Like Greens throughout the world, we are working to create
a new politics a politics that is based on ecology, the control of growth, a moral economy, social justice, and a truly grassroots democracy. In Burlington, we are working to create a new movement that is not just another party for electing politicians to ofce but one that involves ordinary people on an everyday basis in the political process in community and neighborhood organizations. We hope to develop a truly popular movement to address the causes of our social and ecological problems, not merely to deal with their symptoms on a patchwork basis. E l e c t o r a l P l a t f o r m For over ten years, members of the Burlington Greens have been actively involved in a wide variety of environmental c a u s e s . They were in the forefront of the fight against the Alden luxury - condo waterfront plan between 1984 and 1986. They actively opposed the construction of a "world-class marina" that would have destroyed fragile, rapidly disappearing Lake Champlain wetlands, They ran a city-wide campaign for mayoral and aldermanic positions in 1989. They have advocated for energy-efficient conservation and renewable energy resource development. They have fought against nuclear power in Vermont and worked to decommission the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor. They have promoted alternative sources of energy and energy- efcient housing. They have fought against gentrification and luxury development of the waterfront. With the Vermont Greens, they helped initiate a series of citizens' conferences on growth and development. They have worked against Hydro-Quebec and revealed its potential for environmental and human destruction. They have continually worked on behalf of the homeless and the underprivileged in Burlington. They have organized educational forums on issues of international, regional and local concern. They have been a steady, critical voice against reckless development and environmental damage. guided by ecological principles and social justice, we will see the deterioration of our environment on an appalling scale and the further destruction of everything that makes the Burlington area a livable place for ourselves and our children. We believe that the feminization of poverty must be ended with decisive cooperative action. Women must be given decent and comparable pay for their work. Free childcare should be provided for any parent who desires it. The problems of the homeless must be addressed by the community creatively with an eye toward giving the homeless control over their housing. Services for the elderly must be expanded. Gentrication must be ended. Older neighborhoods must be upgraded structurally in the interests of the citizens who live in them today not in the interests of privileged people who hope to invade them tomorrow. The Burlington Greens do not think that these basic ecological and human goals and many others that we hope to present to the public in position papers are unrealistic or impossible to achieve. Some can be realized immediately; others will doubtiess take some time. But we think they are minimum goals toward which all socially concerned, democratically oriented citizens should work. We think these goals can be achieved only through a movement that is anti- authoritarian and popular, one that seeks to create a grassroots democracy. We seek to change our entire image of "progress" as mindless growth into an ecological vision of progress that will ultimately foster a new harmony between people and between humanity and nature. Help us create a new politics and a new movement! VOT E GREEN F OR: Steve Sheehy Alderman, Ward 1 Be a Bo o k c h i n Alderwoman, Ward 6 L M B S I B B B B The Problem: Ecology is the greatest single problem that faces our time. As the popular media have pointed out, the Earth itself is now endangered. The planet is literally dying. The ecological crisis raises searing problems that can no longer be ignored; nor is lip-service enough. There are highly specic local aspects of the ecological crisis that must be addressed through committed action at the local level. Of these, "growth" is now the most pressing. Burlington is growing uncontrollably with no regard for people's needs and with no respect for a balance between ourselves and our natural environment. We are faced with increased pollution, unsightly building projects, trafc congestion, the expansion of genetic engineering research at UVM, and the destruction of our wetlands and the unique ecology of Lake Champlain. We are faced with the prospect of more and larger highways, the complete loss of open land in our city, and growing waste disposal problems. Chittenden County's cancer mortality rate is higher than that of Vermont as a whole, which in turn is higher than that of the United States as a whole. Big-city stresses are invading every aspect of our lives. The Alternative: The Burlington Greens call for a moratorium on growth. It is essential that citizens be given the time to discuss the problems facing Burlington in open assemblies and to democratically decide how our community can develop along ecological, humanistic, and rational lines. We call for the election of an Environmental Commission and the formation of a Citizens' Environmental Advisory Board composed of representatives of environmental organizations, specialists who have no business or industrial ties, concemed citizens, city planners, and architects. The Board would assist the Environmental Commission in developing ecological guidelines for future growth in Burlington and would provide citizens with an annual report on the status of the environment in our city and its surroundings. We call for serious efforts to develop alternative energy sources like solar, wind, and methane power. The recycling and reduction of wastes should be a priority, as should the creation of a regional plan to share our local energy resources in a cooperative and democratic manner with neighboring communities. We believe that the future of Burlington should be guided by ecological and human needs, not by special interests and "developers" who are proting at the expense of the community. 