PDiddie's comment on the most recent entry alerted me to Marina Kormbaki's article in the Chronicle's online edition. (UPDATE: GPTX comrade Don Cook has informed us that the story is also in the print edition, on page A-3.) I had thought that the author would send me a message when it went to digital press; perhaps Janis Richards, Laura Palmer, and I will hear from her today. As coverage of the Green Party in mainstream papers goes, Kormbaki's piece is above average. It contains no obvious factual errors and treats the Party as a legitimate political movement, not just a one-off human-interest story. It certainly doesn't hurt that Kormbaki works for a German news outlet aligned with the Social Democrats, a party whose role as leaders of the left is gradually shifting to the Greens, as is happening elsewhere in Europe. The photo selected to accompany the article features some Greenfolk I love and admire, such as the late Ashely "Flashe" Gordon (on the right end, partially obscured by a camera). This photo helps bust the persistent myth that the Green Party is just for old white recovering hippies. It is a microcosm of the convention delegates and the Party as a whole: diverse in ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and other dimensions. For the benefit of readers who do not have a digital subscription to houstonchronicle.com, I would like to excerpt the paragraphs containing quotes from the three of us, as well as the comment I left below the article. From Janis: “We have an opportunity to present the state of Texas with a democratic choice that the voters would not previously have had under the oppressive two-party system, which is really just a one-party system,” said Janis Richards, co-chair of the Green Party of Texas. From Laura: Oil city Houston is not a natural habitat for activists and politicians with green proposals. "Of course it is not easy to promote the end of fossil fuels in a city like Houston,” former Texas party leader Laura Palmer said. But she is convinced of the need for a transition to renewable energies - accompanied by a minimum income for workers. “These are painful discussions but we have to have them in order to stop poisoning ourselves,” she said. From dbc: “We wish that those Democrats would (a) give us credit and (b) retain the portions guaranteeing a 'just transition' away from fossil fuels by 2030,” stressed David Collins, who is serving as a co-chair of the Green Party Houston. He adds: “The Democratic Party continues to take millions of dollars of corporate interests—including the fossil fuel industry." From dbc in the Comments section: A small semantical detail: I recall saying "...millions of dollars from corporate interests." Bonus quote from Madeline Canfield of the Sunrise Movement: “We have received much support and encouragement from Green Party leaders in Houston, most of whom are strong advocates for the Green New Deal,” said 17-year-old Houston-based activist Madeline Canfield, one of the organizers of the climate strike.
SocraticGadfly
21/9/2019 13:30:05
Must make a caveat. Inside Europe, and especially in Germany, the Greens are perceived as more and more left-neoliberals, not actual leftists, on most things outside climate change.
SocraticGadfly
21/9/2019 13:35:46
Respectfully, as I read through the piece, I think Janis Richards is wrong about that thievery, too. IMO, the Dems — STARTING with the Sunrise Movement — hijacking this has really done about nothing to put the Green Party more on many people's lips. I wish it were otherwise, but I doubt that's the case.
dbc
21/9/2019 15:03:46
Thanks, SG. In my interview with Marina, I actually did say something similar to what Janis said, that as long as the Green New Deal gets implemented, the party promoting it is immaterial. At yesterday's Climate Strike rally, I heard a lot of the phrase "a Green New Deal," as if the speakers were careful not to say "THE Green New Deal."
SocraticGadfly
23/9/2019 22:10:27
Oh, if the real deal GND got adopted, I don't care how it gets adopted. Comments are closed.
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