permaculture

["Brent McMillan" <brent@gp.org>]

Hi Folks:

I'm relatively new to the list.  I would like to function as a conduit
between the permaculture movement and the Green Party, if you'll let me.


In Service:

Brent McMillan, Political Director
Green Party of the United States
202-319-7191
brent@gp.org

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org Nancy
Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net


GREENS CALL SUPREME COURT'S DECISION ON EMINENT DOMAIN 'LEGALIZATION OF
THEFT'

While Democratic and Republican officials side with
developers, Greens vow to remain a bulwark against the condemnation of
private homes.


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders sharply
criticized the Supreme Court's June 23 decision in the
Kelo v. City of New London case, calling it a
"legalization of theft."

The decision expands the power of government to
condemn private property ('eminent domain'),
permitting officials to transfer property from one
private owner to another.

"Working class and low income homeowners will be at
special risk, since they provide less tax revenue, and
the Court now gives permission for city councils and statehouses to
evict and replace them with commercial and residential development for
the sake of a wealthier tax base," said Steve Kramer, co-chair of the
Green Party of the United States.  "The Court has legalized theft --
theft from the poor for the rich."

Green leaders say that the party will remain steadfast
in its opposition to the use of eminent domain to
remove people from their homes under the license
provided by the Kelo v. City of New London decision.

"Republican and Democratic officials -- including many
liberal and progressive Democrats -- accept huge gifts
from real estate interests that want to clear out
neighborhoods for new development.  Greens refuse all
corporate contributions," said Peggy Lewis, who is
also co-chair of the national Green Party.  "In the
wake of the New London decision, the choice between
voting for a Green and voting for a Democrat or
Republican in some races might spell the difference
between keeping and losing one's home."

Greens around the U.S. are fighting predatory
development plans in which residents and small
businesses face mass removal under strengthened powers
of eminent domain:

. Brunswick, Georgia faces a massive redevelopment
plan targeting 135 blocks of the heart of Brunswick,
the population of which is 78% black, with 57% in
entrenched poverty.  Elaine Brown, Green candidate for
Mayor of Burnswick, is defending African American
residents threatened under the plan, which has slated
whole neighborhoods for brutal displacement through
"takings by condemnation" and eminent domain.  Ms.
Brown has offered an alternative plan to make
Brunswick a national model and a base for black
economic empowerment and progressive social and
political change.  More information:
<http://www.elainebrown.org/Brunswick%20Factsheet.php>.

. In Brooklyn, New York, Park Slope Greens are working
with other local activists in the Develop Don't
Destroy Brooklyn Coalition to head off an attempt by billionaire
developer Bruce Ratner to seize homes and businesses in Fort Greene and
Prospect Heights.  Mr. Ratner, with the support of the current Borough
President and other Democratic elected officials, wants to build an
arena and 19 high-end residential skyscrapers.  Gloria Mattera, Green
candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, is challenging the plan and
has publicly exposed the secret sweetheart deals behind it.  Ms. Mattera
calls for a moratorium on big scale development of high rises and big
box stores until developers agree to involve the community in
decision-making and commit to maintaining the integrity of existing
neighborhoods.  More
information: "Mattera Campaign Calls On Brooklyn
Borough Hall for Restraint After Supreme Court Ruling"
<http://www.electgloria.org/news/campaign/20050624.php>.

"The decision proves that liberals may be as likely as conservatives to
side with wealthy and corporate interests, and sometimes even more
likely," said Greg Gerritt, secretary of the Green Party of the United
States.  "We now have reason to fear judicial appointments made by
Democrats as much as the hard-right appointments of President Bush.  We
clearly need a new spectrum to describe politics -- dedication to
corporate power versus dedication to the rights of people and the health
of the environment.  Let there be no doubt where Greens stand."

Greens especially praised Justice O'Connor's
dissenting opinion:

"Any property may now be taken for the benefit of
another private property, but the fallout from this
decision will not be random.  The beneficiaries are
likely to be those citizens with disproportionate
influence and power in the political process,
including large corporations and development firms. 
As for the victims, the government now has license to
transfer property from those with fewer resources to
those with more. The Founders cannot have intended
this perverse result."


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193


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