Dear
HCN,
I appreciated Ray Ring’s analysis of
Montana’s political landscape. However, I was surprised that he
neglected to mention the latest wave of progressive politics in
Montana, the Green Party. Montana hosts a statewide Green Party and
active groups in Missoula, Bozeman and Billings * that hotbed of
radical environmentalism.
The Green Party is the
natural descendant of Montana’s Constitutional Convention in that
it addresses issues of labor, affordable housing, agriculture and
the environment. Greens support Montana’s family farms and ranches
by opposing NAFTA, FTAA and “free trade” policies that adversely
affect our agricultural community. Greens also embrace
environmental sustainability by advocating renewable energy,
sustainable forestry, land-use planning and conservation of
biodiversity. The Green Party relies upon its foundation of
grassroots democracy and community
involvement.
Greens recognize that irresponsible
corporations and runaway capitalism are the root cause of our
social and environmental problems. Democracy suffers as consumers
replace citizens and corporate interests dominate politics. To help
restore democracy, the Green Party recently obtained 31,000
signatures to place a citizen initiative on the 2002 ballot
repealing a last-minute sweetheart legislation for Montana Power
Company that would raise consumer power bills by at least 50
percent. Greens were also active in the successful effort to get
the Bozeman city council to pass a living
wage.
In the last presidential election, Ralph
Nader received 6 percent of the vote statewide and 14 percent in
Missoula, thus qualifying the Green Party for a ballot line in the
next four elections.
The Montana Green Party
annual meeting/convention will occur in March in Ray Ring’s
hometown, Bozeman. Hopefully, he will attend and update his
article.
Greg
Gordon
Bozeman,
Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Active Green Party left out of Montana analysis.
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