Why Not Ohio? Feed-In Tariffs Can Spur Green Energy Growth

The feed-in tariff (FIT) has exploded renewable growth every place it has been implemented and a new study from UC Berkeley says it will do the same in California.

A FIT is an above-retail rate ("tariff") paid for renewable energy-generated electricity that producers "feed" into the grid. It was first used in California in the late 1970s and early 1980s but failed at that time due to design flaws and lack of support. Revived in Germany with stunning success in the early 2000s, the FIT concept has subsequently been used successfully, according to Professor Dan Kammen, the lead author of the UC Berkeley study and one of the foremost U.S. renewable energy authorities, in at least fifteen countries. Dozens more are considering implementation.

The proposed California FIT has been carefully designed to drive the growth of projects in the one-to-twenty-megawatt range. This spectrum encompasses both small solar systems driven by the state's "million solar roofs" initiative and utility-scale projects driven by its Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) that requires regulated utilities to obtain twenty percent of their power from renewable sources by the end of this year and 33 percent from renewable sources by 2020.

According to the study Economic Benefits of a Comprehensive Feed-In Tariff: An Analysis of the REESA in California, from Kammen and Max Wei of the University of California, Berkeley's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory Energy and Resources Group, a well-designed feed-in tariff like the one used by the newest version of REESA, will bring California $2 billion in additional tax revenues and $50 billion in new investment, add an average of 50,000 new jobs each year for a decade and provide the mega-growth in renewables that California will need to meet its newly mandated standard of 33% renewable electricity by 2020.

Why Not Ohio? Why isn't Ted STrickland pushing for feed-in tariffs? Is it because once again we see that Ted Strickland can not think outside the box when it comes to promoting Green Energy in Ohio? Is it because TEd STrickland is so committed to dirty coal and nuke energy he lacks the drive and passon for feed-in tariffs? I believe so.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Ohio Governor

Why Not Ohio? Oregon and Others Fill Budget Holes With Tax Increases

Ohio must develop a balanced approach for raising revenues, one that least burdens low-income families and the unemployed.

Government spending-on payroll, contracts, and subsidies-can also be a form of economic stimulus that can ease the impact of the recession. John Kasich is wrong when it comes to budget cuts-deep cuts not only hurt people who need assistance-they can make the recession worse.

Ohio must look to raising revenues, even if it involves tax increases to help fill holes in the budget. 11 states raised income taxes in Fiscal Year 2010, including Oregon, which also raised it's corporate income tax. The nonpartisian Oregon Legistlative Reference Office compared the economic impact of the tax increases with the impact of the expenditure reductions that would have been needed to fill the budget gap. The report concluded in the short run, the state would be better off with a tax increase instead of budget cuts. In the long term, the economic effects of a tax increase depended on how increased revenue was spent. Spending on educationa nd infrastructure were likely to raise productivity and have a positive economic impact.

Why Not Ohio? Why must Ohio continue down the same old re-hashed ideas when it comes to economic stability? Ohio needs to follow the leads of other states and create truely new ways of doing business and raising revenues to rebuild our economy.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For mroe info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio Has A Revenue Problem, Not Spending Problem

Why is Ohio in an 8 billion dollar budget shortfall? Well, Ohio government doesn't have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem. The deep recession and structural problems in the economy have compounded the effect of tax policy decisions.

Receipts to the General Revenue Fund did not grow at all between fiscal year 2006 and 2008. Between fiscal year 2008 and 2009, revenues fell by 12 percent, and are expected to fall another 7 percent in fiscal year 2010.

It's time Ohio begins to look at reversing the tax changes of 2005 that reduced state revenues by 2.4 billion dollars.

It's time Ohio begins to look at increasing taxes which historically have not hindered a strong economic recovery. During the recession of 1983-1989 Ohio's economy gained an average of 118,00 jobs a year. During the recession of 1993 to 1999, Ohio's economy created an average of 108,000 jobs a year. In contrast, the economy has not seen a boost from the tax cuts that have taken place since 2005.

It's time Ohio has a Green Party Governor who will truely work to get Ohio out of a recession.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspissak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

To Fix Ohio's Budget, Tax Loopholes Must Go

Last month, the nonprofit Center for Community Solutions called for a three-pronged approach of cuts, tax increases and eliminating tax breaks to fix the budget.

"Closing any loophole is difficult because each has a particular rationale and specific interest group that will rise to its defense," the Cleveland-based group said. "Often, supporters of these exemptions justify them on the grounds of economic development and job creation. Equally often, the rationales are long on theory and short on measurable evidence."

I am the only candidate for Governor who agrees with the Center and calls for such tax loopholes to be studied and eventually elimintating some tax breaks to fix the budget.

A three-pronged approach is the most logical way to fix Ohio's 8 billion dollar budget shortfall. Ted Strickland and John Kasich will tell you cuts alone can save the budget. Ted Strickland and John Kasich are wrong.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Partry of Ohio Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contat 330-503-1407

Let's Use A Green Agenda To Turn Ohio Foward

It's time we use a Green Agenda to fix Ohio after 2010. Ted Strickland's Turn Around Ohio plan has failed. John Kasich's plan to will Turn Ohio Backwards. Let's Turn Ohio Forward using a state-wide Green Agenda.

To Fix Ohio's 8 billion dollar budget shortfall, I call for an income tax increase and business tax increase. I believe we should pairs these tax proposals with plans for an audit of the state budget to identify and cut wasteful programs, practices and positions – and ending pork-barrel spending. We must take these actions first before we commit to cutting another 10% in the state budget that would hurt
Human Services and Public Education.

I believe in raising the minimum wage to a “living wage,” making college free for qualified residents and expanding public sector employment with more, higher-paying social service jobs.

