is fined before resuming its socially irresponsible conduct. In some instances, a corporation in trouble can escape liability by resorting to bankruptcy protection, while the wealthy owners escape with their ill-gotten gains after looting the corporation's assets.

            Corporate domination of our economy is at the root of many societal problems. The compulsion to beat corporate competitors and maximize profits leads many corporations to chase after the lowest possible labor costs; so they freely close up shop in our communities and shift production to poorer countries whose governments repress labor and impose below-poverty wages and inhumane working conditions. The same compulsion drives most corporations to deliberately engage in industrial practices that shortsightedly use up the planet's resources at a reckless pace, and keep their costs of production low by ignoring or downplaying environmental concerns, as well as workers' safety and health.

            Corporate domination of our economy not only keeps millions of U.S. citizens in "official" poverty but also has driven tens of millions of working people into a more insidious form of poverty. These are the workers who have marginal, low-income jobs with no health insurance. These workers can't afford to raise a family at all, or they must struggle to raise a family by working two jobs, working long, exhausting hours, keeping two or more family members employed at once, going into debt, or all of the above.

            Poverty and economic insecurity, in turn, breed domestic conflict, drug and alcohol abuse, child abuse and neglect, and crime. While these root causes of "crime in the streets" remain unaddressed, corporate crime, or "crime in the suites," goes largely unacknowledged, and the corporate criminals get away with practices that literally kill working people by the thousands by dumping toxins and carcinogens into our environment, creating unsafe products and coercing workers into working under unsafe working conditions.

            On the political field, the same corporate interests have stifled genuine political democracy by using their tremendous wealth to buy and sell the politicians of the two major parties, thereby controlling government policies at the federal, state, and, to a lesser extent, even the local level. Indeed, throughout Illinois, we are faced with the sad spectacle of communities so desperate for jobs that they compete with one another in begging contests to have prisons built in their particular towns, or compete with one another by offering tax giveaways and other incentives to lure corporations into building facilities in their particular towns to the detriment of municipal governments and of the residents as a whole. At the state and national levels, corporate domination of government has led to the massive waste of society’s wealth on "corporate welfare" - the policies of granting billions of dollars' worth of special subsidies, use permits, tax breaks and other special favors to corporations, at the public's expense.

            Corporate domination of our media and the political system strongly affects how many people think about the economy. To the mainstream media and the Democratic and Republican parties, the "health" of the economy is measured by how fast the economy is expanding, how well the stock market is doing, and the size of corporate profits. To the Illinois Green Party, the true measure of a healthy economy is how well it is meeting the needs of the majority of the people, and especially of the working people who actually create society's wealth. While the Republican and Democratic Parties essentially represent two wings of the same wealthy class of corporate owners, the Green Party stands up for the interests of the social majority of working people and their families, as well as those who cannot find work and those unable to work.

            In order to serve those interests, the Illinois Green Party is dedicated, first and foremost, to the goal of empowering working people. Those who create society's wealth should have the power to determine what is created, how it is created, and how it is distributed through democratic means. We support a fundamental restructuring of our economic system toward that end. More immediately, we support government policies that will improve the quality of life for working people in all areas, not only materially but also with respect to more leisure and family time, access to health care, better working conditions, and a better environment, both inside and outside the workplace.

            The objective of empowering workers also means vigorously supporting workers' right to organize. At the national level, we call for the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act and similar measures, that will make it easier for workers to organize without interference from their employers and to bargain with the employers effectively. We support fair trade policies that aim to lift labor standards around the globe, not so-called "free trade" policies that undermine both labor and environmental standards at home and abroad, and that undermine national sovereignty in favor of corporate-dominated bodies like the World Trade Organization.

            The Illinois Green Party is committed to the goal of providing genuine full employment, at wages and with benefits that will allow every working person to be able to support a family. This is crucial, particularly in light of recent attacks on welfare programs by the two major parties. If we as a society truly want to move all able-bodied adults off welfare dependency, government must do whatever is necessary to ensure that there are plenty of reasonably fulfilling, adequately paying job opportunities for all able-bodied adults.

            A Green government can pursue and attain that economic goal, while simultaneously serving other beneficial objectives – such as promoting a cleaner environment, alternative energy practices, and worker/community ownership and control of industry.

            In part, this can be accomplished by a renewed commitment to rebuilding the state's infrastructure -- and rebuilding it in a "green" direction. The state should undertake a major program to build a modern mass transit system in Illinois, such as a light rail system providing mass transportation within the larger towns and connecting them to the larger urban centers, such as Chicago, Peoria, the Quad Cities, and the St. Louis metro area, thereby providing a practical alternative to automobile transportation. At the same time, our local and state governments should redesign and rebuild the existing roadways in the region with safe parallel bike paths and more and better sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian overpasses. Such projects would create a large number of good jobs in the short term and a more modest number of permanent jobs in the longer term.

            The goal of quality jobs for all also can be advanced by resurrecting a government commitment to other, more "traditional" public works programs – such as building or rebuilding high quality public housing, public schools, and public libraries, and reviving the Civilian Conservation Corps. Government should also be investing more in our greatest resource – the human population – by investing heavily in education at all levels, from Head Start to adult remedial education, from child nutrition and prenatal care programs to social work that can help adults cope with hardship and create a better family environment. Over the last three decades, the Democratic and Republican Parties have cut such socially beneficial programs to the bone, under the rallying cry of cutting taxes and balancing the budget – while preserving wasteful or destructive subsidies for corporations and a bloated military-industrial complex. They score easy political points by promising to cut taxes and "big government," and then turn around and criticize the public sector when our under funded schools are struggling, our public housing is deteriorating, and hungry and homeless people turn to drugs, alcohol, and crime. To the Illinois Green Party, the real question is not how "big" or "small" government is. We believe that most people wouldn't mind paying reasonable taxes if they knew that their money was being spent wisely – on programs that really help people, not programs that reward the very same corporations that are exploiting people and ruining the environment.

            We support the "living wage" campaign that has taken root in a number of cities throughout the nation. The campaign consists of local initiatives requiring municipal governments to pay a living wage (which we would define as at least 125% of the federal poverty level for a family of four, plus health-care benefits) for all government employees and for all employees of all contractors who do business with the government. By adopting such initiatives, municipalities can help lift wage standards generally. The State of Illinois can and should adopt a similar measure for state employees and employees of state contractors. This can go a long way toward achieving the goal of paying every working person an income sufficient to support a family, and by "bargaining up" the price of labor, it will help raise living standards for workers generally.

            The Illinois Green Party also supports other measures to improve working conditions and the quality of life for workers, such as lowering the workweek with no loss in pay; requiring larger employers to provide paid maternity leave, health and pension benefits and paid vacations; better enforcement of occupational safety and health standards, and a law that would protect workers from being fired without just cause.

            High quality jobs can also be generated through some new, creative means as well. A Green government would promote the goals of economic democracy and workers' control of industry by supporting the formation of workers' cooperatives and other democratic worker ownership of businesses. This can be done by providing tax credits and low interest loans, and by more far-reaching means – such as helping workers acquire industrial plants or other production facilities when their owners want to abandon them, shut them down, or relocate them.

