Agenda for a Green Economy
David Korten's keynote presentation at Green Fest, August 5, 2011, is posted on his website at
http://livingeconomiesforum.org/agenda-for-a-green-economy
Greetings to those gathered at Alfred University and those watching via live streaming across the country. Special greetings to Michael Greenman and my friends in Columbus, Ohio. It is wonderful to join you by Skype for this important conversation.
As you all know, this timely event is an interesting combination of a local New York Green Fest conversation on Building a Green Economy and the annual conference of the Green Party US. My assignment for this session is to spell out an Agenda for creating a Green Economy based on living system principles that is rooted in and serves the needs of people and the human and natural communities in which we live. I want to begin, however, by setting a context and spelling out the connection between the New Green Economy and the work of New York Green Fest, Transition Towns, and the Green Party US.
Economic Failure
Our nation remains in the midst of a deep economic crisis. Official unemployment continues to hover around 9 percent. If you factor in both short-term and long-term discouraged workers and those forced to work part-time, because they can’t find full-time jobs, the total of unemployed and under employed in the United States runs near 23%. The worst hit are people of color, young people in general, and young to middle aged men.On top of that, over 11 million homes in America are vacant and one out of every 46 homes is in foreclosure.
There is no hope for a Main Street recovery on the horizon. And those in charge haven’t a clue what to do about it.
The only recovery since the 2008 crash has been on Wall Street. Thanks to massive bailout funding from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury, the folks who brought down the economy are doing splendidly. They enjoy record share prices, corporate profits, and executive bonuses. The financial assets of America's billionaires and the idle cash reserves of the most profitable corporations are at historic highs. Their biggest challenge is figuring out where to park all their cash.
The glaring disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street creates an unprecedented moment of opportunity for a deep rethinking of the economy.
The reality that returning to pre-2008 business as usual is not an option seems totally to escape the awareness of those in power. It is, however, evident to an ever growing segment of a deeply frightened electorate increasingly susceptible to the siren call of political demagogues of the far right.
We in America have come to the end of the road for an economy that assumes America’s global economic role is to live beyond our own means by consuming the products and resources of the rest of the world, while running up an international credit card bill we have no plan ever to repay.
We have become masters of gaming the international system to live ever further beyond our own means, while running up ever more massive environmental, social, and financial deficits. We know in our hearts that the party is over.
The day of reckoning has arrived. We need a radical redirection of the economy. There is, however, no national political voice framing the real issues and articulating a compelling positive vision of the America that can be.
Why America Needs the Green Party
Both major parties are in the pocket of Wall Street interests. The Republicans push their standard agenda of tax cuts for the rich, a rollback of regulations on predatory corporations, andelimination of the social safety net—a well proven prescription for further job loss and devastation of the middle class.The Democrats put up a feeble, but ineffective and unconvincing show of resistance. Neither has a credible vision or program for America.
America’s political future belongs to the party or movement that can provide a credible positive vision and program for America’s future. Among America’s political parties, only the Green Party is positioned to frame and build support for the missing vision and agenda. We desperately need a strong Green Party voice to help define the upcoming 2012 cycle political debates.
Most of the essential elements of a New Economy based on living system principles are already included in the Green US party platform. It remains only to pull it all together into a coherent, credible, compelling, and easily understood vision for America’s future.
And we are fortunate to have within our ranks a number of strong, politically and emotionally mature leaders with the potential to function as a strong politically savvy and publicly credible leadership team. America needs the Green Party and it is time to step up to the challenge of building a broad political base and mobilizing the funding required to make this party a coherent and effective national political force.
One of our leaders, David Cobb, in his role as the 2004 Green Party presidential candidate, defined and demonstrated what I consider to be a sophisticated political strategy for the Green Party consistent with America’s political reality. We demonstrated in the 2000 election the potential of the Green Party to play the electoral spoiler role at the national level by helping to put George Bush in office. I know this is a controversial issue within the party, but I clearly recall how that experience led me, and many of my friends and colleagues, to back away from the Green Party.
I was later drawn back to the Green Party by David Cobb and his nuanced strategy of being a Presidential candidate who used his national platform to outline the Green Party's principles and values and to focus attention and resources on local Green Party candidates. I hope and trust that the Green Party will present a similarly strong candidate with a similarly sophisticated strategy for 2012.
Beyond Traditional Left Right Politics
We can and must work for rule changes that open real space for third parties at the national level. In the meantime, we should build on the party’s past success electing hundreds of Greens to local offices in which they have played an important role in building green communities and economies. I believe we only do harm to both ourselves and the country if we take the Tea Party path of “My way or the highway.”
Much of the appeal of the Green Party resides in the fact that it offers solutions beyond conventional left-right political ideologies that present voters with a presumed choice between rule by big business or rule by big government.Greens know that this is a false frame that fails to address the reality that America is ruled by an oligarchy that that has achieved a seamless consolidation of economic and political power through its control of a Wall Street-Washington axis. This oligarchy will continue to rule the country in its own interests at the expense of the wishes and interests of the majority so long as we the people remain divided by a false debate about whether big business or big government is the problem.
We the people are not supposed to notice the real story that the obvious alternative to rule by an unaccountable oligarchy is what capitalism promises, but fails to deliver: real democracy and real market economies responsive to the needs and values of ordinary people.
The Green Party presents a real alternative of locally rooted, rule-based markets and democracy within a framework of community values and mutual caring. This is the economy envisioned by the Green Party values statement and policy platform. We seek the real, locally rooted markets of Adam Smith and the real locally rooted democracy of Thomas Jefferson.
We start from a set of values that define America at its best, align with the needs of our time, and frame a vision of the world of peace, justice, and environmental vibrancy for which most psychologically healthy humans have longed for millennia. We offer real solutions grounded in local control and popular sovereignty.
Which brings us to the theme of local green economies.
Living with the Biosphere
The significance of the national and global drive to rebuild local economies comprised of local businesses owned and managed by local people to serve local needs in harmonious partnership with natural systems goes well beyond what some may dismiss as merely a nostalgic longing for a return to the small and local.
We humans are confronting the reality of our nature as living beings—the reality that living beings, because of the way life manages energy, exist only in active relationships to other living beings—life exists only in community.
In a fit of adolescent hubris, we humans have been engaged for the past 5,000 years in an effort to liberate ourselves from the responsibilities of life in community. During the time of this misadventure, we have so confused individual autonomy with personal liberty that we have created economies that reduce caring human relationships to soulless financial exchange. We have structured our physical space around buildings and auto-dependent transportation systems that wall us off from one another and nature. In isolation from nature we rely on a nonrenewable and fast depleting fossil fuel subsidy to dominate and control rather than to work with nature’s life serving generative processes.
Blinded to the realities of a living planet by a seemingly unquenchable thirst for corporate profits, we have created a global economy that uses Earth’s finite store of fossil fuels to isolate people and communities from the sources of their food, energy, water, materials, manufactured goods and leave them dependent on corporate controlled global supply chains that are wasteful, unstable, unaccountable, and environmentally and social destructive. Working in opposition to nature, the global economy is maintained only by unsustainable dependence on a non-renewable fossil fuels subsidy.
The institutions of the old economy are by design, extremely efficient, but only at converting the real wealth of people and nature into the financial assets of the already richest members of the society. The result is an economic system that in an act of collective suicide self-organizes toward environmental collapse, social disintegration, and political corruption. So let’s call it what it is: a suicide economy supported by the theories of a suicide economics propagated by legions of suicide economists.
The future of humanity depends on navigating a transition to the culture and institutions of a planetary system of local living economies, green economies that work in cooperative integral partnership with nature. Properly designed, they will self-organize toward:
Ecological Balance between aggregate human consumption and the regenerative capacity of Earth’s biosphere.
Equitable Distribution of real wealth to meet the needs of all.
Living Democracy to secure the accountability of our governing economic and political institutions to people and community through active citizen participation.These outcomes align well with the 10 Green Party values.
Basics of a Green Economy
Realization of the Green Party values depends on restructuring our economic institutions to align and partner with the structure and dynamics of Earth’s biosphere. This requires segmenting the borderless global economy into a planetary system of interlinked self-reliant bio-regional living-economies, each rooted in a community of place and organized to optimize the lives of all who live within the community’s borders.
