Sustainable and Intelligent Use of Our Natural Resources

Ecological Conversion

1. Ecological Production: Set goals and timetables to phase out and ban the production and release of synthetic chemicals and to convert all production to materials that are bio-degradable, bio-inert, or confined to closed-loop industrial cycles. Use federal investments, purchasing, mandates, and incentives to:
   
   
   • Phase out most chlorinated and other synthetic petrochemicals and phase in natural, biodegradable substitutes.
     
     
   • Phase out synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and phase in organic agriculture.
     
     
   • Shut down waste incinerators, phase out landfills, and phase in full recycling.
     
     
   • Require manufacturers to be responsible for the whole life cycle of their products by taking back used packaging and products for re-manufacturing, reuse, or recycling.
     
     
   • Legalize industrial hemp as an ecological source for wood pulp, paper, cloth, lubricants, fibers, and many other products.
     
     
2. Renewable Energy: Invest non-renewable energy sources in the creation of self-reproducing, renewable energy systems. Use federal investments, purchasing, mandates, and incentives to:
   
   
   • Shut down nuclear power plants.
     
     
   • Phase out fossil fuels and phase in clean renewable energy sources.
     
     
   • Reduce auto-based transportation and expand pedestrian, bicycle, and rail transportation.
     
     
3. Biotechnology-No Patents on Life; No Transgenic Organisms:
   
   
   • Ban patents on life forms in order to preserve genetic diversity and common access to our common inheritance of nature, including farmers' access to seeds and breeds.
     
     
   • Ban the release into the environment and the use in food production of genetically modified organisms that result from splicing the genes of one species into another.
     
     
4. Environmental Defense and Restoration:
   
   
   • Full funding for anti-pollution enforcement and toxic sites clean-up
     
     
   • Preserve ecosystems and biodiversity by strengthening the Endangered Species Act and expanding areas designated as wildlife refuges and wilderness areas.
     
     
   • Ban old-growth logging, clear cutting, and strip mining.
     
     
   • End all commercial exploitation of public lands by private timber, mining, and cattle grazing interests.
     
     
   • Ban off-road vehicles on federal lands. Decommission National Forest logging roads.
     
     
   • Restoration of public lands degraded by commercial interests.
     
     
   • Manage federal lands primarily for ecosystem protection and restoration.
     
     
   • Support large-scale ecological restoration based on conservation biology.
     
     
5. Environmental Justice: Strengthen and enforce laws that prevent toxic industries, toxic dumps and air pollution from targeting ethnic minority communities.
   
   
6. A Just Transition: A Superfund for Workers to guarantee full income and benefits for all workers displaced by ecological conversion until they find new jobs with comparable income and benefits.