            Similarly, the Illinois Green Party supports the right of persons to reside in and utilize abandoned structures. It also supports the right of persons and communities to engage in alternative economic practices. It encourages the development of alternative modes of exchange, such as a bartering-based economy and local currency. The Illinois Green Party also supports, as an alternative economic structure and mode of living, the creation of income-sharing and non-income-sharing intentional communities, co-housing, home schooling, simple living, and traditional indigenous and nomadic culture.

            The Illinois Green Party believes that state and federal governments can be doing more to help the thousands of coal miners and "smokestack" industrial workers of Illinois, as well as their families, who have lost their jobs in recent years. We believe that their plight sometimes has been falsely portrayed as a "jobs vs. the environment" issue, with the result that many miners have understandably blamed environmental laws and environmentalists for their hardships. It is true that environmental laws have reduced the demand for the high-sulfur coal that is generally found in Central and Southern Illinois, and have forced the closure of highly polluting manufacturing plants. However, it is also true that the resulting unemployment might not have been so painful were it not for the fact that the coal and manufacturing companies callously abandoned the coal miners along with the mines, the factory workers with their factories – the same miners and industrial workers whose labor created those companies' wealth and who often sacrificed their health or even their lives, in the process. Furthermore, the governments that passed the environmental laws failed to take adequate steps to help the workers who have been displaced in the process.

            The solution is not to go backwards by repealing environmental laws that are badly needed to make our world a healthy and safe place to live. The solution lies in finding creative ways to create jobs that can make good use of the workers' skills and productivity. The Illinois Green Party believes that we can have a clean environment and quality jobs for all; these two goals are not mutually exclusive.

            Regarding the coal industry in particular, the Illinois Green Party believes in taking a balanced approach that is sensitive both to the important role that the industry has played in Central and Southern Illinois and to the need for developing both new, sustainable sources of energy and new sources of quality employment. We acknowledge that the coal industry has sustained many working-class families in Central and Southern Illinois and that these regions are hungry for the relatively high-wage jobs that could be created through a revival of the industry. At the same time, however, we also acknowledge that, even with the best clean-air technology now available, the use of high-sulfur coal to generate power still poses various risks to the environment. Furthermore, even with the best safety technology and regulatory safeguards, coal mining remains an extremely dangerous and unhealthy occupation. If sources of cleaner, safer, yet comparably high-paying jobs could be developed, the workers of Central and Southern Illinois would be better off.

            Therefore, while the Illinois Green Party does support continued research and development of ways to use Illinois coal with minimal environmental impact (including research into other uses for coal, such as using it to create hydrogen fuel cells), and supports the upgrading of coal-fired power plants to minimize environmental risks, we also recognize that the state's long-term energy needs can best be met and quality jobs created by promoting renewable, sustainable energy sources, such as solar power, wind power, biomass, and geothermal energy. (See the platform section entitled "Energy Policy.") A Green government would vigorously support the renewable energy industry and encourage workers' ownership and control of that industry, by favoring workers' cooperatives and/or union-controlled enterprises.

            In general, the Illinois Green Party will do an excellent job of creating a healthy economy for Illinois because it is committed to the principle of creating quality jobs for all and meeting human needs. It will not "sell out" its principles, because it refuses campaign contributions from corporations and other large businesses and relies on the grass-roots support of working people and the poor. It will take its direction from the people, not spend millions of dollars to deceive and manipulate them, as the Democratic and Republican parties do.

            A vote for the Illinois Green Party is a vote for a healthy economy, with fulfilling and rewarding jobs for all who need them. It is a vote to empower people and protect the environment, a vote to put human needs before profits and to make government an instrument that serves the interests of the many, not the wealthy few.

B.  HUMAN RIGHTS, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

            In some respects, our society has moved toward realizing the ideals of equality enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that we are all created equal, and that we all have equal rights under the law. In other respects, however, these goals continue to elude us. Differences of class, race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, and other ways of being continue to stack the deck against many members of society, and society as a whole is the poorer for it.

These truths about our society today are self-evident:

            1. A person born into poverty does not have a chance to thrive equal to a person born into wealth.

            2. A person born into an abusive or neglectful home environment does not have a chance to thrive equal to a person raised in a comfortable, nurturing home environment.

            3. A child sent to a poor, run-down school with overcrowded classes, poorly paid teachers and outdated textbooks does not have an opportunity equal to a child sent to a well-funded, well-equipped school with small class sizes, well-paid teachers and modern tools of learning.

            4. Despite considerable progress, a person with a skin color other than white still must confront institutional barriers, negative assumptions and expressions of hostility today that a person with white skin rarely has to confront.

            5. Despite considerable progress, women must still confront institutional barriers, "good old boy" networks, insidious biases, sexual harassment, and both physical and political attacks on their person that men generally do not have to confront.

            6. Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people are often subjected to violent hatred and brazen discrimination without much legal protection.

            7. Persons of different nationalities, religions, or non-religious beliefs, persons with disabilities and persons who simply have a physical appearance that differs from the "conventional" still face prejudice and persecution.

            8. Notwithstanding the fact that there are many police officers who perform their duties responsibly, all of us may potentially have our rights violated by police agencies that are institutionally encouraged to mistake repressive and sometimes brutal practices for zealous law enforcement and by the courts that increasingly give tacit approval to such practices.

            To deny these realities is to allow them to persist and reproduce. The evils of social inequality, prejudice, bigotry and hatred must be recognized, rooted out and combated, both politically and in our daily lives, if we are to attain the promise in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and live the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King.

            The Illinois Green Party is dedicated to that battle for social justice. We are defenders of civil liberties and human rights, and proponents of social equality. We stand with all Americans who hold the view that diversity should be celebrated, not made a basis for oppression, mistrust or hatred. And we are dedicated to transforming these values into political action.

            To some extent, these values are advanced by other sections of this platform. Working people of all races, both male and female, can and should unite around their common interests to attain full and equal economic opportunity for all, quality health care and education for all, and a healthy environment for all living things. To the extent that these goals are realized, working people will be less prone to be divided against, and scapegoat, one another along the lines of race, sex or other differences.

            However, the evils of discrimination and prejudice must still be confronted directly on the political field as well. Toward that end, the Illinois Green Party supports the following measures:

            1. Strengthen the Illinois Department of Human Rights with more and better-trained investigators and legal staff. Authorize the Department to conduct independent investigations of discriminatory lending, housing and employment practices statewide, including the use of “testers” of different races.

            2. Provide adequate funding to Land of Lincoln Legal Services and authorize it to handle civil rights cases.

            3. Halt racial profiling by making it illegal and setting up a state program to monitor police practices regarding traffic stops and arrests. Strengthen Fourth Amendment law with legislation to make trumped-up traffic stops illegal.

            4. End the racist “war on drugs” and the unofficial campaign to incarcerate young black males.

            5. Defend affirmative action in higher education – while working to make higher education freely available to all who need it.

            6. Make “welfare to work” programs realistic: Provide real support that can enable single parents to survive, with child support, transportation and other social support, so that they can obtain meaningful job training and conduct a meaningful search for a job that can support a family. Hire more social workers to give the down-and-out meaningful, one-on-one assistance and attention.

            7. Make every child a wanted child: Defend and support women’s full right to reproductive choice – including better sex education, genuine social support for those who choose to bear children, and access to affordable abortion for those who do not. Through this combination, the right to abortion can be upheld, while the incidence of abortion can be reduced voluntarily.

            8. Improve public health research for afflictions that primarily harm minorities and women.

            9. Provide full, explicit, anti-discrimination protection equal rights for gays, lesbians, bi-sexual and transgender persons, including the right to marry, by amending the Illinois Human Rights Act.

