Green Party issues grim Earth Day reminder re: BP Spill, Japan nuke disaster; but state's environmental party also provides view of what is needed in the future.

The Green Party of California has issued a grim reminder regarding upcoming Earth Day, calling for an end to "compromise" that has led to disasters like the BP oil spill and the nuclear tragedy in Japan and more effort to take positive steps to build a new energy infrastructure that is kinder and gentler to the planet.

"The first Earth Day was over 40 years ago, and most assessments of our progress conclude that all progress toward a sustainable future has stalled. Environmental organizations are playing defense, acting to protect the gains that we have made. The battles in our legislatures, both state and federal, are to protect the gains that have been made. Too often, the goal has been to find a compromise rather than to do what is in our own long term interest," said Wes Rolley, a California Green and former co-chair of the Eco-Committee of the Green Party of the U.S.

"The goal to reach a compromise between the two largest political parties too often starts too far from the dreams of the people, and too close to the demands of the perpetrators of environmental disasters. People do want a clean environment, for ourselves and for our children," said Laura Wells, GPCA spokesperson.

Rolley noted the Green Party of California has, from its beginning, "cherished the value of ecological wisdom, seeking to expand our efforts to build a more sustainable society," trying to find a way to operate human societies "with the understanding that we are part of nature, not on top of it."

"Today, with the anniversary of the Gulf Oil catastrophe and with the daily media reminders of Fukushima Power plant situation, the risks to society are obvious. The list of things we should not be doing is a long one and the GPCA demands immediate action on the following," urged Rolley.

• Hydrofracking allows us to find and extract natural gas, but it damages our water supplies.
• Both the Diablo Canyon and San Onofre nuclear power plants are on the coast line and near earthquake fault lines. At a minimum, the renewal of licensing for these plants, required by 2024 for Diablo Canyon, should be stopped until a new analysis of their vulnerability is completed and no new nuclear plants should be developed.
• False solutions like cap and trade, only provide the means to avoid real change through financial manipulations. California must end such efforts and replace them with real controls.

But Greens, noting that it is not enough to stop doing the wrong things, urge:

• Expansion of distributed power generation options including residential solar.
• Incentives for new clean energy jobs including the weatherization of existing residential and commercial buildings.
• New energy efficiency standards to further reduce the demand should be implemented - by 2050, more than 60 percent of CA's buildings will be new or undergone major renovation.

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Contacts:
Laura Wells, Spokesperson, 510.504.4254, lwells@cagreens.org
Derek Iversen, Spokesperson, 323.481.8984, diversen@cagreens.org
Cres Vellucci, Press Secretary, 916.996.9170, cvellucci@cagreens.org

The Green Party of California
PO Box 2828
Sacramento, CA 95812
Phone: (916) 448-3437
Web: http://www.cagreens.org
EMail: gpca@greens.org