Principles and Policies
|
Green politics |
|---|
|
Core topics
Green politics Green party Outline of green politics |
|
Four Pillars
Ecological wisdom Grassroots democracy Nonviolence Social justice |
|
Schools
Bright green environmentalism Deep ecology Ecofeminism · Eco-socialism Green anarchism Green conservatism Green left · Green liberalism Green libertarianism Green municipalism Green Zionism Green syndicalism Social ecology |
|
Organizations
in Africa in the Americas Asia-Pacific Green Network European Green Party Young European Greens Global Greens Global Young Greens |
|
Related topics
Animal rights Conservation movement Eco-capitalism Ecocentrism Ecological modernization Ecology movement Environmental issues Environmental justice Environmental movement Environmentalism |
The Greens have always had leftist and centrist factions that have been ascendant at different times in the party's history. Many Greens also claim that this traditional left-right political spectrum analysis does not accurately capture the pragmatic ecological orientation of an evolving Green Party. The ecumenical approach (expressing affinities with all Canadian political tendencies and making cases to voters on all parts of the left-right spectrum) has been advocated by those who believe their success can also be measured by the degree to which other parties adopt Green Party policies. By this measure of success, the adoption of a revenue-neutral Carbon tax at the British Columbia government level, greenhouse gas emission reduction programs, and the promotion of the Green (Tax) Shift by the federal Liberal Party under former leader Stéphane Dion, indicate that Green Party policies are gaining traction in Canada.
An emphasis on a green tax shift in the 2004 platform, which favoured partially reducing income and corporate taxes (while increasing taxes on polluters and energy consumers), created questions as to whether the Green Party was still on the left of the political spectrum, or was taking a more eco-capitalist approach by reducing progressive taxation in favour of regressive taxation. Green Party policy writers have challenged this interpretation by claiming that any unintended "regressive" tax consequences from the application of a Green Tax Shift would be intentionally offset by changes in individual tax rates and categories as well as an 'eco-tax" refund for those who pay no tax.
Under Elizabeth May's leadership, the Green Party has begun to receive more mainstream media attention on other party policy not directly related to the environment — for example, supporting labour rights and poppy legalization in Afghanistan.
Read more about this topic: Green Party Of Canada
Famous quotes containing the words principles and/or policies:
“Unless democracy is to commit suicide by consenting to its own destruction, it will have to find some formidable answer to those who come to it saying: “I demand from you in the name of your principles the rights which I shall deny to you later in the name of my principles.””
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“... [Washington] is always an entertaining spectacle. Look at it now. The present President has the name of Roosevelt, marked facial resemblance to Wilson, and no perceptible aversion, to say the least, to many of the policies of Bryan. The New Deal, which at times seems more like a pack of cards thrown helter skelter, some face up, some face down, and then snatched in a free-for-all by the players, than it does like a regular deal, is going on before our interested, if puzzled eyes.”
—Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884–1980)