            10. Institute Civil Unions for same-sex couples.

            11. Honor and enforce treaties with Native Americans.

            12. Eradicate environmental racism.

The Illinois Green Party opposes:

            1.   The war on and occupation of Iraq.

            2.   The USA Patriot Act.

C. HEALTH CARE

            Health care is the most profitable industry in the nation, and it is perhaps the most shameful example of unbridled corporate greed in the United States.  In the guise of "cost containment," it redistributes tremendous resources from sick people and their caregivers to wealthy businessmen and shareholders.

            About 46 million Americans have no health insurance today. Eighty percent of the uninsured are employed people and their dependents. Tying health care coverage to the o job simply encourages companies to use part-time and temporary workers to avoid having to provide benefits.

            The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, but the majority of its people are not getting their money's worth. A poorly regulated, corporate-dominated health care system eliminates choice, erodes care, and inflates administrative costs while boosting profits and CEO compensation. For example, our nation spends 24 cents of every health-care dollar on administrative costs, while Canada - which provides high quality health care to all of its citizens through a single-payer, government-insured system - spends only 11 cents per dollar on such costs.

            The wealthiest nation in the world clearly ought to be able to deliver quality health care to all its citizens, no less than Canada and other industrialized nations. Health care is a critical social good that demands that collective interests prevail over private gain. It should be viewed as a right, not a privilege. Accordingly, the Illinois Green Party calls for:

            1. Universal entitlement for all residents to comprehensive health care benefits including preventive, curative, rehabilitative and long-term care. This should be provided through a single-payer health-care program, publicly administered and funded, delivered by a non-profit system. It must include freedom to choose one's own doctors and health professionals, including midwives and other alternative practitioners.

            2. Support for the Bernardin Amendment as a step toward attaining these goals. Promoted by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the Bernardin Amendment would amend the Illinois Constitution by adding the following provision: "Health care  is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity, and there is an obligation for the State of Illinois to ensure that every resident is able to realize this fundamental right. On or before [date], the General Assembly by law shall enact a plan for universal health coverage that permits everyone in Illinois to obtain decent health care on a regular basis."

            3. As an interim measure, while advocating for a single-payer, universal health-care system, we support measures to make HMOs and other health-care insurers accountable to their policyholders for any negligence or harm caused by denials or delays of service and to require such providers to provide a full spectrum of health-care services, including preventive care.  (Currently, HMOs in Illinois aren't required to pay the full cost of even such basic services as mammograms and pap smears.)  Patients should have the right to sue HMOs and insurance providers for negligence or deliberate indifference to the health-care needs of policyholders. The costs to policyholders should be regulated.

            4. Full funding of public health programs performed by the public sector to provide services to vulnerable populations, to monitor population disease trends, and to prevent and treat communicable diseases.

            5. Funding for research that serves the public good, not private gain. Academic health centers must have support for their research mission.

            6. Informed choice and unimpeded access to a full range of family planning and reproductive services for men and women.

            7. Strong representation and a decision-making role for health-care recipients and health-care workers, and their unions, in public planning and oversight bodies.

            8. More emphasis on promoting public health through better education on nutrition, the benefits of organic food, exercise, avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol, practicing safe sex, and other healthy practices. Studies have shown that such education proves the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: Investing in public health education today will save public health-care costs tomorrow.

            9. Drugs or medicines developed with public funds should be made available at affordable prices, by prohibiting monopoly licensing and control of new drugs and, if necessary, by imposing price controls.

D. TRANSPORTATION

            Equal access to, and ecological sustainability of, all modes of transportation for the public good is necessary to promote the advancement of human society in harmony with the Earth. Taking immediate steps to start weaning our society away from its heavy dependence on petroleum is essential to saving the global environment in the long run and can help us save precious wildlife areas and ease a major source of international tensions in the more immediate future.

            Toward these objectives, the Illinois Green Party supports implementing a "true cost" tax on gasoline, which takes into account its environmental impact. The revenues generated by that tax should be used to fund alternative modes of transportation, including the purchase of rights-of-way for mass transit systems, and to educate the public as to the advantages of mass transit.

            We call for the development of clean and efficient public transportation, including inter-city rapid transit rail lines, a linked mass transit system for metropolitan areas, intra-city light rail, rail/bus hybrids, and the expansion of bicycle trails and lanes. We encourage car-pooling through the establishment of variable tolls and parking fees based upon the number of passengers per vehicle, as well as other disincentives to discourage private auto use where it is not needed, such as the elimination of free parking in non-residential areas that are well served by public transit. We support urban planning and dedication of rights-of-way in our cities and towns to make them more pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly, as well as urban planning models that bring residents in closer proximity to their places of employment to shorten commute times. We believe that mixed-use development should be conjoined with public transit development, so that public transit can provide ready access to and from population, business, commercial, and entertainment centers.

            The Illinois Green party also supports a ban on the transportation of hazardous wastes on dangerous roads and the development of emergency response plans for toxic spills on highways and railroads.

            We support imposing higher fuel-efficiency standards for motor vehicles, including commercial trucks, with gas-guzzler taxes for those that do not meet these standards and gas-sipper tax breaks for heavy trucks that exceed the standards. We believe that general tax subsidies for automobile transportation should be eliminated, and we support providing monetary incentives for commuters to use alternative and mass transportation.

            We support tough emission standards on all motor vehicles and the establishment of a state enforcement program that includes periodic testing and mandatory corrective action for motor vehicles that fail to meet these standards.

            The Illinois Green Party supports a major expansion of both private and governmental research and development of hydrogen fuel-cell, solar-powered, bio-diesel and other alternative-fueled vehicles and rail systems.  We insist that the government take steps to make such technologies affordable to all.

E. ENERGY POLICY

            We support the use of safe, renewable energy (such as wind, solar, and biomass) and also the use of energy efficiency as the only ways to secure our present and future energy needs, and indeed the life of this planet.

            We believe that the technology and resources already exist to implement this, and that information has not been made readily available about sustainable and efficient energy production and use. We feel that the private and public sectors have been unwilling to make such information readily available to us. This must change.

            In addition to power generation, there are technologies and devices available to dramatically increase our energy efficiency. Some are very simple and easy to implement, such as compact-fluorescent light bulbs, weather-stripping, use of energy-efficient appliances, and simply turning off the lights when leaving a room. Some pay back fairly quickly, such as energy-efficient water heaters.

            In building design, some efficiency measures are relatively simple, such as facing a home in a certain direction.  Some are more complex but well worth the effort, such as super insulation, energy-efficient materials, special lighting and heating systems, “building envelope construction,” etc. Retrofits can include solar energy systems, replacement of heating/cooling systems, and double- or triple-glazed windows. “Passive” solar systems, such as south-facing windows, are helpful.  We believe in supporting research to further this, but also feel there is enough knowledge right now to accomplish many of our goals.

            We also believe in public ownership of our energy grid.  Private, centralized ownership of the means of power production and distribution has given the utility corporations a literal stranglehold on our lives, both economic and health-wise, as well as on the life of our ecosystem and planet.

            We believe in creating an infrastructure that includes social and economic incentives to encourage people and businesses to view efficiency and restraint as attractive business goals. We must eliminate the wasteful and shortsighted business practices that most corporations have foisted on us, which have caused the United States to consume a highly disproportionate share of the world’s energy resources.

