HOME    ELECTION AGENDA

In the agenda for peace, the Multilateralism Task Force supports all efforts toward constructive, international cooperation:

• To increase our security and world security, the United States must re-engage in international negotiation and must sign, RATIFY, and SUPPORT treaties, including:
  
  • Kyoto Accord
  • International Criminal Court
  • Nuclear non-proliferation
  • Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
  • Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
  • Germ Warfare Protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention
  • Land Mine Treaty, Law of the Sea Treaty
  • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

• The United States government must renounce the doctrine of pre-emptive war and accept responsibility for damage caused by pre-emptive wars by reconstructing all homes, schools, and hospitals damaged by our pre-emptive wars.



• To reduce the need for war, the United States must support, strengthen and further democratize the United Nations.



• The United States must open negotiations of international economic agreements to include all interests--management, laborers, farmers, unemployed people, women, children. Such international economic agreements include those of:
  
  • WTO - World Trade Organization
  • NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement
  • FTAA - proposed Free Trade of the Americas Agreement
  • any other bilateral or multilateral treaties anywhere on the globe.
  
  

-- Alfred Aeppli, Paul Bloom, Meg Layese, Regula Russelle, Traci Lemm, Tim Wulling

In the agenda for peace, the the St. Anthony Park Neighbors for Peace Energy Task Force supports all efforts to achieve energy independence, so that our foreign and environmental policies will not continue to be dictated by our energy needs. Global common good, rather than profits, should be our guiding principle.

BE IT RESOLVED:

• That the US signs and adheres to the Kyoto Accord, negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, setting the cutting of greenhouse gas emissions by 8% below 1990 levels by 2012.



• That we set a goal of a 20% renewable energy standard by 2020 for the electric utility industry, based on clean renewable energy resources – wind power, solar energy, methane gas and others.



• That incentives are in order for air, odor, and noise pollution control, and for research into more sustainable and environmentally responsible energy production.



• That ethanol is not considered an alternate fuel for cars, buses and trucks, and that the production of it be no more than for 10% additive to motor vehicle gasoline.



• That responsible government regulatory oversight of energy utility industries is required, and deregulation is outright regected, and public ownership of electric utilities is supported.



• That conservation – reduced consumption of energy – is the key to energy independence. Requirements that car, truck and SUV manufacturers improve gas mileage significantly for all new vehicles must be put in place.



• That electric utilities be expected to encourage efficiency and conservation of their customers; that they be required to clean up old, dirty coal plants to reduce emissions, and to modernize to meet pollution control statndards; and increase the amount of electricity generated from clean, renewable energy sources – solar, wind, and others.



• That residential, commercial, and governmental building codes be climatically revised to stress solar heating, insulation, and weatherproofing.

Nuclear Power – Be it resolved:

• That there be an immediate end to investments in nuclear power, and that early shutdown of all nuclear reactors take place as soon as possible, replacing them with energy conservation measures and non-polluting sustainable energy.



• That every state with nuclear power plant(s) must store the nuclear waste in a safe manner within the boundaries of that state, and that immediate action be taken locally to address nuclear waste storage.

To fund goals to achieve energy independence, be it resolved:

• That there be a diversion of war funding to support sustainable energy development and environmental protection, and more accountability from the Department of Defense.



• That there be elimination of subsidies, tax benefits, and research funding to nuclear and other non-renewable energy corporations and utilities.



• That there be a fair and equitable carbon tax on all fossil fuels as an incentive for efficiency and conservation, and that all or part of that revenue be used to fund the development of renewable energy resources.



• That public transit (and other ecologically sustainable transportation systems, such as bike lanes) be partially subsidized for infrastructure, equipment, and operating costs by collection of auto fuel taxes.

We believe the risks of not taking action include:

• The US becoming more dependent on foreign oil



• Increased global health problems



• Continued environmental degradation.

Web links to Energy and Environment Resources

• Crimes Against Nature Robert F. Kennedy Jr. writes that Bush is sabotaging the laws that have protected America's environment for more than thirty years. – Rolling Stone



• Energy Action Center Promoting awareness of energy efficiency issues and events, while providing the necessary tools for the public to communicate with their policymakers. – Alliance to Save Energy



• Soot 'makes global warming worse' The effects of soot in changing the climate are more than most scientists acknowledge, two US researchers say. – BBC News



• Break the Chain End our dependence on oil – Natural Resources Defense Council



• The League of Conservation Voters – (LCV) is the political voice of the national environmental movement and the only organization devoted full-time to shaping a pro-environment Congress and White House.

"We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." -Native American Proverb

-- Marilyn Benson, Ev Hanson, David Jones, Karen Lilley

Back to ELECTION AGENDA