Each bioregional economy will meet most of its needs with local production using local resources in the manner of local ecosystems. Rather than gearing their economies to export, they will benefit from trading their surplus with their neighbors in return for that which they cannot reasonably produce for themselves.
Millions of people around the world are already engaged in living this new reality into being through an emergent local living economies movement. Transitions towns and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies are at the forefront of this movement.
There is an emerging parallel living buildings movement that is dealing with the physical/spatial dimension of this transformation. It is designing buildings to eliminate waste, feature natural lighting, and provide for onsite capture of rainwater, energy (wind, solar, and thermal) and organic matter (food scraps and human waste) for recycling and reuse, including for urban gardens (edible roofs and walls and built-in greenhouses). It requires a capacity to adapt to local micro-environments in the manner of healthy ecosystems.
Water is used in the first cycle for drinking, dish washing, and showering; recycled for laundry and micro-flush composting toilets, and directed from there to onsite gardens from which it filters into the local aquifer. Hot water, cooking, and space heating are integrated to optimize overall energy efficiency.
Integrating multi-purpose buildings into larger multi-building neighborhood and district systems adds opportunities to develop public green spaces, community gardens, edible landscaping, small-scale poultry and livestock production, natural wetlands and living machine water purification to continuously recycle nutrients, water and energy at a micro-local level.
Integrative projects also create opportunities to balance the utility loads of businesses, which generally have greater energy needs during the day, and residences, which have greater needs during evening and early morning. Bringing residences, employment, shopping, and recreation together in close proximity minimizes transportation requirements and facilitates the sharing of autos, bicycles, appliances, and tools, and community connections to mass transit, bike trails, and other transportation alternatives.
These are very practical dimensions of the human transformation now underway. Every aspect rebuilds active relationships of community between people and between people & nature. The only political party in a position to translate this into a coherent political agenda is the Green Party.
For the remainder of the presentation, visit http://livingeconomiesforum.org/agenda-for-a-green-economy
Friday, August 12, 2011
Video of Protest Songs Concert by Helene Williams and Leonard Lehrman
Nine selections from the concert by Helene Williams, soprano and Leonard Lehrman, composer/pianist of Songs of Protest, Naturism and Broadway at Green Fest on Sat., Aug. 6, 2011, are posted on YouTube. Check out the links at http://ljlehrman.artists-in-residence.com/ljlehrmanvideos.html
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Darin Robbins' Presentation on Courting the Anarchist Vote
COURTING THE ANARCHIST VOTE: FINDING THE COMMON DENOMINATOR OF AUTONOMY
Summary of presentation by Darin Robbins, Aug. 6, 2011 at NY Green Fest in Alfred, NY.
This presentation has two goals: proposing that if placed on a chart of political ideology the Green Party would be closest to anarchism, and through a generalized analysis of anarchism demonstrating that those who identify as anarchist should be approached by the Green Party for coalitions or direct support. These two goals will be achieved by concentrating on such issues as the resistance to hierarchy, the distinction between liberty and autonomy, and the role of power in an anarchist or Green vision.
1. All forms of anarchism, despite particular differences, are a general opposition to hierarchy in political, cultural, and economic terms. This arises in the distinction between centralization and decentralization, transcendence and immanence, as well as vertical and horizontal systems.
anarchism as opposition to authority rather than the state
anarchism as premodern, modern, and postmodern
anarchism as convergence of theory and practice through ethics
2. Anarchism brings into the foreground basic conflicts that have been continuous in human social history, and supplies an overall structural critique that is always coupled to direct action.
original political conflict between centralization and decentralization
original cultural conflict between the past and the future
original economic conflict between freedom and equality
3. Anarchism is separate from libertarianism through the proposition of a fuller sensibility of freedom that does not foreclose the relationship between individual desire and collective action.
liberty, autonomy, and authority
liberty as power from
autonomy as power to
authority as power over
freedom as resistance and creation
freedom as ownership through participation
freedom as equality of power
4. An anarchist critique is a direct opposition to the state and the market. The state and the market are separate but primary forms of power through hierarchy within society. The anarchist critique is accompanied by an alternative social form.
from the state and the market to community and the commons
autonomy as internal control and equality of power
autonomy through community and the commons
community as use of the commons
5. Libertarianism is a limited critique of the state without a critique of the market, and therefore fails at offering alternatives to hierarchy.
appearance of self ownership that obscures autonomy
self ownership as divergence of subjective mind and objective body
subjective mind as desire and objective body as expression of desire
autonomy as convergence of subjective unconscious and objective reality
participation in public power through political decentralization
participation in private power through economic decentralization
democracy as political and economic decentralization of public and private power
6. The opposition to representative democracy, and the electoral politics that occur within it, by anarchists must be analyzed not as a rejection of democracy but a rejection of political hierarchy.
representation as abstraction of choice
representation as alienation of participation
representation as alienation of power through abstraction
representation as formation of majority and minority
representation as use of the public
democracy as vanishing mediator between individuals and collectives
democracy as experience of ownership through participation
democracy as equality of power through autonomy
democracy as the voice option and the refusal option
democracy as participation and ownership of the commons
7. The importance of democracy lies in the vital distinction between constituent power and constituted power. This distinction is a correlation to the critique of the hierarchy in political representation.
from constituent power to constituted power
from the multitude to the people
change in the state as change in identity
change in identity as alienation of power
appearance of social contract that obscures the event
social contract as retroactive causality of transcendent structures
the event as space for creation of immanent structures
appearance of constituted power that obscures class formation
constituted power as universal identity of the people
class formation as the multitude and sovereign position of authority
constituent power and constituted power as simultaneous
constituent power as surplus of constituted power
subsumption of constituent power by constituted power
constituent power as disruption of constituted power
8. The critique of power through hierarchy must exist side-by-side with the advocacy for power through desire.
power as relationship between forces
power as many and unique
power as expression of desire
power as equality through deterritorialization
authority as hierarchy of power
authority as one and uniform
authority as mediation of desire
authority as inequality through reterritorialization
9. Political action, as an expression of desire, must be willing to enact change that takes apart previous political, cultural, and economic structures without reproducing those previous structures.
the event as structural rupture
structural rupture as expression of desire
expression of desire as collective action
collective action as immanent structures
10. If choice is intrinsic to a conception of freedom as well as political power, then it must be more than a precluded economic choice and be more of an original democratic choice.
choice as internal to structural formation
choice as parts in differential relationships
choice as scarcity in constituted power
choice as external to structural rupture
choice as creation of immanent structures
choice as abundance in constituent power
11. The basic method of anarchism, in all its manifestations, is the creation of horizontal systems as both a disruption and alternative to vertical systems through the practice of prefiguration.
collectives in horizontal systems
individuals in vertical systems
from horizontal systems to vertical systems as alienation of participation
from vertical systems to horizontal systems as distribution of participation
from experience of content to experience of form
from experience of form to control of form
countercultures as prefiguration rather than revolution or reform
countercultures as both libertarian and communitarian
12. The ultimate goal of anarchism and other movements for decentralization is the development of mutuality within the entire social sphere, the eradication of hierarchy in all its forms.
from reciprocity to mutuality through the commons
from reciprocity to finite debt through the market
from reciprocity to infinite debt through the state
13. Anarchism in its generalized state not only reflects the more specific Green Party values of decentralization, grassroots democracy, and community economics but points to an underground spirit of America that has been continually suppressed for the sake of hierarchy in the political, the cultural, and the economic.
convergence of anarchism and small businesses (G8 summit at Pittsburgh in 2009)
finite collective as experience of community
from individual creation of natural rights to collective use through law
appearance of collective use through law as transcendent source
1. opposition to hierarchy
2. critique of the state and capitalism
3. autonomy versus liberty
4. alternative of the commons and community
5. anarchism more comprehensive than libertarianism
6. democracy versus republic
7. constituent power versus constituted power
8. power and freedom through desire
9. avoidance of structural reproduction
10. original choice versus precluded choice
11. horizontal systems versus vertical systems
12. mutuality as goal
13. decentralization, grassroots democracy, and community economics
Change The World Without Taking Power by John Holloway
Escape From Freedom by Erich Fromm
For All The People by John Curl
Gramsci Is Dead by Richard J.F. Day
Insurgencies by Antonio Negri
Summary of presentation by Darin Robbins, Aug. 6, 2011 at NY Green Fest in Alfred, NY.