            We need to ensure, through subsidies and other incentives, that renewable energy and energy efficiency devices, installation and information are affordable and available to people of all income levels, including the poorest.

            Our dependence on fossil and nuclear fuel seriously threatens our environment, our health and our economy.  Sustainable, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and decentralized ownership of the sources of electric power are the key to a sound energy policy and a safe future.  Unless current policy is reversed, the consequences can become lethal for everyone; they already are dangerous and lethal for many.

            We especially oppose nuclear energy, which in Illinois accounts for a huge proportion of our energy production and usage.

            Nuclear energy, with its spewing of long-term radioactive contamination, risk of a mass Chernobyl-type disaster, ties to the nuclear weapons complex, and unfair governmental subsidies, is a special threat.  It also is one of the grossest forms of exploitation of the Native American population, as an enormous portion of our uranium is located on Native American land, has been mined by Native American workers, and has polluted their countryside.  It is also a source of radioactive waste, which affects us all.

            We also oppose the state's over-reliance on coal, especially the practice of burning high-sulfur coal without adequate pollution controls. The large private utilities, such as Com Ed, are known for reliance on this method.

            We also recognize that coal has been a mainstay of the Southern and Central Illinois economy. Shifting away from coal will negatively impact employment and the local economies in much of central and southern Illinois, and we support measures to ease this transition via retraining and the development of new job opportunities in the affected regions, as further described in the Economy, Workers' Rights, and Workers' Power section of this platform.

            One of the hallmarks of all Green Parties is the devotion to ecological wisdom and protecting the long-term environmental health and sustainability of the Earth. We are living at a crossroads in environmental history. In the last 50 years human society has escalated its erosion of the global environment, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of energy production and use. This includes production of “greenhouse gases,” depletion of the ozone layer, air and water pollution (including from coal and gasoline and its additives), and nuclear contamination. We MUST reverse this damaging course, and we MUST do it quickly.

Program:

            1. We support the establishment of decentralized, publicly owned utilities (such as municipal utilities) throughout the state.

            2. We support unseating and unplugging the large private utilities, such as Illinois Power and Com Ed, as they have shown no social responsibility in their policies.

            3. We completely oppose the use and new construction of any nuclear power facilities. (See section on Nuclear Power immediately following.)

            4. We demand that information on renewable energy and energy efficiency be made readily available to the people, and we call upon the appropriate governmental agencies, research organizations, and private companies to work together to make such information available.

            5. We oppose the shifting of the extra costs (including using government-sponsored bail-outs) of private power producers onto the consumers. These include decommissioning costs (including nuclear power plants), losses due to poor planning, environmental disasters, and health consequences of their production.

            6. We support encouragement for individuals and small groups and businesses to develop home-based renewable, sustainable power production for their own use, both connected to the energy “grid” and “off the grid.” These include small solar and wind systems.

            7. We support mandated ”net energy billing” throughout the state so that users of home-based renewable energy systems hooked up to the grid can sell their excess energy back to the power company, either private or public, at retail price. In other words, their final bill would be the consumer rate multiplied by the difference between what they use and what they produce (in some circumstances they would actually receive rather than pay money).

            8. We support high-efficiency standards on lighting and appliances.

            9. We support high-efficiency standards on new building construction, and we encourage retrofits on existing buildings.

            10. We support tax rebates for architects, builders, home-owners and renters who use energy efficient architectural design, such as thermal mass, radiant heat and envelope systems, double-glazed windows, etc.  We support similar rebates for retrofits of existing structures.

            11. We support tax rebates, rate rebates and adjustments, and government funding, for energy efficiency and the use of renewable, sustainable energy. This includes use and research and development of such technologies.

            12. We insist that energy-saving devices and technologies be made affordable and available to everyone.

            13. We support subsidies, rebates, and whatever else it takes to provide energy efficiency devices, information and services for people of all income levels, even the poorest.  This would include, for example, insulation, weather-stripping and energy efficient lighting.

            14. We support government funding of massive research in sustainable technologies such as solar, wind, and biomass, plus research in emerging technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, as well as discovering new sources of energy production.   This includes technologies usable on both a small scale and a large scale, and also includes research on energy storage and distribution, such as improved battery systems.

            15. We support government-funded research of ways to improve energy efficiency.

            16. We support tax rebates, and mandatory rebates from private utility companies, for use of energy-efficient design, and energy- efficient devices in homes and buildings, including energy-efficient lighting (such as compact fluorescent bulbs) use of natural light and reflective techniques, thermal mass, etc. We recognize that energy efficiency can be accomplished with a combination of common-sense small steps (such as compact fluorescents and LEDs, weather-stripping, etc.) and also large leaps (energy-efficient housing design, etc.).

            17. We support massive public education, including in the schools, regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy use.

            18. We support government and private companies providing subsidized energy audits and education to assist consumers and businesses in improving their energy efficiency.

            19. We oppose any practice of private companies buying up patents to renewable energy devices, or fuel efficiency devices, for the purpose of stifling those technologies and making them unavailable or unaffordable.

            20. We oppose the withholding or closeting of information on renewable energy and energy efficiency, including lesser-known technologies.

            21. We oppose all government subsidies for fossil fuel development and use (with the exception of research to improve the efficiency, and environmental and worker safety, of using coal in the near term.)  We oppose all subsidies for nuclear or other dangerous methods of producing electricity.

            22. We specifically oppose extension of the Price-Anderson Act, which federally insures and indemnifies nuclear power companies from the consequences of disasters they may cause.

            23. We support encouragement, via public education, of the development of a culture viewing energy efficiency and restraint as attractive options, replacing our current culture of wastefulness and shortsightedness.

            24. We support the use of solar cooking devices, as an energy efficiency measure.

            25. We support research and development of “alternative” fuels to gasoline for transportation.  These include hydrogen fuel cells, bio-diesel fuels, and solar-powered vehicles.

            26. Recognizing that coal use in Illinois will not be immediately discontinued, we call for the development of technologies which will diminish the negative ecological and health impacts of burning high-sulfur Illinois coal, such as mandating the use of smokestack scrubbers at coal-fired electric generating plants, as well as continued funding of research on methods of utilizing coal in a more environmentally friendly manner.

            27. We support state and federal retraining programs to alleviate the distress from job losses due to the decline of Illinois coal production, and to prepare unemployed miners to work at new jobs.

            28. We oppose all forms of environmental racism associated with energy production (or anything else), including location of dangerous power plants and smoke stacks in low-income or predominantly minority-populated areas, shifting of waste to low-income areas (including Native American lands), etc.

            29. We support research on the apparent causal connection between various forms of power generation and health hazards, including full investigation of any clusters of illness that may be associated with energy production. Funds should be allocated to monitor the health of all persons located within any known high-risk areas.

            30. We support strict safety standards in all energy production and distribution facilities, both renewable and non-renewable.

            31. We support citizen and government inspection and oversight of safety procedures in all energy production and distribution facilities.

            32. The polluters must pay the health and associated costs of illnesses sustained by workers and community members affected by their facilities. Polluters should be required to pay into an insurance fund, and/or be bonded, so that in case they dissolve or become bankrupt, these costs will still be paid, and will not revert to the taxpayers.

            33. We support “whistleblower protection” for workers who disclose violations of safety procedures to their fellow employees, superiors, or the public at large.

