Green economics is rooted in ecological economics. Our economy should serve us and our planet. Our economy should reflect and respect the diverse, delicate ecosystems of our planet.
Our current economic system is gravely flawed. It is unjust and unsustainable because it is premised on endless economic growth and destruction of nature.
Our market economy, by externalizing the environmental and social costs of greenhouse gas emissions, is creating the greatest market failure in history: climate change, and its devastating effects.
Our government’s top economic goal — increasing Gross Domestic Product — impels us to perpetually intensify our resource use and environmental destruction.
A green economic policy places value not just on material wealth, but on the things which truly make life worth living — our health, our relationships, our communities, our environment, and building peace and justice throughout our nation and the world.
1. We should aim to maximize our quality of life with a minimum of consumption. We need to aspire to less “stuff” but more happiness.
2. We need a shift away from materialism to help people live more meaningful lives as we save the planet from climate change and ever-larger mountains of waste. We need to acquire the ability to distinguish between need and greed.
3. We must also end the colossal waste of taxpayer funds for armaments and war, to reduce our nation’s federal debt, and fund our environmental and social needs.
4. We should be able to provide a green job to anyone who wants one.
5. We must use the tax system to bring more equality to our nation. Rising income inequality makes us all poorer in myriad ways. More equal societies are happier, healthier, safer and greener.
6. We should support strong local economies and regional trade. The best model of economic security is for a community and region to be largely self-sufficient in the production of its necessities.
7. We should oppose the corporate control of “free trade” — which, through the machinations of the World Trade Organization places the enrichment of multinational corporations above the level of national laws.
8. We should support “fair trade,” which protects communities, labor, consumers and the environment. Local economic vibrancy and regional trade keep more money in the community and the region, rather than going to distant corporate headquarters. This is the most sensible model for economic security.
9. We absolutelu must change the legal design of the corporation so that it does not maximize profits at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health, workers, or the communities in which it operates. The giant multinational corporation is the world’s most potent force for environmental and social destruction.
10. Unlike the corporate dominated political parties we must now view economics not as an end in itself but as a service to community development through the building and strengthening of community bonds that constitute the social fabric.
11. We must be defenders of the commons—the vast trove of wealth owned by the people, the social and tangible assets we inherit from generations past. Most people living in this country yearn for a more vibrant and lively commons, such as a richer community life, more parks and protected wilderness, clean air and water, more silence, better access to information and knowledge, and a more nourishing culture.
12. We must stop big business from undermining and stealing our common wealth, such as our public forests and minerals, the fruits of federal research, the public airwaves and the Internet.
Source: Green Party
Howie Hawkins on Budget & Economy
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Green Party Platform on the Issues
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