This presentation has two goals: proposing that if placed on a chart of political ideology the Green Party would be closest to anarchism, and through a generalized analysis of anarchism demonstrating that those who identify as anarchist should be approached by the Green Party for coalitions or direct support. These two goals will be achieved by concentrating on such issues as the resistance to hierarchy, the distinction between liberty and autonomy, and the role of power in an anarchist or Green vision.
1. All forms of anarchism, despite particular differences, are a general opposition to hierarchy in political, cultural, and economic terms. This arises in the distinction between centralization and decentralization, transcendence and immanence, as well as vertical and horizontal systems.
anarchism as opposition to authority rather than the state
anarchism as premodern, modern, and postmodern
anarchism as convergence of theory and practice through ethics
2. Anarchism brings into the foreground basic conflicts that have been continuous in human social history, and supplies an overall structural critique that is always coupled to direct action.
original political conflict between centralization and decentralization
original cultural conflict between the past and the future
original economic conflict between freedom and equality
3. Anarchism is separate from libertarianism through the proposition of a fuller sensibility of freedom that does not foreclose the relationship between individual desire and collective action.
liberty, autonomy, and authority
liberty as power from
autonomy as power to
authority as power over
freedom as resistance and creation
freedom as ownership through participation
freedom as equality of power
4. An anarchist critique is a direct opposition to the state and the market. The state and the market are separate but primary forms of power through hierarchy within society. The anarchist critique is accompanied by an alternative social form.
from the state and the market to community and the commons
autonomy as internal control and equality of power
autonomy through community and the commons
community as use of the commons
5. Libertarianism is a limited critique of the state without a critique of the market, and therefore fails at offering alternatives to hierarchy.
appearance of self ownership that obscures autonomy
self ownership as divergence of subjective mind and objective body
subjective mind as desire and objective body as expression of desire
autonomy as convergence of subjective unconscious and objective reality
participation in public power through political decentralization
participation in private power through economic decentralization
democracy as political and economic decentralization of public and private power
6. The opposition to representative democracy, and the electoral politics that occur within it, by anarchists must be analyzed not as a rejection of democracy but a rejection of political hierarchy.
representation as abstraction of choice
representation as alienation of participation
representation as alienation of power through abstraction
representation as formation of majority and minority
representation as use of the public
democracy as vanishing mediator between individuals and collectives
democracy as experience of ownership through participation
democracy as equality of power through autonomy
democracy as the voice option and the refusal option
democracy as participation and ownership of the commons
7. The importance of democracy lies in the vital distinction between constituent power and constituted power. This distinction is a correlation to the critique of the hierarchy in political representation.
from constituent power to constituted power
from the multitude to the people
change in the state as change in identity
change in identity as alienation of power
appearance of social contract that obscures the event
social contract as retroactive causality of transcendent structures
the event as space for creation of immanent structures
appearance of constituted power that obscures class formation
constituted power as universal identity of the people
class formation as the multitude and sovereign position of authority
constituent power and constituted power as simultaneous
constituent power as surplus of constituted power
subsumption of constituent power by constituted power
constituent power as disruption of constituted power
8. The critique of power through hierarchy must exist side-by-side with the advocacy for power through desire.
power as relationship between forces
power as many and unique
power as expression of desire
power as equality through deterritorialization
authority as hierarchy of power
authority as one and uniform
authority as mediation of desire
authority as inequality through reterritorialization
9. Political action, as an expression of desire, must be willing to enact change that takes apart previous political, cultural, and economic structures without reproducing those previous structures.
the event as structural rupture
structural rupture as expression of desire
expression of desire as collective action
collective action as immanent structures
10. If choice is intrinsic to a conception of freedom as well as political power, then it must be more than a precluded economic choice and be more of an original democratic choice.
choice as internal to structural formation
choice as parts in differential relationships
choice as scarcity in constituted power
choice as external to structural rupture
choice as creation of immanent structures
choice as abundance in constituent power
11. The basic method of anarchism, in all its manifestations, is the creation of horizontal systems as both a disruption and alternative to vertical systems through the practice of prefiguration.
collectives in horizontal systems
individuals in vertical systems
from horizontal systems to vertical systems as alienation of participation
from vertical systems to horizontal systems as distribution of participation
from experience of content to experience of form
from experience of form to control of form
countercultures as prefiguration rather than revolution or reform
countercultures as both libertarian and communitarian
12. The ultimate goal of anarchism and other movements for decentralization is the development of mutuality within the entire social sphere, the eradication of hierarchy in all its forms.
from reciprocity to mutuality through the commons
from reciprocity to finite debt through the market
from reciprocity to infinite debt through the state
13. Anarchism in its generalized state not only reflects the more specific Green Party values of decentralization, grassroots democracy, and community economics but points to an underground spirit of America that has been continually suppressed for the sake of hierarchy in the political, the cultural, and the economic.
convergence of anarchism and small businesses (G8 summit at Pittsburgh in 2009)
finite collective as experience of community
from individual creation of natural rights to collective use through law
appearance of collective use through law as transcendent source
1. opposition to hierarchy
2. critique of the state and capitalism
3. autonomy versus liberty
4. alternative of the commons and community
5. anarchism more comprehensive than libertarianism
6. democracy versus republic
7. constituent power versus constituted power
8. power and freedom through desire
9. avoidance of structural reproduction
10. original choice versus precluded choice
11. horizontal systems versus vertical systems
12. mutuality as goal
13. decentralization, grassroots democracy, and community economics
Change The World Without Taking Power by John Holloway
Escape From Freedom by Erich Fromm
For All The People by John Curl
Gramsci Is Dead by Richard J.F. Day
Insurgencies by Antonio Negri
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Videos of the Presentations
Many thanks to our presenters for the great panels and workshops and to those who video-taped many of the presentations so that the presentations are available to a wider audience: Wilton Vought, Sanda Everette, Lou Novak, Michael O'Neill, Barry Miller, Claudia Flanagan and Sonya Cady. We will be posting these videos shortly, so please check back. Lou Novak has posted videos he took of the weekend on his YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/lounovak
We also thank the livestreaming team of Craig Seeman, Starlene Rankin, Sanda Everette and Michael O'Neill who livestreamed events through the weekend at http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus . The videos that were livestreamed during the weekend may be downloaded from the site's ON-DEMAND archive.
Finally, we thank Wilton Vought for editing some of the videos from Green Fest 2009, including Cyril Michalejko on the Rights of Nature, Tony Gronowicz on the History of Rights for Nature in the US , Viginia Rasmussen on Who Has the Power to Implement Sustainability, and Joel Kovel on Revitalizing the Relationship Between Humans and Nature, which can be viewed at http://blip.tv/nygreenfest/
Green Party members debate political strategy at Green Fest in Alfred, Angela Sutfin, Hornell Evening Tribune, August 7, 2011
Green Fest this weekend at Alfred University campus, Angela Sutfin, Hornell Evening Tribune, August 3, 2011
We also thank the livestreaming team of Craig Seeman, Starlene Rankin, Sanda Everette and Michael O'Neill who livestreamed events through the weekend at http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus . The videos that were livestreamed during the weekend may be downloaded from the site's ON-DEMAND archive.
Finally, we thank Wilton Vought for editing some of the videos from Green Fest 2009, including Cyril Michalejko on the Rights of Nature, Tony Gronowicz on the History of Rights for Nature in the US , Viginia Rasmussen on Who Has the Power to Implement Sustainability, and Joel Kovel on Revitalizing the Relationship Between Humans and Nature, which can be viewed at http://blip.tv/nygreenfest/
Media Coverage
Two presidential candidates visit Steuben County on Monday, Andrew Poole, Hornell Evening Tribune, August 9, 2011Green Party members debate political strategy at Green Fest in Alfred, Angela Sutfin, Hornell Evening Tribune, August 7, 2011
Green Fest this weekend at Alfred University campus, Angela Sutfin, Hornell Evening Tribune, August 3, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
It is not enough to just say no— What's the alternative?