F. NUCLEAR POWER

(See also sections on Energy Policy and Nuclear Weapons.)

            We completely oppose the use of nuclear energy.

            There is no safe level of radiation exposure. There is no safe way to create, and clean up after, nuclear power. It poses immediate risks of contamination of the environment, and it carries the potential for catastrophic disasters such as the incidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

            The nuclear power industry is not economically viable on its own and could not even exist without huge taxpayer and consumer subsidies, including the Price-Anderson Act, which severely limits the industry's liability for any nuclear power plant disaster and allows the responsible utility to pass on the costs of such a disaster to other licensed utilities -- and ultimately their customers.

            The unfair and obscene subsidies of nuclear power directly impede the development of clean, renewable methods of energy generation, which should be receiving government funding.

            Nuclear energy is tied to the nuclear weapons complex, and much of its technology, in addition to its spent fuel, is usable for weapons-related work. Nuclear power plants can also serve as a market for the waste generated from weapons work.  This promotes nuclear weapons here and proliferation abroad.

            Much of the uranium used in nuclear power production comes from Native American land, and Native Americans bear a disproportionate share of the risks of contamination and sickness due to this industry.  There is also pressure from corporations to dump radioactive waste on Native American land. Nowhere is environmental racism more blatant than in the nuclear industry.

            Nuclear energy has recently been touted as a “clean, renewable” source. It is NOT a clean, renewable source of energy.  It is especially dangerous because we can’t see or smell the effects.

            The waste from nuclear plants lasts for generations and adds to the disposal problem already posed by the nuclear weapons complex.  The risks of transportation of the waste are also substantial.

            Due to the dispersal of nuclear pollutants into the air and the danger posed by even a small exposure, the adverse health effects of nuclear plants extend far from the plants.  Of course, plant workers, uranium miners, and members of the immediate communities are the most affected. Because many of the serious consequences of radiation, such as cancer, may take years to develop, it is difficult to research the effects and track down the victims. (And of course the nuclear related corporations have no interest in investigating or uncovering the harm they have caused). While dangerous for everyone, radiation has a disproportionate effect on the health of children, the unborn, and the elderly.

            Nuclear plants are inherently too dangerous, and in addition, most nuclear power plants have poor safety records. Many have histories of faulty construction and maintenance and utilize inferior technologies. It is difficult to obtain data on emissions or ventings from nuclear plants.

            With the current energy shortages, there is a push from industry and the government to construct and open new power plants, and to relax and streamline standards for their operation.  This is a serious threat. 

Program:

            1. We call for an immediate end to all government subsidies, in any form, for nuclear power research and production.

            2. We affirm that nuclear energy is not a source of clean, renewable energy, and is not a solution to the “greenhouse” problem.  We oppose its promotion to the public as a safe technology.

            3. We insist that all costs of decommissioning nuclear facilities be paid by their owners, not the ratepayers or taxpayers.  This is also true of any "stranded costs" and costs due to disasters of any kind.

            4. We oppose the extension of the Price-Anderson Act, which drastically decreases the liability of nuclear producers from the consequences of disasters they cause, leaving the balance paid for by the taxpayers.

            5. We oppose any “fast-track” licensing of nuclear power plants.

            6. We insist that members of communities affected by a nuclear power plant be granted the right to bar or halt its construction and the right to discontinue the operation of any plant already in existence.

            7. We call for full disclosure of any risks to community members from nuclear facilities, including information on any accidents and “ventings” of radiation that may occur.  Furthermore, we demand full disclosure in advance of planned or anticipated “ventings” when possible.

            8. We demand funds to research any health effects, cancer clusters, etc. from these plants. We further support funds to monitor the health of people in communities surrounding nuclear power plants.

            9. We demand that nuclear power companies pay the health costs of their operations.

            10. We call for the immediate end of exploitation of Native American communities by nuclear power producers.

            11. We oppose the construction and use of the Yucca Mountain waste disposal site.

            12. As long as nuclear power plants are in operation, we demand rigorous, stringently enforced standards of operation of these plants, with citizen oversight as well as government inspection.

            13. We call for strict standards for disposal of both “low-level” and “high-level” radioactive waste from the plants.

            14. We insist that waste products from nuclear power plants be treated as waste, not recycled into consumer, industrial,  agricultural, or military products.

            15. We insist on immediate, properly funded research into the least harmful disposal and storage of radioactive waste.  We insist that the producers of radioactive waste fund this research.

            16. We completely oppose the use of MOX (“mixed oxide”) fuels, which utilize surplus plutonium from nuclear weapons facilities, under any circumstances.

            17. We call for the removal of all radioactive waste from Lake Michigan and safest disposal of the waste from the decommissioned Zion nuclear plant.

            18. We oppose transportation of nuclear or radioactive waste through the State of Illinois.

            19. We call for strict worker safety standards and strict enforcement of as-safe-as-possible maintenance and operation standards at nuclear plants.

            20. We call for “whistleblower” protection for plant employees who inform management and/or the general public about violations of safety standards at plants.

            21. We call for funding for the best possible clean-up of all waste generated by nuclear power production.

            22. We call for public education on the risks of nuclear energy, and an end to misleading advertising practices aired on television or printed in popular magazines and newspapers.

            23. We call for our schools to educate students about the hazards of nuclear energy production, rather than promoting it in educational programs and textbooks.

            24. As with nuclear weapons, we affirm that the way to handle future radioactive waste is to refrain from producing it.

G. NUCLEAR WEAPONS

            The budget for research, design, maintenance and testing of nuclear weapons is immense and still rising, even with the end of the so-called “Cold War.” In addition to its dangers, it siphons important money away from needed social and environmental services.

            There is a dangerous current trend of mixing nuclear or radioactive components with "conventional" weapons leading to "usable" nukes, such as burrowing weapons with "relatively" low yields (really not low), and using depleted uranium shells to penetrate tanks with explosives.  This blurs the distinction between "conventional" and nuclear weapons, and makes it more and more likely that the latter will be used. 

            In addition to the dangers of weapons production, dangerous radioactive waste is accumulating at production sites and is being trucked through interstates around the country, often to woefully unsafe dumping areas.

            Much of the so-called “maintenance” or “stockpile stewardship” budget for nuclear weapons is used to refine, research, and develop nuclear weapons and also to develop and maintain the skill and capability of “our” scientists and engineers to develop nuclear weapons rather than to ensure their safety. Clean-up is continually downgraded in favor of weapons or weapons-related research and development. Although underground testing of some kinds of weapons has stopped, testing still occurs at the “sub-critical” size level, or through a process is stopped just short of a chain reaction, using computer simulation to complete the tests. 

            Our hypocritical weapons stance does not fool other nations, including those currently without nuclear weapons.  This encourages nuclear proliferation abroad; in addition, some of our “peaceful atom” technology is exportable and able to be used for nuclear weapons.

            There is a push to “recycle” nuclear waste, including plutonium, into fuel for nuclear reactors, which is not safe.

            This is a state issue in addition to being a national issue. There are nuclear facilities in Illinois, and nearby Paducah, Kentucky. Radioactive contamination does not stop at state or national borders. We are all “downwinders” wherever we are.  Radiation from some sources can last over 20,000 years; other sources with shorter life are also dangerous, such as tritium (radioactive hydrogen), which can enter the body via tritiated water.

            Nuclear weapons and nuclear power are related.  Much of the technology and materials from nuclear power plants can be used for nuclear weapons manufacture here and abroad.

