I serve on the Green Party of the United States Eco Action Committee (in fact I’m up for election as the committee’s secretary…). This committee released a statement of endorsement for the
Cape Cod Wind Farm today.
This project is an offshore wind turbine project being proposed by Cape Wind
Associates six miles offshore of Nantucket Sound, that will provide 74% of
the electricity used by Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and would displace two
million barrels of oil each year.
I’ve updated my campaign website with a totally new design. There may be a few changes as time progresses, but overall I’m pleased with it. It was also a learning event for me in using php.
You can see my new website at Deanna Taylor for County Council.
The Green Party of the United States is spotlighting candidates each week on its website. You can read about the candidates around the nation .
So far there are 241 Candidates in 2006 in 32 States in 52 Types of Offices. There have already been 17 victories in races this year.
The largest slate is Californina with 44 greens running, followed by Texas (yes, Texas!) which has 24, then Wisconsin with 21 and then Pennsylvania with 20. Gubernatorial offices are being pursued by greens in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachussetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
Looks like this will be an exciting year for green elections!
My role as Listserve Forum Manger for the Green Party of the United States is really keeping me and my fellow forum managers busy. The latest challenges involve working out the technicalities of moderating posts – working with the list administrator of the national lists and the FM team has shown all of us that we have a lot to learn – even those that are more “techie” than we are! I am sure that once all the “bugs” are ironed out, we will have in place a great system for effectively ensuring that the national discussion lists run smoothly – from the technical standpoint and the moderation standpoint.
I am running for the position of secretary of the GPUS Eco Action Committee. It looks like I am the only one running for that office. That doesn’t mean I will automatically be elected, though. Since we vote by ranking our choices, there could potentially be write-ins and also “none of the above”.
Here is the bio I provided for members of the committee so they would know more about who they are voting for:
Continue reading
I manage several discussion lists for a variety of organizations. Sometimes it’s cumbersome having to daily delete all the spam that comes in, but it’s worth it to have the service available to activists.
I am a member of the Green Party of the United States national discussion and voting lists in my role as alternate delegate. I am on the team of 4 (3 + 1 alternate) that comprise the Forum Managers. Our job is to handle complaints and violations of listserve protocol.
This job has been more active than I’d like it to be, having had to issue advisories, warnings and probations to some. Hopefully, though, our job will help make it so that others learn how to hold meaningful and productive discussions in ways that are diplomatic even when disagreeing. My desire is to have my “job” as Forum Manager eventually go away because the services of the team is no longer needed.
Until then I remain in service to the GPUS in this capacity. It’s a valuable learning experience for me as well.
The first campaign disclosure report for my campaign is due tomorrow. I have completed the forms and am awaiting a couple of minor details before submitting the papers.
Since filing in March I have received $249.93 in donations ($153.23 was for my filing fees and is documented as a loan from me). I have incurred $182.63 in expenses – for filing fees and setting up the required campaign bank account.
One of the things I do not like about completing this report is that if one does not have the capacity to complete acrobat files online, you have to print it and either mail it in or take it in, which wastes resources (paper, stamps, gas, etc.)
The state of Utah is way ahead in that game – candidates can complete and submite their forms online.
There’s another small, albeit important, issue for my platform. Get more online resources available for Salt Lake County candidates and citizens when conducting county government business.
When I opened my campaign account on Friday I was asked if I wanted to order checks. My response: “No”. I am pretty sure that the checks obtained from my credit union are not recylced. Yesterday I ordered checks for my campaign treasury from Check Gallery, a company I have been using for years. Their checks are recycled. They have over 700 designs and many of the checks are for various organizations. I really like the NOW checks (National Organization of Women). They have several sets:
There are a number of other socially repsonsible organzations with this service.
After about an hour of trying to decide, I finally went with a “southwest art” design and an earth logo in the upper left corner.
At any rate, although I wanted green checks or checks with a sunflower logo (the Green Party symbol), my responsibility for having recycled checks outweighed the design I wanted.
Next I plan to make business cards out of recycled paper – preferrably old money paper.
I serve on the Eco Action Committee of the Green Party of the United States. This committee is developing positions on various ecological issues. This is done via email and monthly conference calls.
One topic that has been discussed lately is the effect on the environment by Greens traveling from all areas of the country to attend the annual convention. It has been conservatively estimated that **41 tons** of carbon dioxide would be emitted from just travel to the meeting.
Since most people see value in face-to-face meetings, some have suggesting imposing “carbon taxes” through a variety of means and other ways of mitigating the effect of the travel. One option that has been discussed is to plant trees in the area in which the convention is held.
Some people see that as a symbolic effort and not one that would necessarily attract media attention. Others see it as, in one delegate’s words, Planting enough trees to counter the pollution this year will have an effect every year the trees exist into the future, mitigating the cost of meeting every year from just this one year’s effort…. Isn’t it also enough to do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do? We will be demonstrating a better and more responsible political stewardship of the environment. Showing what works and doing it are two keys to making change inviting.
I personally like the idea of mitigating the costs of travel with a tree planting campaign. How novel and unique and good for the earth.
Here are some photos of the protest on March 20th in front of the Grand America Hotel, where 1600 Oil Executives gathered for an annual convention. The Grand America is owned by Sinclair Oil owner Earl Holding. AAttending the conference were executives of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Conoco-Philips.
Orrin Hatch also attended the conference and was a speaker.
I’ll be posting a few photos later today or tomorrow about the protest aginast the Oil Executives Annual Conference in Salt Lake yesterday.
KCPW, local public radio station, covered the event:
Peace Activists Protest Big Oil Conference – includes audio clip in which Julian Hatch, the Desert Greens Green Party of Utah U.S. Senate Candidate, is interviewed.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 