Join us for New York Green Fest/GP-US ANM
Fri., Aug. 5 to Sun., Aug. 7 in Alfred, NY
on the campus of Alfred University
It is not enough to oppose toxic drilling and injustice, we need alternatives. The most difficult questions of sustainability are not about technology; they are about implementing our values. Implementation is achieved in the political arena. At NY Green Fest we explore the politics that enable us to live in a sustainable world.
For NY Green Fest 2011, we return to the beautiful campus of Alfred University in Alfred, NY. We are joined by Greens from across the country and Canada coming to the 2011 Green Annual National Meeting (ANM), which is being held in conjunction with Green Fest this year.
Our program features more than 30 great workshops on politics, energy, media and ecology (check out the list on the right), four forums and great music on our solar stage. Presenters include Elizabeth May, Canada's first elected Green Party member of Parliament, David Korten, author of Corporations will Rule the World and co-founder of YES! Magazine, Tina Clarke from the Transition Towns Movement, David Cobb, 2004 Green nominee for President, Virginia Rasmussen from the Program for Corporations Law and Democracy (POCLAD), Gay Nicholson from Sustainable Tompkins, Richard Grossman from Frack Free Catskills and Jack Ossont and Kate Bartholomew from the Coalition to Protect New York among many. Several Green Party candidates and officeholders from New York and other states will attend. At least one candidate for the Green presidential nomination, Kent Mesplay, will be present.
Four excellent forums will be held during the event:
Building Local Economies, Fri., Aug. 5, 6:45 pm
David Korten (via Skype) on "Agenda for a Local Economy," Tina Clarke (via Skype) and David Doonan on the Transistion Town Movement, Opening music: Woven Green Band, Location: Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center
Asserting Local Sovereignty over Fossil Fuel Extraction, Sat., Aug. 6, 1:15 pm
Richard Grossman, Virginia Rasmussen, Mary Jo Long, Jack Ossont, Gary Abraham, Opening poetry: Michael Czarnecki, Location: Solar Stage on Campus Quad
Campaigning for Local Economies and Clean Energy, Sat., Aug. 6, 6:45 pm
Elizabeth May (via Skype), Kent Mesplay, Colia Clark, Bill Belitskus, Jay Sweeney, Green Candidates and Office Holders, Opening music: Crow Weaver, Moderator: David Cobb, Location: Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center
The Future of Sustainable Politics, Sun., Aug. 7, 11:15 am
John Resenbrinck, Greg Gerritt, Howie Hawkins, Cecile Lawrence, Opening music: Carl Lundgren, Location: Solar Stage on Campus Quad
Check out http://nygreenfest.or/2011schedule.html for the workshop schedule. Bios of our 55 presenters are at http://nygreenfest.org/presenterbios11.html
Dorm rooms, camping and the Saxon Inn are available for lodging on campus at reasonable cost. Swimming is available at the Foster Lake campground this year from 11 am to 7 pm. Meals prepared from locally-grown food will be served at the Alfred University dining hall. You may register and reserve a camping space, dorm room or meals, online at http://nygreenfest.org/registration.html.
If you need a ride, or can offer a ride, visit our ride board, http://nygreenfest.org/rideshare.html. Public transportation is available to Alfred by bus and to Rochester and Buffalo by train. Bus service to Alfred is available through Shortline or Trailways. Bus service between New York City and Alfred is available three times a day. See schedule. Train service to Rochester or Buffalo is provided by Amtrak
We look forward to seeing you in three weeks!
Fri., Aug. 5 to Sun., Aug. 7 in Alfred, NY
on the campus of Alfred University
It is not enough to oppose toxic drilling and injustice, we need alternatives. The most difficult questions of sustainability are not about technology; they are about implementing our values. Implementation is achieved in the political arena. At NY Green Fest we explore the politics that enable us to live in a sustainable world.
For NY Green Fest 2011, we return to the beautiful campus of Alfred University in Alfred, NY. We are joined by Greens from across the country and Canada coming to the 2011 Green Annual National Meeting (ANM), which is being held in conjunction with Green Fest this year.
Our program features more than 30 great workshops on politics, energy, media and ecology (check out the list on the right), four forums and great music on our solar stage. Presenters include Elizabeth May, Canada's first elected Green Party member of Parliament, David Korten, author of Corporations will Rule the World and co-founder of YES! Magazine, Tina Clarke from the Transition Towns Movement, David Cobb, 2004 Green nominee for President, Virginia Rasmussen from the Program for Corporations Law and Democracy (POCLAD), Gay Nicholson from Sustainable Tompkins, Richard Grossman from Frack Free Catskills and Jack Ossont and Kate Bartholomew from the Coalition to Protect New York among many. Several Green Party candidates and officeholders from New York and other states will attend. At least one candidate for the Green presidential nomination, Kent Mesplay, will be present.
Four excellent forums will be held during the event:
Building Local Economies, Fri., Aug. 5, 6:45 pm
David Korten (via Skype) on "Agenda for a Local Economy," Tina Clarke (via Skype) and David Doonan on the Transistion Town Movement, Opening music: Woven Green Band, Location: Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center
Asserting Local Sovereignty over Fossil Fuel Extraction, Sat., Aug. 6, 1:15 pm
Richard Grossman, Virginia Rasmussen, Mary Jo Long, Jack Ossont, Gary Abraham, Opening poetry: Michael Czarnecki, Location: Solar Stage on Campus Quad
Campaigning for Local Economies and Clean Energy, Sat., Aug. 6, 6:45 pm
Elizabeth May (via Skype), Kent Mesplay, Colia Clark, Bill Belitskus, Jay Sweeney, Green Candidates and Office Holders, Opening music: Crow Weaver, Moderator: David Cobb, Location: Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center
The Future of Sustainable Politics, Sun., Aug. 7, 11:15 am
John Resenbrinck, Greg Gerritt, Howie Hawkins, Cecile Lawrence, Opening music: Carl Lundgren, Location: Solar Stage on Campus Quad
Check out http://nygreenfest.or/2011schedule.html for the workshop schedule. Bios of our 55 presenters are at http://nygreenfest.org/presenterbios11.html
Dorm rooms, camping and the Saxon Inn are available for lodging on campus at reasonable cost. Swimming is available at the Foster Lake campground this year from 11 am to 7 pm. Meals prepared from locally-grown food will be served at the Alfred University dining hall. You may register and reserve a camping space, dorm room or meals, online at http://nygreenfest.org/registration.html.
If you need a ride, or can offer a ride, visit our ride board, http://nygreenfest.org/rideshare.html. Public transportation is available to Alfred by bus and to Rochester and Buffalo by train. Bus service to Alfred is available through Shortline or Trailways. Bus service between New York City and Alfred is available three times a day. See schedule. Train service to Rochester or Buffalo is provided by Amtrak
We look forward to seeing you in three weeks!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Green Party Nat'l Meeting in Alfred, NY, Aug. 5-7
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States will feature an array of candidates and guest speakers at its 2011 Annual National Meeting at Alfred University in Alfred in western New York, from Friday, August 5 to Sunday, August 7.
The meeting will take place at the fourth biennial New York Green Fest, "a gathering of folks interested in exploring the politics and practices that will help enable us to live in a sustainable world, and sharing a weekend of good discussions, good food, and good music."
Among the speakers will be leaders in the campaign to ban hydrofracking (hydraulic fracturing), an environmentally destructive and dangerous technique for accessing gas in the Marcellus Shale beneath Pennsylvania, New York, and other states. David Cobb, 2004 Green nominee for President, will speak on the need to abolish corporate 'personhood' and restrict the political power of corporations.
Elizabeth May, Canada's first elected Green Party member of Parliament, will speak to Greens at the meeting by Skype. David C. Korten, economist, co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine, and author of 'When Corporations Rule the World' and other books, will also address the meeting by Skype.
"There are many people throughout the US, including Green elected officials and community activists, who are thinking, talking, planning, and working for a sustainable energy economy despite lack of broader government engagement," said Peter LaVenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York State. "Many of them will be coming to the meeting in Alfred or will speak to meeting participants via Skype. Alfred is the perfect place for Green Fest."