 
            There is no safe level of radiation exposure.  The fact there is naturally occurring radiation does not justify producing more.

            The solution to the problem of future nuclear waste is to refrain from producing it (beyond the slight amount needed medically).  The availability of dumping grounds far from the production of the waste empowers the government and private corporations, such as those producing nuclear power or irradiated food, to expand their operations and increase their dangerous products and their waste production.

Program:

            1. We oppose all research, testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons of any size, in any manner and place, on moral grounds and also on the grounds of its contamination of the environment, production of radioactive and toxic waste, and direct connection to the nuclear power and food irradiation industries.

            2. We oppose all production of "mini-nukes", combining "conventional" technology and nuclear technology.

            3. We oppose the use of "depleted uranium projectiles" such as those used in Iraq to penetrate tanks, on the grounds of immorality as weapons, and because of the dangers of the radioactive dust these weapons leave behind.

            4. We demand that all weapons with nuclear components be considered nuclear weapons, not conventional weapons, and that full information be given to the public about their use.

            5. We support adequate funding for clean-up of all leaks, spills, and contamination on or off production sites. This includes funding research for identification, detoxification and clean-up of radioactive and toxic waste.

            6. We oppose transportation of nuclear waste through the state, and oppose the acceptance of out-of-state waste. We oppose the setting up of any national nuclear waste dumping ground (such as Yucca Mountain or WIPP) both due to their inherent flaws and because they would lead to huge nuclear waste traffic. This could include the Illinois road system, some of which is already approved for nuclear waste transit.

            7. We demand the right to know where nuclear waste is transported, produced and stored within our state.

            8. We oppose recycling of radioactive waste into consumer or industrial products.  We demand full information as to any such use that is occurring or planned.  We oppose exporting nuclear waste, including enriched uranium or plutonium, for any use. NUCLEAR WASTE IS WASTE, NOT A RESOURCE.

            9. We support the storage of radioactive waste as close to the site of production as possible.  We insist that the producers of the waste (including the government) fund state-of-the-art storage and disposal methods that are as safe as possible.

            10. We demand citizen and state inspection and oversight of the storage and disposition of all radioactive waste.

            11. We support all funding needed to medically treat and compensate workers and other citizens exposed to and sickened by exposure to radioactive contamination, and for studies to discover any “clusters” of illness that have occurred.

            12. We demand the right to know all risks to which our population is being exposed, and we demand the funds to monitor that population.

            13. We demand that the residents of a community have the right to make final decisions regarding whether a facility comes in that might expose them to radioactive danger.

            14. We oppose the “Nukes in Space” and “Star Wars” programs. These include tritium bombs, directed energy weapons, space and airborne lasers, “pure fusion” weapons and particle beams.

            15. We demand that we ultimately solve the problem of future nuclear waste by REFRAINING FROM PRODUCING IT (beyond the slight amount used medically).

            16. We demand that the money currently used for nuclear weapons be used for clean-up and to provide essential social services and care of the environment.

            17. We support immediate ratification and signing of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and complete honoring of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and any other treaties banning or limiting research, development, testing, or deployment of any nuclear weapons.

            18. We insist that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty be honored.

            19. We support continuing the ban on research into designing "usable" or burrowing nuclear weapons.

H. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

            One of the hallmarks of the Green Party is its devotion to ecological wisdom and protecting the long-term environmental health and sustainability of the Earth. Before adopting a policy or position on virtually any issue, we must always consider and weigh the environmental impact. We support the protection of biodiversity and are opposed to monoculture.

            We are living at a crossroads in human history. In the last 50 years, human society has begun to have a major impact on the global environment, as evidenced by the problems of global warming, the destruction of the ozone layer, the wholesale destruction of rain forests, the dispersal of dioxins and related chemicals into the environment, and the general deterioration of the quality of our air, water and land. Our health and the health of other living things have already been compromised by the pervasive presence of toxic chemicals, radioactive waste and pesticides. Meanwhile, new challenges are arising, such as the threat posed by giant agribusiness corporations that are attempting to manipulate and control the genetic makeup of our food supplies. The next 10 to 20 years may prove to be a crucial turning point: Will we as a species develop the wisdom and means to halt and reverse these trends, or will we continue to muddle through as we have -- adopting weak regulatory measures that are constantly being watered down under pressure from big business?

            Our future depends on our ability to make major changes, not just in policy, but also in our whole philosophy of government. That is one of the major reasons why the Illinois Green Party is needed, and why it must play a continually increasing role in government.

            Most of the threats to our environment are global in character and will require global solutions. However, Illinoisans can play an important role in effecting change, not only by eventually sending a Green representative to Washington, but by attacking at least some of these problems at the state and regional levels.

            Some of our proposals for protecting and improving the environment are found in other sections of our platform, such as the sections on Energy Policy and Agriculture. In addition, one important policy change that could be adopted at the state level is the introduction of a "pollution tax." The idea behind the pollution tax is to impose the costs of despoiling the environment on those businesses that are responsible for creating the environmental hazards. Producers of greenhouse gases - ozone depleting chemicals and dioxins, for example - would be among those taxed. The tax would give manufacturers an incentive to change their practices and give nonpolluting competitors an edge in the marketplace. Furthermore, the funds raised in this manner could be used to help develop and implement alternative methods of production.

            One of the largest contributing sources of dioxin contamination is industrial and medical waste incineration. Direct regulatory measures should be implemented to phase out such incinerators, or at least to eliminate dioxin-creating plastics from the waste stream. Encouraging hospitals to use reusable and re-stabilized supplies, rather than throw-away items, and more careful policing of the waste stream could go a long way toward eliminating Illinois's contribution to the dioxin problem.

            Although Illinois has begun to take encouraging steps to promote recycling, much more can be done to expand the scope of recycling and encourage the manufacture, sale, and purchase of reusable products, at both  the personal and industrial levels, by using appropriate monetary incentives and disincentives.

            One important regional concern is the preservation of the Shawnee National Forest and the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge in Southern Illinois. We call for ending the misguided and disastrous policy of allowing industrial activity on or near the Refuge and more aggressive state oversight of the ongoing cleanup of the Refuge. We have supported, and will continue to support, the cause of halting all logging on the Shawnee National Forest. We also oppose the expansion of horse trails and the push to allow all-terrain vehicles there.   We oppose any expansion of the current recreational uses of the Forest, as any such expansion threatens the integrity of the ecosystem.

            We oppose any commercial timber harvesting or other natural resource extraction on public lands.

            Our public lands should be made accessible to the public, with the exception of protected wilderness areas.  User fees should not be imposed.

            Where environmental issues arise on any policy question, the Illinois Green Party will consistently support environmental protection over destruction, saving natural ecosystems and endangered species, not risking their demise, and promoting the long-term sustainability of the human race and other living things over the capitalist economy's naturally short-sighted quest for maximum short-term profits.

I. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD POLICY

            Agriculture and the entire food system must be transformed so that they truly meet basic human needs and become regenerative, sustainable and active forces in healing the Earth.

            The Illinois Green Party seeks to encourage patterns of food purchasing and dietary choices that foster self-reliance, both in our country and abroad.

            We promote eating lower on the food chain, giving preference to regionally produced, organic foods grown on biologically balanced soils.  We favor confronting the health, ethical, environmental, and economic issues related to the drawbacks of meat- and dairy-based diets.