11. The Problem: We live in a competitive grow-or-die economy that knows no moral or ecological limits. The market economy by its very nature must "expand" and "expand" until it tears down the planet. Not only is this insane form of "growth" destroying the natural environment; it is also destroying the human community. Although our local economy is "growing" at an help administer our city. We believe that all major city commissions should be elected by the people, their terms limited to one year, and their numbers increased to countervail the centralization of power in the mayor's ofce and City Hall, We call for charter revisions that will foster public self-govemance in the Vermont tradition. Considerable time should be set aside at Aldermanic meetings for open discussion by citizens on a variety of issues, and childcare should be provided free of charge for all parents wishing to participate. Citizens should also have the right to recall alderpeople who fail to live up to their mandates and their commitments to the city's wards. We believe that Burlington should vigorously and unrelentingly lead the way to achieve home rule in Vermont so that towns and cities can govern their affairs as freely as possible without interference from the state in Montpelier. Burlington should also lead the way to establish democratic county-wide confederations with neighboring communities to deal with regional concerns like transportation, growth, and other economic and environmental problems. The Problem: We are witnessing the emergence of a new underclass of poor people, particularly women, who are suffering appalling poverty in the midst of incredible afuence. Sizable groups of people work at low-paying jobs. The elderly are neglected and warehoused, as are the homeless and those who cannot acquire decent housing. Gay and lesbian people are discriminated against and often attacked because of their sexual orientation. People of color have been isolated and marginalized in Burlington. Social injustice has become a major factor in the everyday life of our community. The Alternative: We believe Burlington should become "the most livable city" for all of its citizens. We call for the "Greening of Burlington!" Green for us means ecology - and ecology means a harmonious, participatory community between human beings and other forms of life. But this in turn means that we must live in a harmonious, participatory human community. Without a community unparalleled rate, it is not providing such basic needs as decent housing and a livable income for many citizens. A growing class of underprivileged people is confronted with special problems that are worsening steadily. The self-seeking, competitive relationships spawned by the market economy are replacing cooperative, moral relationships between people. The Alternative: We need to bring not only an ecological but a social ecological perspective to bear on the problems confronting our city. We should not pit ecological issues against social issues, "trading off' the natural environment for the dubious "benets" of "growth." The Burlington Greens believe that decent housing, a livable income, and good working conditions are rights, not privileges. In the same way, we also believe that people have a natural right to live in a healthy, sound environment. We believe that practical steps can be initiated by our community to give some reality to these rights. We call for: a community-controlled municipal bank that will provide financial resources and low-interest loans for the purchase and repair of homes and for the initiation of innovative, ecological housing projects for low-income groups; publicly approved bond issues and changes in local tax structures to provide as much housing for the needy and elderly as is necessar y; a direct network between farmers and consumers to foster local agriculture; municipal acquisition of open land to be held in public trust for recreation, gardening, and parks; municipally controlled cooperatives to develop and implement alternative technologies and to produce quality goods in accord with Vermont's reputation for craftsmanship. These are only stepping stones to what we hope will be a municipally controlled economy managed by the citizenry in free assemblies and guided by moral as well as ecological concerns. I I I . The Problem: The ecological and social problems that face Burlington and the greater Burlington area are not being taken seriously because the people are being deprived of what little power they have as a result of a highly centralized City Hall J and govemmental bureaucracy. Under the guise of "popular" / leadership, a new breed of technocratic "managers" has reduced us from active citizens to passive taxpayers. Our Vermont heritage of a participatory democracy is being A subverted by technicians who are contemptuous of popular rule. The Alternative: We need a new politics in our city, not just another "administration." We call for authentic neighborhood assemblies with ever-expanding decision-making powers to establish social and ecological policy and to