Several Green candidates from New York and other states will attend the meeting, speak at press conferences, and be available for interview. At least one candidate for the Green presidential nomination, Kent Mesplay, will be present. A preliminary list of candidates who plan to attend the meeting is appended below. David Doonan, Green Party member and mayor of Greenwich, New York, will also be at the meeting.
Green Party leaders at the meeting will begin organizing for the 2012 election season, including the presidential race. The party will nominate a candidate for the White House at its 2012 national convention. The 2011 meeting in Alfred will also feature Green Party panels, workshops, meetings of the Green National Committee, and other events.
The meeting is open to the media and public. Press conferences will feature Green candidates for public office from across the US, with a special press conference on Friday, August 6, for women candidates hosted by the party's Women Caucus. Journalists are encouraged to register ahead of time, at the Green Party's media credentialing page. Registration for media will also take place on site during the meeting.
GREEN CANDIDATES who will attend the Green Party's 2011 Annual National Meeting:
* Mike Bernhard, for Town Board member in Afton, New York.
* Audrey Clement, for Arlington County Board, Virginia, in the 2011 general election, http://www.AudreyClement.org. Ms. Clement is a member of the Green Party's national steering committee.
* Joe Duffy, for City Alderman in Hornell, New York. Mr. Duffy is chair of the Steuben County Green Party.
* Howie Hawkins for Common Councillor of Syracuse, New York. The Green Party of New York State regained ballot status in 2010 as a result of Mr. Hawkin's Green campaign for Governor.
* Cheri Honkala, for Sheriff of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (http://www.cherihonkala.com) in the 2011 general election. Ms. Honkala founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the national Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign. She was included in Philadelphia Magazine’s list of 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians and was named Philadelphia Weekly’s “Woman of the Year” in 1997.
* Cecile Lawrence, candidate for the Tioga County Legislature (District 3), New York, in the 2011 general election. Ms. Lawrence, who will conduct a workshop at the meeting, was the Green Party's candidate for US Senate from New York in 2010. A member of Tioga Peace and Justice, she testified at hearings towards the passage of the New York State Managed Care Bill of Rights.
* Kent Mesplay, candidate for the Green Party's nomination for President, http://www.mesplay.org. Dr. Mesplay also sought the nomination in 2008.
* Anita Rios, candidate for City Council in Toledo (District 4), Ohio, in the 2011 general election. Ms. Rios ran for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 2006 and 2010 and is former of the Green Party's national steering committee.
* Jay Sweeney, for Supervisor in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, in the 2011 general election, http://www.jaysweeney.org. Mr. Sweeney currently serves as Auditor in Falls Township.
The meeting will take place at the fourth biennial New York Green Fest, "a gathering of folks interested in exploring the politics and practices that will help enable us to live in a sustainable world, and sharing a weekend of good discussions, good food, and good music."
Among the speakers will be leaders in the campaign to ban hydrofracking (hydraulic fracturing), an environmentally destructive and dangerous technique for accessing gas in the Marcellus Shale beneath Pennsylvania, New York, and other states. David Cobb, 2004 Green nominee for President, will speak on the need to abolish corporate 'personhood' and restrict the political power of corporations.
Elizabeth May, Canada's first elected Green Party member of Parliament, will speak to Greens at the meeting by Skype. David C. Korten, economist, co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine, and author of 'When Corporations Rule the World' and other books, will also address the meeting by Skype.
"There are many people throughout the US, including Green elected officials and community activists, who are thinking, talking, planning, and working for a sustainable energy economy despite lack of broader government engagement," said Peter LaVenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York State. "Many of them will be coming to the meeting in Alfred or will speak to meeting participants via Skype. Alfred is the perfect place for Green Fest."
Several Green candidates from New York and other states will attend the meeting, speak at press conferences, and be available for interview. At least one candidate for the Green presidential nomination, Kent Mesplay, will be present. A preliminary list of candidates who plan to attend the meeting is appended below. David Doonan, Green Party member and mayor of Greenwich, New York, will also be at the meeting.
Green Party leaders at the meeting will begin organizing for the 2012 election season, including the presidential race. The party will nominate a candidate for the White House at its 2012 national convention. The 2011 meeting in Alfred will also feature Green Party panels, workshops, meetings of the Green National Committee, and other events.
The meeting is open to the media and public. Press conferences will feature Green candidates for public office from across the US, with a special press conference on Friday, August 6, for women candidates hosted by the party's Women Caucus. Journalists are encouraged to register ahead of time, at the Green Party's media credentialing page. Registration for media will also take place on site during the meeting.
GREEN CANDIDATES who will attend the Green Party's 2011 Annual National Meeting:
* Mike Bernhard, for Town Board member in Afton, New York.
* Audrey Clement, for Arlington County Board, Virginia, in the 2011 general election, http://www.AudreyClement.org. Ms. Clement is a member of the Green Party's national steering committee.
* Joe Duffy, for City Alderman in Hornell, New York. Mr. Duffy is chair of the Steuben County Green Party.
* Howie Hawkins for Common Councillor of Syracuse, New York. The Green Party of New York State regained ballot status in 2010 as a result of Mr. Hawkin's Green campaign for Governor.
* Cheri Honkala, for Sheriff of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (http://www.cherihonkala.com) in the 2011 general election. Ms. Honkala founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the national Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign. She was included in Philadelphia Magazine’s list of 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians and was named Philadelphia Weekly’s “Woman of the Year” in 1997.
* Cecile Lawrence, candidate for the Tioga County Legislature (District 3), New York, in the 2011 general election. Ms. Lawrence, who will conduct a workshop at the meeting, was the Green Party's candidate for US Senate from New York in 2010. A member of Tioga Peace and Justice, she testified at hearings towards the passage of the New York State Managed Care Bill of Rights.
* Kent Mesplay, candidate for the Green Party's nomination for President, http://www.mesplay.org. Dr. Mesplay also sought the nomination in 2008.
* Anita Rios, candidate for City Council in Toledo (District 4), Ohio, in the 2011 general election. Ms. Rios ran for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 2006 and 2010 and is former of the Green Party's national steering committee.
* Jay Sweeney, for Supervisor in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, in the 2011 general election, http://www.jaysweeney.org. Mr. Sweeney currently serves as Auditor in Falls Township.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Building A State-wide Mass Movement to Criminalize Corporate+Government Hydrofracking
Richard Grossman will lead a series of three workshops on Building A State-wide Mass Movement to Criminalize Corporate+Government Hydrofracking in New York …While Asserting People’s Authority to Define and Control Our Energy Futures)...[While Sowing Seeds To Govern Our Communities and Our State]; that is, opening multiple organizing fronts and building-in 2nd, 3rd, 4th steps towards dethroning institutional, cultural, educational, financial, constitutional, legal and cultural mechanics of our disembodiment & disempowerment.
Workshop I: Liberation via Reality
What groundwork has been laid for such business+ government as usual?
That is, what happened in the past that keeps people divided, disabled, subordinated, indoctrinated, disembodied, mangled & handled?
USA’s and NY State’s designs of governance, laws, jurisprudential theories & precedents, regulatory agencies, the USA’s federal structure, with regard to:
(1) the Earth; (2) human labor; (3) laws of the land defining decisionmaking on money, investment & production as “ private;” (4) industrial, financial, utility, media,
insurance, lawyer, accounting, propaganda and etc., corporations; (5) the corporate class’ non-profit corporations; (6) our municipal and non-profit corporations; (7) access to remedy; (8) speech, assembly and petition; (9) consent of the governed, majority rule, self-governance; (10) Earth law & cosmic imperatives; (11) History...
In current USA political and societal contexts, what is: “ Energy”?
“Energy & the Economy?” Energy and Jobs?” “Alternative Energy?”
“Energy & E*N*D*L*E*S*S M*O*R*E?”
What can we learn from past people’s struggles against business + government as usual?
Workshop II: Conceptualizing Commensurate Campaigns
Who are WE? What is our base?
The nature, structure, collective memories, inherited ideologies, language, jubilations, melancholias, hopes, apprehensions, goals, struggles of anti-fracking people in NY
& beyond, summer 2011.
What does it mean to ban corporate+government hydrofracking in New York State?