            We call for the establishment of an ecologically based, sustainable agricultural system that moves as rapidly as possible towards regional/bioregional self-reliance. The emphasis of agricultural research should shift to support these goals.

            Soil conservation and regeneration must be promoted as one of our nation’s top priorities.  Alternatives to fossil-fuel-based fertilizers -- alternatives that will regenerate the soil -- need funding along with a phase-out of the use of artificial fertilizers.

            The Illinois Green Party calls for halting all uses of poisonous pesticides and encourages the widespread use of integrated pest management.  We oppose the patenting of any life form and the introduction of any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into our ecosystem.  We are categorically opposed to food irradiation, which creates new, unknown health risks while it lowers nutritional quality. As long as GMOs and irradiated food exist, we insist that they be clearly labeled so the public can make informed decisions.

            America needs to change farm programs and tax and fiscal policies that presently place small and family farms in a disadvantaged position compared with that of large, corporate farms. We endorse policies that advance community and family organic gardens as a top Green priority. At the same time, we oppose "factory farming" practices, which are inhumane to animals, damaging to the environment, harmful to surrounding communities and harmful to consumers, including the widespread use of antibiotics on livestock.

            We call for strengthening "organic certification standards."

            We support legalization of industrial hemp, a remarkably versatile product that can at once provide a valuable source of income for farmers and a valuable source of fuel, paper and other applications.

            In order for regions/bioregions to increase self-reliance in food production, the Illinois Green Party will encourage the initiation of steps to form food producer associations and cooperatives within regions, and to form economic development organizations that advance the manufacture of value-added agricultural products within regions. We also encourage community-supported agriculture programs, from community gardens to farmer/consumer purchasing agreements.

            We support policies that will require land grant universities to be more fully engaged in research in sustainable, organic, ecologically balanced agriculture.

            It is crucial to protect genetically diverse seed stocks. Therefore, we join citizen-led organized resistance to bio-devastation, genetically engineered foods and corporate control of the world food supply. We oppose corporate control of seed stocks and support farmers' control of their own seed supplies.

J.  ELECTORAL REFORM AND VOTERS’ RIGHTS

K. EDUCATION, FAMILY AND YOUTH

            Nowhere do we see more interconnections among the serious public concerns than in addressing the issue of education and families.  We cannot achieve success in education without addressing all the needs of our people and environment, and without re-examining our national and local priorities, including the way our government funds are spent.  While government officials proclaim we do not have adequate funds for education and public welfare, at the same time they squander most of our tax money on the military and on subsidies for “corporate welfare.” Shifting these resources to education, health and basic social services is an enormous priority.  We HAVE the money, and need to use it for our people and environment, not to fuel the present policies favoring military and corporate aggression for the benefit of an elite few, which is the hallmark of our present political and social regime.

            Simultaneously, there have been calls for “privatization of education,” and for corporate involvement in public education, coupled with extreme centralization of educational decision-making, all of which co-opt responsiveness of our educational system away from our communities and the people who truly would like to serve them.

            We call for an overhaul of our priorities, putting our time and dollars from our localities, states and federal government to work for the benefit of our communities and building our educational system. Yes, it is costly, and it is money well spent.

            In order to provide quality education, we need well-nourished, healthy, financially and emotionally secure children and families. School lunches and breakfasts are an obvious beginning, but in order to have our educational system succeed, we also need to provide jobs, training, and social and educational services for parents; universal health care; and a meaningful provision of public welfare and environmental safety.

            With the current economic stresses put on families, parents are increasingly alienated from their children’s lives.  This impedes parent participation in children’s lives, educational and otherwise. Due to financial stress, many parents are unable to give even tiny babies the time and attention they need.  Healthy family relationships help with successful education and the transition to adulthood, as well as help to break the cycle of violence.

            Our youth are often criminalized, looked at as unworthy of respect. There is little support for a meaningful transition to responsible adulthood for our young people, except for some (and by no means all) who completely submit to becoming uncritical, unquestioning parts of a system that does not benefit our people and environment, The wisdom of our youth is being ignored, as is their need for meaningful community; as a result, some of them are driven to destructive behavior.

            In that vein, our support for a “living wage” that requires a job to pay enough to support a family is critical to education and child welfare, with parents having enough time to have meaningful relationships with their children.

            We need to recognize that parenting is real work (as are the other invisible labors of the home) and support it in a real way. For example, in Europe, there is mandatory PAID parental leave for parents of children up to the age of three. Our economic policies must reflect this view.  This includes flexible hours and job-sharing in the workplace and emergency leave for childcare and elder care.

            We need support for child rearing done in the home, and for decent day-care for families where all the adults work outside of the home.

            We support the rights of children to a decent standard of living and a decent education.  We support equal rights for all types and configurations of families, including single-parent, gay and lesbian families, and for all levels of income, classes, races, and beliefs (religious and otherwise).

Our Positions:

            This is divided into two sections: “General” programs, relating specifically to the quality of family life that is inextricably intertwined with the degree of success in education, and “specific” programs relating to the public education system itself (see Section L).

General Programs:

            1. Support for a “living wage,” allowing a salary to support a family.

            2. A guarantee of a decent standard of living, including health-care, food, etc., for all children, regardless of the working status of their parents.

            3. Paid emergency leave for workers to care for sick children or parents/elders.

            4. Full benefits to domestic partners, regardless of sexual orientation.

            5. Full rights for all, including custody, equal employment, employment benefits, etc., regardless of sexual orientation.

            6. Flexible hours and/or job-sharing in the workplace, to further support families.

            7. Recognition that parenting is “real work” and having an infrastructure that supports this.

            8. Full social security and pension benefits for spouses and domestic partners of workers.

            9. Decriminalization of youth.  Opposition to curfews.  Support for meaningful gathering places, programs, and work/study opportunities for youth.  Respect for the wisdom of our young people, giving them opportunities to be heard.

            10. Job training and social and educational services for parents, universal health care, and environmental safety.

            11. Breaking the cycle of violence by supporting a culture of cooperation.

            12. Decent wages for part-time and summer jobs for youth.

L. PUBLIC EDUCATION

            We support the allocation of ample government funds for the following programs via progressive taxation, and diversion of funds from non-social purposes such as the military, to avoid a disproportionate burden being placed on those least able to pay for it.  We recognize that this is costly, but we believe it is the best investment we can make.

            1. We support decentralization of the school system, making it responsive to the specific needs of each community.  Schools should be controlled by people within communities. We oppose the autocratic rule of our schools by far-away administrators, who are removed from the day-to-day operation of the schools they control.

            2. We support policies that encourage meaningful input and participation from all members of the community, including students and parents.

            3. We support access to higher education for everyone.

            4. We oppose corporate involvement or influence in our school and educational system, via advertising (Channel One etc.), advertising-biased curriculum such as “Five Basic Foods," which pushes dairy and meat, and other situations where corporate advertising is sneaked into classrooms through “donations” of biased teaching materials.  We oppose the present practice of pushing unsafe corporate products for sale in schools, such as Coke or Pepsi machines being installed in school buildings as a condition for corporate donations.  We recognize that this problem is worsened by inadequate public funding for schools.

            5. We support teachers being allowed/encouraged to teach as they see fit. Teachers need freedom to teach in ways with which they feel comfortable, with minimal direction from superiors.  Teachers also need greater access to resources such as books and other materials, field trips, supplies, and frequent consultation and dialogue with peers and parents.  The goal is an excellent education for every child.

