Green Platform and Adaptive Governance

There remains a profoundly influential perspective within the Green Party that looks to polarizing constituencies rather than promoting inclusive processes that unify constituencies in addressing common issues of concern. The Platform of the GPUS remains a document rooted in the sixties. It has not grown beyond the conflicts of that decade. Locally, Greens have done a lot of work that goes beyond the definitions of these issues. We have established water as a priority in our work through Resolution 380 passed by the National Committee of the GPUS.

Why is this? One reason remains the underlying political agendas of the Democratic Left, who routinely party hop from the Progressive Democrats of America to the Green Party. It is long past time that we connect our vision of bio-regionalism to our proposals for structural reform and to have our candidates promote inclusive entities at the local level that are empowered and truly reflective of local stakeholders. Adaptive governance is focused on these goals and represents a distinctly political solution towards sustainable decision-making.

This model of ecological democracy and land and water management is critical in structuring the political and governmental entities that currently remain in a state of stasis regarding decisions pertaining to sustainability. Ecological preservation and restoration inherently impact on diverse stakeholders.

Currently, the preferred models for political action are through litigation or legislation at the national level. This is the primary activity of environmental and advocacy groups. As a Green Party we see not only issues of the environment, but we also are concerned about the capability of the people to make those decisions that will impact on them for years to come. As a political party, the Green Parties welcome the engagement of concerned stakeholders in environmental and resource management issues.

Our Platform, however, fails to raise the fundamental issues where decision-making circumvents those in our communities who are most impacted. We need to raise regional water planning and structural reforms of water authorities to make them elected and representative of the varied users, science and the environment working together towards the common goal of sustainability for future generations. Small farmers are squashed by sprawl. Major urban centers, such as Detroit, are shrinking in size. Drought in the West and SouthWest is resulting in massive diversions of water from one region to another. New tasks are required that integrate sustainability within the context of communities' social, economic and ecological needs. Our local municipal governments are simply not structured to provide sound leadership to these tasks.

It is time for the Green Party to distinguish itself by presenting to our communities the structural reforms needed for sustainability. View the GPUS Platform Committee website Add your comments to the GPUS Platform Committee blog.