When is a “ban” not a ban? What seeds have people sown for banning corporate hydrofracking? What educating, what trainings, have taken place within our base? What are relations with State and National environmental, social justice and related groups?
What changes in power relationships, structures of governance, law, habits of thought, can we forge to ban fracking in ways that assert people’s authority to make ALL
energy decisions? To make all GOVERNING decisions....? What changes in ourselves will be necessary (for example, in how WE see, think, speak, write, talk, educate, organize)? What tools do we have? What tools don’t we have?
What legitimacy do we claim for our demands: where -- in history, culture, law, science, morality, solidarity, etc., -- do we plant our feet?
Realizing short-term, mid-term, long-term, goals & strategies; opening creative offensives & multiple fronts.
Building-in 2nd, 3rd, & 4th steps.
Reaching beyond single issue struggles and out to diverse constituencies.
Training ourselves to:
* Design campaigns to reveal and contest constitutional, legal and cultural barriers denying remedy, denying authority to govern;
* Sow counter-histories, counter-ideologies, counterconsciousness;
* Adjust the state -- especially its institutions of ideology, education and rule -- to Earth’s and our values, experiences, imperatives;
* Undermine NY State Government kingly prerogatives & Federal monarchical preemptions;
* Sabotage corporate job and royalty and tax carrots, along with corporate and politician threats to freeze and starve us, jobless, in the dark;
* Subvert “legal” violence by sheriffs, police, National Guard;
* Engage in escalating civil disobedience targeting illegitimate law and constitutional doctrine, perverted culture, pillars of the Corporate State, and Lally columns of liberalism.
* Escalate the costs of governance-by-the-few.
Workshop III: Solidifying Our Base
Establish basic principles and goals in context of long range visions of public law and public governing authority; Design campaigns to ban fracking in ways which teach public decisionmaking on energy investment, technology and policy; Lay out commensurate strategies, tactics, arenas of struggle, language...
Proposed educating/organizing vehicles:
We write, and oblige state legislators to enact:
* laws criminalizing corporate+government hydrofracking;
* laws correcting people’s disembodiment at work, & which provide a Workers’ Guarantee of Education & Income a la Tony Mazzocchi’s concept of 25 years ago;
* laws nullifying corporate contracts for land, gas, oil, and water;
* laws banning incorporation;
* (for starters).
Framing multiple offensives;
Building-in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., steps;
Designing & implementing internal education and training;
Expanding our base by creating state-wide (multi-state?) anti-fracking confederation(s), We compel legislators to enact, and governors to sign, our law criminalizing corporate hydrofracking. With our tapestry of next steps on “energy” investment, technology, use -- and on “public governance” -- embedded in the consciousness of our base, we present State officials with a new list of demands.
Solidifying our base.
About Richard Grossman
The lead presenter for the workshops will be Richard L. Grossman. A native New Yorker back home after 35 years of wandering, Richard co-founded and taught ‘Stop the Poisoning’ Schools in the ‘80s; ‘Rethinking The Corporation, Rethinking Strategy’ Schools in the ‘90s; and ‘Democracy Schools’ in the ‘00s. He is co-author of the books: Energy, Jobs & The Economy (1979); Fear At Work: Job Blackmail, Labor & The Environment (1982; 1991); Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy (2001); and author of the pamphlets: On the First Day We Bulldozed it: Building the Rainforest Movement (1987); Taking Care of Business: Citizenship & the Charter of Incorporation (1993); Revoking the Corporation (1996); and The WTO, the US Constitution and Self-Government (1999), along with scores of articles. Richard is active with Frack Free Catskills in Ulster and Green counties, NY. For more information about the workshops, contact Richard at (845) 338-6857 or rgrossman@riseup.net
Workshop I: Liberation via Reality
What groundwork has been laid for such business+ government as usual?
That is, what happened in the past that keeps people divided, disabled, subordinated, indoctrinated, disembodied, mangled & handled?
USA’s and NY State’s designs of governance, laws, jurisprudential theories & precedents, regulatory agencies, the USA’s federal structure, with regard to:
(1) the Earth; (2) human labor; (3) laws of the land defining decisionmaking on money, investment & production as “ private;” (4) industrial, financial, utility, media,
insurance, lawyer, accounting, propaganda and etc., corporations; (5) the corporate class’ non-profit corporations; (6) our municipal and non-profit corporations; (7) access to remedy; (8) speech, assembly and petition; (9) consent of the governed, majority rule, self-governance; (10) Earth law & cosmic imperatives; (11) History...
In current USA political and societal contexts, what is: “ Energy”?
“Energy & the Economy?” Energy and Jobs?” “Alternative Energy?”
“Energy & E*N*D*L*E*S*S M*O*R*E?”
What can we learn from past people’s struggles against business + government as usual?
Workshop II: Conceptualizing Commensurate Campaigns
Who are WE? What is our base?
The nature, structure, collective memories, inherited ideologies, language, jubilations, melancholias, hopes, apprehensions, goals, struggles of anti-fracking people in NY
& beyond, summer 2011.
What does it mean to ban corporate+government hydrofracking in New York State?
When is a “ban” not a ban? What seeds have people sown for banning corporate hydrofracking? What educating, what trainings, have taken place within our base? What are relations with State and National environmental, social justice and related groups?
What changes in power relationships, structures of governance, law, habits of thought, can we forge to ban fracking in ways that assert people’s authority to make ALL
energy decisions? To make all GOVERNING decisions....? What changes in ourselves will be necessary (for example, in how WE see, think, speak, write, talk, educate, organize)? What tools do we have? What tools don’t we have?
What legitimacy do we claim for our demands: where -- in history, culture, law, science, morality, solidarity, etc., -- do we plant our feet?
Realizing short-term, mid-term, long-term, goals & strategies; opening creative offensives & multiple fronts.
Building-in 2nd, 3rd, & 4th steps.
Reaching beyond single issue struggles and out to diverse constituencies.
Training ourselves to:
* Design campaigns to reveal and contest constitutional, legal and cultural barriers denying remedy, denying authority to govern;
* Sow counter-histories, counter-ideologies, counterconsciousness;
* Adjust the state -- especially its institutions of ideology, education and rule -- to Earth’s and our values, experiences, imperatives;
* Undermine NY State Government kingly prerogatives & Federal monarchical preemptions;
* Sabotage corporate job and royalty and tax carrots, along with corporate and politician threats to freeze and starve us, jobless, in the dark;
* Subvert “legal” violence by sheriffs, police, National Guard;
* Engage in escalating civil disobedience targeting illegitimate law and constitutional doctrine, perverted culture, pillars of the Corporate State, and Lally columns of liberalism.
* Escalate the costs of governance-by-the-few.
Workshop III: Solidifying Our Base
Establish basic principles and goals in context of long range visions of public law and public governing authority; Design campaigns to ban fracking in ways which teach public decisionmaking on energy investment, technology and policy; Lay out commensurate strategies, tactics, arenas of struggle, language...
Proposed educating/organizing vehicles:
We write, and oblige state legislators to enact:
* laws criminalizing corporate+government hydrofracking;
* laws correcting people’s disembodiment at work, & which provide a Workers’ Guarantee of Education & Income a la Tony Mazzocchi’s concept of 25 years ago;
* laws nullifying corporate contracts for land, gas, oil, and water;
* laws banning incorporation;
* (for starters).
Framing multiple offensives;
Building-in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., steps;
Designing & implementing internal education and training;
Expanding our base by creating state-wide (multi-state?) anti-fracking confederation(s), We compel legislators to enact, and governors to sign, our law criminalizing corporate hydrofracking. With our tapestry of next steps on “energy” investment, technology, use -- and on “public governance” -- embedded in the consciousness of our base, we present State officials with a new list of demands.
Solidifying our base.