            6. If computers are utilized, they should not displace or substitute for the teacher/child relationship.

            7. We call for promotion of more opportunities for teachers to interact with parents, for the benefit of the children.

            8. The school system must encourage, rather than stifle, child-centered, innovative educational methods as determined by the community and teachers, to guarantee success in each community.

            9. There must be adequate pay for teachers, and we should encourage the best of our adults to enter and thrive in this profession.  Also, we must have improved teacher training, both in college and on the job.

            10. Parents must have the right to participate meaningfully in their children’s education, as they see fit.

            11. We affirm the right of families to home-school their children, and support the entitlement of home-schooling families to the same benefits as are given to private school attendees.

            12. We oppose vouchers, as they use public money to support non-public education and divert public money away from education that is accessible to all.

            13. We support the availability of public “magnet” schools that focus on special interests such as science or music.

            14. We call for federal aid to schools without federal control. This can take the form of grants to states for general basic education, capital improvements, and research projects.

            15. We must end the reliance on standardized tests in student assessment, and in teaching as a whole. “Teaching to the tests” trivializes and negates the role of true education and critical thinking.

            16. We oppose penalizing schools and teachers financially or otherwise for poor student grades or performance on tests.

            17. Class sizes must be decreased.

            18. The school system must recognize and honor multiple learning styles and varying speed of educational development of different children.  The definition of “normal” must be expanded to include these different learning types, and the curriculum must be adapted to provide appropriate educational methods to reach ALL of these children without labeling them as “abnormal.”  This includes active children who currently are not given the resources and opportunities needed for them to learn in a healthy way.

            19. We oppose medicating, or pressure to medicate, children whose learning styles do not “fit in” with a uniform classroom or the comfort of the teacher. We support education of teachers and others (including parents) in alternate, natural ways of working constructively with children not thriving in the standard “classroom” environment.

            20. There must be equal funding and educational quality for all schools, both in academic and extra-curricular activities.  This equality should extend to rich and poor and all beliefs and races.

            21. Nutritious, safe foods must be made available and subsidized in all school cafeterias, breakfast and lunch programs, etc.  We call for the prohibition of irradiated or genetically modified food, milk containing bovine growth hormone, and other unsafe or untested foods, from being served to children in schools, pre-schools, or after-care programs.

            22. There must be required health and nutrition education for all children and teachers, including the options of healthy non-meat and non-dairy diets.

            23. Citizenship/civics classes must be required in all schools. Students must learn how to assert their power and rights as citizens to control their government and communities, rather than having citizenship defined as learning to “salute the flag” and follow orders (or give orders if one is promoted).

            24. Military presence, propaganda and promotion must be prohibited in our schools.

            25. We insist on education for diversity of view and culture.  There must be teaching about the wide variety of religions and social customs, including those within our own communities.

             26. Ethical topics in science must be included in teaching, especially in “controversial” areas such as biotechnology and nuclear power.

            27. There must be education about renewable energy and energy efficiency, and its benefits for the environment and human well-being.  This would include things that individuals can do themselves, as well as large-scale power production.

            28. There must be encouragement of critical thinking, including in history and current events, encouraging looking at many views, not just whatever the government sees fit to promote.

            29. The school curriculum must include teaching and modeling of non-violent conflict-resolution and peer-counseling skills. There must be meaningful teaching and discussion of skills surrounding interpersonal relationships, taking into account different cultural mixes.

            30. We support funding of “special education” for all children with disabilities, physical and mental.

            31. There must be equality and respect in the schools, at all times, for each student and teacher, regardless of race, beliefs, age, sex, etc.

            32. The Illinois Green Party opposes the No Child Left Behind Act.

M. TAXES AND BUDGET

            Year after year, Democratic and Republican politicians vie with each other to promise the largest cuts in taxes and "big government."   Many working-class, professional and self-employed citizens, who are struggling to make ends meet, believe this rhetoric, based on the simplistic notion that government is always "bad" and tax cuts are always "good."  However, these tax "reforms" almost always give large breaks to large corporations and wealthy individuals, with little or no relief for lower- or middle-income people. Then these same politicians, along with the corporate-owned media, pretend to be baffled when they announce that there is no government money available to adequately fund education, health-care programs, environmental programs, welfare, and other social services that benefit the public as a whole, and specifically those most in need -- as if their own tax and budget decisions hadn't caused the problem.

            The Illinois Green Party wants to put an end to this deception. We believe that most poor, working-class, professional and small business people, at heart, understand that taxes and government, whatever their faults, play a vital role in providing for the social welfare. We believe that most people support the principle that they should pay their fair share of taxes. We believe that many people jump on the anti-tax bandwagon not because they are opposed to taxes and government per se, but because 1) they are hard-pressed, due primarily to the inequities of our present economic system -- in other words, they are not paid fairly and adequately for their work, 2) the present tax system is not fair and sufficiently progressive, and 3) government is not spending their tax money wisely.

            The Illinois Green Party is committed to addressing all three of these problems. As outlined elsewhere in our program, we support efforts to build a more democratic, worker-controlled economic system that will eradicate unemployment and poverty and better reward the productive members of society for their labor.

            We also support a more progressive tax system. First, we call for a strict review of all corporate tax breaks and subsidies, currently estimated to total $250 billion per year. It's high time that we made the wealthiest section of society carry a more equitable share of the burden of funding government.

            We also call for removing the current cap on Social Security taxes, which will ensure the stability of the Social Security system while mitigating the presently regressive quality of this tax.   At the same time, we reject the campaign to privatize Social Security, which is based on false and misleading projections about a "crisis" in order to scare Americans into supporting this policy.

            We support reducing the self-employment tax, which presently imposes a disproportionate tax burden on individual producers and small business owners, discouraging small enterprise in favor of large corporations.

            We oppose the current trend by states to legalize and sponsor gambling (i.e., lotteries) to raise revenue for state programs. Such gambling is a scourge on lower-income people who, out of desperation, often are driven to "get rich quick" schemes without fully appreciating the reality that "the house always wins." State-sponsored gambling is part of the general strategy of shifting the tax burden to the poor while helping the wealthy avoid paying their fair share of taxes. It is a regressive tax posing as a "recreational pastime," and it leads to more inequity and misery.

            By promoting fairness in sharing the tax burden, and by making social needs the priority in budget and spending decisions, the Illinois Green Party can dramatically improve the quality of life for the majority of people.

N. IMMIGRATION POLICY

            The corporate rulers of the United States have divided up those of us who live and work in this country into different categories, some with fewer rights than others.

            Some of us are citizens, some are immigrants who have papers, and some are immigrants who do not have papers. The undocumented workers are the most viciously abused by employers, since any complaints can lead to his or her not just being fired, but being deported. Many union organizing drives have been squashed by the employer threatening to call the Immigration Service on the workers. When any group of workers has no rights, none of us have rights.

            At present in the United States, there are upwards of 7 million people in this category of undocumented worker. The businesses in this country want and need this large group of workers who have no legal status. The wealthy corporate owners just want to make sure that these workers stay at the bottom rung. But the immigrant workers, the labor movement, and social justice movements are fighting back. The demand for amnesty for undocumented workers has gathered wide public support. Millions of signatures have been gathered on petitions, large marches have been held, and a bill has been introduc