About Richard Grossman
The lead presenter for the workshops will be Richard L. Grossman. A native New Yorker back home after 35 years of wandering, Richard co-founded and taught ‘Stop the Poisoning’ Schools in the ‘80s; ‘Rethinking The Corporation, Rethinking Strategy’ Schools in the ‘90s; and ‘Democracy Schools’ in the ‘00s. He is co-author of the books: Energy, Jobs & The Economy (1979); Fear At Work: Job Blackmail, Labor & The Environment (1982; 1991); Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy (2001); and author of the pamphlets: On the First Day We Bulldozed it: Building the Rainforest Movement (1987); Taking Care of Business: Citizenship & the Charter of Incorporation (1993); Revoking the Corporation (1996); and The WTO, the US Constitution and Self-Government (1999), along with scores of articles. Richard is active with Frack Free Catskills in Ulster and Green counties, NY. For more information about the workshops, contact Richard at (845) 338-6857 or rgrossman@riseup.net
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Top Green Theorists Offer Political Workshops at Green Fest
A number of our top Green theorists are offering ten outstanding workshops on political topics during the weekend of Green Fest. For the complete Green Fest schedule, click here.
- Abolish Corporate "Personhood,", David Cobb and Virginia Rasmussen Building Unity, Colia Clark and Ken Gale
- The Bias of Temperament in American Politics, William Kreml
- Courting the Anarchist Vote: Finding the Common Denominator of Autonomy, Darin Robbins
- Ecological Socialism vs. Capitalist Exterminism, Howie Hawkins
- Leveraging Privilege to Transform Oppression & Build Power, George Friday and David Cobb
- The Malapportionment Penalty Initiative to Democratize the Electoral College, Asa Gordon
- The Principle of Green Political Independence, or Why Progressive Democrats Reinforce Corporate Rule, Howie Hawkins
- Third Parties as Real Change, Anthony Gronowicz
- Welcoming Muslims to the Green Movement: Fighting Islamophobia, Farheen Hakeem
- What would a Green Non-Violent Foreign Policy Look Like?, John Rensenbrinck
Friday, July 8, 2011
Woven Green to Open Friday Plenary
Woven Green will open Friday night's plenary session with David Korten and Tina Clarke, and will perform on the Solar Stage during the weekend. The six musicians that comprise Woven Green have created an original sound with elements of rock, folk, funk, fusion, and world music addressing themes of nature, love, awakening, and empowerment. Wildy's World says, "Woven Green is a bit off the beaten path; creating wonderfully addictive Pop/Folk/Rock songs with highly unusual subject matter. . . The band sings their beliefs and is obviously looking to change the world through their music. . . Ashley Cash is going to get comparisons to Grace Slick, among others, and her voice is well-deserving of praise. Jim Cash's songwriting is also superb; nuanced and complex without ever overdoing on either quality." The band's debut album has been nominated for a Washington Area Music Award (“Wammie”) in the pop-rock category. Their song "Sixth Sun" received first prize in the Relix Magazine 2010 Jam Off Competition and was awarded honorable mention in the 27th Annual Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest. Visit their website at http://www.wovengreenmusic.com/. Woven Green is from northern Virginia.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Share a Ride to Green Fest
If you need a ride for all or part of your trip to Green Fest or the Green Party annual national meeting, go to the 2011 Green Party ANM page on rideshare.us, http://www.rideshare.us/page.php?next=eventdisplay&event=1164 To find the event after you register on the site, use the lookup code "Green Party." Enter the state you need a ride from, e.g., NY if you are flying into NY and need a ride from the airport.
Public transportation is available to Alfred by bus and to Rochester and Buffalo by train. Bus service to Alfred is available through Shortline (1.800.631.8405) or Trailways (1.800.858.8555). Bus service between New York City and Alfred is available three times a day. See schedule. Train service to Rochester or Buffalo is provided by Amtrak (1.800.872.7245). If you fly into the Elmira/Corning airport, you can take the bus to Alfred from Corning. The Elmira/ Corning airport is served by Northwest Airlines/Delta.
Click here for a list of Alfred/Southern Tier area, Buffalo and Rochester taxi services.
Public transportation is available to Alfred by bus and to Rochester and Buffalo by train. Bus service to Alfred is available through Shortline (1.800.631.8405) or Trailways (1.800.858.8555). Bus service between New York City and Alfred is available three times a day. See schedule. Train service to Rochester or Buffalo is provided by Amtrak (1.800.872.7245). If you fly into the Elmira/Corning airport, you can take the bus to Alfred from Corning. The Elmira/ Corning airport is served by Northwest Airlines/Delta.
Click here for a list of Alfred/Southern Tier area, Buffalo and Rochester taxi services.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Hydrofracking Activists Join Green Party Gathering
A series of workshops, presentations and strategic planning sessions on the political steps needed to replace fossil fuels and nuclear power with reduced energy usage and alternative energy sources is attracting hydrofracking activists to Green Fest. The program features four forums and 30 workshops on a wide range of ecological, peace and justice topics (see workshop list below).
Confirmed speakers include Richard Grossman, David Cobb, Virginia Rasmussen, Howie Hawkins, Cecile Lawrence, Tony Gronowicz, Farheen Hakeem, Ursula Rozum, John Rensenbrinck, Bill Belitskus, Jay Sweeney, Mary Jo Long, Mike Bernhard, Ken Gale, David Doonan, Jack Ossont, Kate Bartholomew, Barry Miller and Dianne Roe. Elizabeth May, the first Green elected to the Canadian parliament, David Korten, author of Agenda for a Local Economy and Tina Clarke from the transition towns movement will address the gathering by Skype.
For more information about the presenters, click here. Outstanding musicians will perform throughout the weekend on our solar stage and for the evening programs: including Crow Weaver, Carl Lundgren, Leonard Lehrman and Helene Williams, the Woven Green band from northern Virginia, and the Lucky Pluckers.The Bloodthirsty Vegans from Buffalo will return with their great dance music for the Saturday evening fundraiser.
Confirmed speakers include Richard Grossman, David Cobb, Virginia Rasmussen, Howie Hawkins, Cecile Lawrence, Tony Gronowicz, Farheen Hakeem, Ursula Rozum, John Rensenbrinck, Bill Belitskus, Jay Sweeney, Mary Jo Long, Mike Bernhard, Ken Gale, David Doonan, Jack Ossont, Kate Bartholomew, Barry Miller and Dianne Roe. Elizabeth May, the first Green elected to the Canadian parliament, David Korten, author of Agenda for a Local Economy and Tina Clarke from the transition towns movement will address the gathering by Skype.
Building Local Economies, Fri., Aug. 5, 6:45 pm — 8:45 pm
Presenters: David Korten on "Agenda for a Local Economy," Tina Clarke and David Doonan on the Transistion Town Movement, Opening music: Woven Green Band, Moderator: Tim Bancroft, Location: Nevins Theater, Powell Campus CenterLocal Sovereignty over Fossil Fuel Extraction, Sat., Aug. 6, 1:15 pm - 2:30 pm
Presenters: Richard Grossman, Virginia Rasmussen, Mary Jo Long, Jack Ossont, Gary Abraham, Opening music: Carl Lundgren, Moderator: Kate Bartholomew, Location: Solar Stage on Campus QuadCampaigning for Local Economies and Clean Energ, Sat., Aug. 6, 6:45 pm — 8:45 pm
Presenters: Elizabeth May, Kent Mesplay, Colia Clark, Bill Belitskus, Jay Sweeney, Green Candidates and Office Holders, Opening music: Crow Weaver, Moderator: David Cobb, Location: Nevins Theater, Powell Campus CenterThe Future of Sustainable Politics, Sun., Aug. 7, 11:15 am — 12:45 pm
Presenters: John Resenbrinck, Greg Gerritt, Howie Hawkins, Cecile Lawrence, Opening poetry: Michael Czarnecki, Moderator: Jason Nabewaniec, Location: Solar Stage on Campus QuadFor more information about the presenters, click here. Outstanding musicians will perform throughout the weekend on our solar stage and for the evening programs: including Crow Weaver, Carl Lundgren, Leonard Lehrman and Helene Williams, the Woven Green band from northern Virginia, and the Lucky Pluckers.The Bloodthirsty Vegans from Buffalo will return with their great dance music for the Saturday evening fundraiser.
Ecology Workshops
- Environmental Impacts of Pottery Production, Elaine Hardman
- Hazelnut and Chestnut Trees for Permaculture and Reforestation in the Northeast, Tom Potts
- The Health of Bees and the Implications of Their Decline, Bob Brachmann
- Poetry in Place Workshop, Mike Czarnecki
- Real Food Workshop, Tim Koegel
Energy Workshops
- Build Your Own Wind Turbine, Barry Miller
- Building a Mass Movement to Criminalize Corporate Hydrofracking: Workshops 1, 2 and 3, Richard Grossman
- Building a National Anti-Fracking Campaign, David Doonan
- Finger Lakes Energy Challenge -- Working to Reduce Our Fossil Fuel Consumption, Gay Nicholson
- Free Energy Solutions, Barry Miller
- Harms of Gas Drilling Caused by Poor Energy Policies, Bill Belitskus
- Inconvenient Truths about Wind Energy, Gary Abraham
- Low-Cost Solar DIY, Dave Fagan and Mary Joy Cady-Fagan
- Rekindling the Anti-Nuclear Movement after Fukushima, Ken Gale, Carl Lundgren
- Renewable Energy Solutions, Ken Gale
- Solar Water Heating Basics, Barry Miller
- Talk, Write, Connect, Change, Cecile Lawrence
Media Workshops
- How to be an Effective Media Activist through Video, Wilton Vought
- Media Workshops 1 and 2, Scott McLarty
- Planning and Facilitating Public Rituals for Turbulent Times, Jil St. Ledger-Roty
Political Workshops
- Abolish Corporate "Personhood,", David Cobb and Virginia Rasmussen
- The Bias of Temperament in American Politics, William Kreml
- Courting the Anarchist Vote: Finding the Common Denominator of Autonomy, Darin Robbins
- Ecological Socialism vs. Capitalist Exterminism, Howie Hawkins
- Leveraging Privilege to Transform Oppression & Build Power, George Friday and David Cobb
- Malapportionment vs. The National Popular Vote: Initiatives to Reform the Electoral College, Asa Gordon
- The Principle of Green Political Independence, or Why Progressive Democrats Reinforce Corporate Rule, Howie Hawkins
Resisting Neoliberalism and Organizing for Eco-Justice in the Americas, Ursula Rozum - Third Parties as Real Change, Anthony Gronowicz
- Welcoming Muslims to the Green Movement: Fighting Islamophobia, Farheen Hakeem
- What would a Green Non-Violent Foreign Policy Look Like?, John Rensenbrinck
Monday, June 20, 2011
Draft Green Fest Schedule
Fri.-Sun., Aug. 5-7, 2011
Alfred University, Alfred, New York
Thursday, August 4, 2011
5:00 pm — Registration opens — Powell Campus Center
6:00-7:00 pm — Dinner in Dining Hall
Friday, August 5, 2011
8:00-9:00 am — Breakfast, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
8:00 am — Registration opens, Welcome Tent on Campus Green
11:30 am — Exhibits open, Campus Green
11:30-12:30 pm — Workshop Session 1
12:30-1:30 pm — Lunch, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
1:30-2:30 pm — Workshop Session 2
2:45-3:45 pm — Workshop Session 3
4:00-5:00 pm — Workshop Session 4
5:30-6:30 pm — Dinner, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
6:45-8:45 pm — Forum 1, Nevins Theater in Powell Campus Center
9:00-11:00 pm — Jam session/get together, Knight Club in Powell Campus Center
Saturday, August 6, 2011
7:45-8:45 am — Breakfast, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
8:45-9:45 am — Workshop Session 5
10:00-11:00 am — Workshop Session 6
11:15-12:15 pm — Workshop Session 7
12:15-1:15 pm — Lunch, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
1:15-2:30 pm — Forum 2, Solar Stage
2:45-3:45 pm — Workshop Session 8
4:00-5:00 pm — Workshop Session 9
5:30-6:30 pm — Dinner, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
6:45-8:45 pm — Forum 3, Nevins Theater in Powell Campus Center
9:00-11:00 pm — Dance Party/Fundraiser, Knight Club in Powell Campus Center
Sunday, August 7, 2011
7:45-8:45 am — Breakfast, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
8:45-9:45 am — Workshop Session 10
10:00-11:00 am — Workshop Session 11
11:15-12:45 pm — Forum 4, Solar Stage
12:45-1:45 pm — Lunch, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
Check for updates at http://nygreenfest.org/2011schedule.html
Alfred University, Alfred, New York
Thursday, August 4, 2011
5:00 pm — Registration opens — Powell Campus Center
6:00-7:00 pm — Dinner in Dining Hall
Friday, August 5, 2011
8:00-9:00 am — Breakfast, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
8:00 am — Registration opens, Welcome Tent on Campus Green
11:30 am — Exhibits open, Campus Green
11:30-12:30 pm — Workshop Session 1
12:30-1:30 pm — Lunch, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
1:30-2:30 pm — Workshop Session 2
2:45-3:45 pm — Workshop Session 3
4:00-5:00 pm — Workshop Session 4
5:30-6:30 pm — Dinner, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
6:45-8:45 pm — Forum 1, Nevins Theater in Powell Campus Center
9:00-11:00 pm — Jam session/get together, Knight Club in Powell Campus Center
Saturday, August 6, 2011
7:45-8:45 am — Breakfast, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
8:45-9:45 am — Workshop Session 5
10:00-11:00 am — Workshop Session 6
11:15-12:15 pm — Workshop Session 7
12:15-1:15 pm — Lunch, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
1:15-2:30 pm — Forum 2, Solar Stage
2:45-3:45 pm — Workshop Session 8
4:00-5:00 pm — Workshop Session 9
5:30-6:30 pm — Dinner, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
6:45-8:45 pm — Forum 3, Nevins Theater in Powell Campus Center
9:00-11:00 pm — Dance Party/Fundraiser, Knight Club in Powell Campus Center
Sunday, August 7, 2011
7:45-8:45 am — Breakfast, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
8:45-9:45 am — Workshop Session 10
10:00-11:00 am — Workshop Session 11
11:15-12:45 pm — Forum 4, Solar Stage
12:45-1:45 pm — Lunch, Dining Hall in Powell Campus Center
Check for updates at http://nygreenfest.org/2011schedule.html
Swimming Available at Foster Lake
Swimming will be available for campers at NY Green Fest this summer. Green Fest offers tent camping at Foster Lake, a 25-acre lake owned by Alfred University 2 miles from the central Green Fest location, Alfred University's Powell Campus Center, in Alfred, NY. Swimming is allowed in the lake while a life guard is on duty: from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Boating is also available. For more information about camping at Green Fest, visit our registration page.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Registration Now Open for 2011
Registration is now open for Green Fest 2011. The registration fee for Green Fest attendees, presenters and exhibitors is $45 for the weekend, $25 for a single day. The teen rates are $25 for the weekend, $15 for a single day. Children 12 and under are free. Delicious meals and attractive lodging options are available on-campus for reasonable rates. To see details and to register, please visit our registration page, http://nygreenfest.org/registration.html
Sunday, March 13, 2011
ANM Comes to Green Fest
We are delighted to have the national Green Party join us in Alfred this year, Aug. 5-7, 2011. Green Fest is being held in conjunction with the 2011 Green Annual National Meeting (ANM). Greens and supporters from across the country will participate in Green Fest workshops, perform and exhibit in our Green Fair.
We welcome participation in Green Fest 2011 as a panelist, musician or workshop presenter. Our panels, performances and workshops enable the Green community to grow and pass on vital knowledge and skills. Musicians will perform throughout the weekend on our solar stage. For more information about presenting or performing at Green Fest 2011, click here.
For more information about exhibiting in our Green Fair, click here. We welcome five types of exhibitors:
We welcome participation in Green Fest 2011 as a panelist, musician or workshop presenter. Our panels, performances and workshops enable the Green community to grow and pass on vital knowledge and skills. Musicians will perform throughout the weekend on our solar stage. For more information about presenting or performing at Green Fest 2011, click here.
For more information about exhibiting in our Green Fair, click here. We welcome five types of exhibitors:
1. Activist organizations displaying information about their work on Green issuesRegistration will be available soon. Click here for the draft 2011 schedule.
2. Craftspeople and artists selling their own crafts and art
3. Local farmers and local food producers selling their own food items
4. Authors, booksellers and publishers selling books on sustainable living and sustainable politics
5. Producers and distributors selling renewable energy systems and zero emission vehicles.
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