I believe in a state-run bank – similar to one created by North Dakota – which would collect all state revenues to invest both surplus funds and private deposits in projects that would benefit the state.

I also want to promote green energy by implementing a “fee and dividend” system, which would collect fees from greenhouse gas producers and nuclear power companies. Part of the proceeds would be used to pay the state’s bills, while the rest would be redistributed to among Ohio residents, with low-income residents receiving the largest shares.

This Green Agenda will help Turn Ohio forward. Ted Strickland and John Kasich's plans won't.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

Time For A New Green Deal For Ohio

It's time for a Green New Deal for Ohio.

Here are the eight policies endorsed by the Green New Deal Coalition:

• Create millions of green union jobs through massive public investment in renewable energy, mass transit and conservation;

• Set ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and enact a revenue-neutral carbon tax to meet them;

• Establish single-payer “Medicare for all” health care;

• Provide tuition-free public higher education;

• Change trade agreements to improve labor, environmental, consumer, health and safety standards;

• Enact tough limits on credit interest and lending rates, progressive tax reform and strict financial regulation;

• Amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood; and

• Pass sweeping electoral, campaign finance and anti-corruption reforms.

Let's Turn Ohio Green! Let's remove Red and Blue Politicians from Ohio!

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ted Strickland:Hurting Human Services In Ohio

Tax cuts under the Ted Strickland administration have reduced the state's revenues by more than $2 billion per year. When combined with revenue losses from the recession, the state cannot meet current obligations to provide basic programs such as mental health, adult and child protective services, and emergency assistance for families in need.

The next budget will be even worse for health and social services if revenues are not increased. Ted Strickland's current budget relies heavily on federal stimulus funds and one-time state funds, creating a budget deficit of $ 6 Billion to $8 Billion by fiscal year 2012.

Ted Strickland has no plan to raise revenues. Ted Strickland continues to talk about making drastic cuts to the state budget if re-elected.

Can Human Services continue to take massive cuts from Ted Strickland's budget cutting knife? I say no.

It's time save Human Services in Ohio. It's time to remove Ted Strickland as Governor.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Let's Get Ohio University Truely Green and White, Not Brown And Black

As the Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor, I support the efforts of the Ohio University Beyond Coal student group and their effort to get Ohio University on the fast track to cleaner energy sources.

As a 1981 graduate of Ohio University. I support Beyond Coal's efforts to create an OU Athens campus that is at least 50 percent carbon neutral by 2025.

The Lausche Power Plant on campus received 31,164 tons of coal which produced around 1.4 million tons of Sulfer Dioxide in 2007. Sulfer Dioxide is dangerous to breathe in and over long periods of time and can be harmful to health and the environment.

Ted Strickland sees nothing wrong with the continued burning of coal in Ohio. In fact, Ted Strickland lobbied for an additional coal plant to be built in Meigs County.

It's time for Ohio students and residents to have a truely Green governor who supports the efforts to reduce coal use in the Buckeye State. We need to improve the health and environment of our state. I will do that.

Ted Strickland won't.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Let's Bring Jobs To Ohio Using Solar Power

Ohio may not be first state that comes to mind when people think about solar power. But solar panels utilize the sunlight that allows us to see, not necessarily the sunlight that makes us hot. Therefore, Ohio’s weather is more than adequate to make solar power viable.

The world’s largest solar markets are in Germany and Japan—neither nearly as sunny as Ohio. Within the U.S., states with the largest amount of solar installations are also not known for their sunny weather. New Jersey has the second-largest amount of solar installations, and New York and Connecticut also rank in the top ten. The primary driver of these solar markets is the policies enacted in these states and countries, not their solar energy potential. 

Why Not Ohio? Solar power has the potential to be a significant part of Ohio’s energy future, and Ohio is already home to more than 115 companies and research institutions involved in the solar energy industry.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry has proven to be a bright spot in the global economy.  For the past 15 years, the industry has experienced annual growth rates of 30 to 40 percent.   Global solar PV installations grew from 125 MW in 1999 to 4,500 MW in 2008, resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 47 percent for the last 10 years.    Looking ahead, most industry observers expect continued 20+% annual growth in the PV markets for many years to come.

Employment sectors that would increase in demand with an investment in solar power include, but are not limited to, the following:

•    Carpenters
•    Materials suppliers including glass, plastic, metal, chemicals, sealants, etc.
•    Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers
•    Electricians
•    HVAC mechanics and installers
•    Inspectors, testers, and sorters
•    Machinists
•    Sheet metal workers
•    Business operations specialists
•    Chemical technicians
•    Civil engineers
•    Computer and IT managers
•    Computer programmers
•    Environmental engineers
•    Mechanical engineers
•    Payroll and timekeeping clerks
•    Purchasing agents
•    Sales representatives
•    Surveyors
•    Training and development specialists
•    Tool and die makers
•    Shipping and receiving clerk

If we have a truely Green Governor who commits to solar power instead of Ted Strickland who is committed to bringing more and more dirty coal power to Ohio, we will bring more jobs to Ohio. We will Move Ohio Forward.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Ontario To Use Wind Power To Boost Manufacturing

A $1.1-billion wind farm development slated for Southwestern Ontario would be the largest of its type in the province and cement the region’s reputation as a wind energy centre.

Next Era Energy, North America’s largest energy company, is proposing to build three wind farm projects in Lambton and Huron counties. Combined, they’d dwarf other farms — adding up to 300 wind turbines to the landscape and generating 490 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 144,000 homes.

The developments would also bring manufacturing jobs, since Next Era will buy either General Electric or Siemens turbines and has made it clear it wants to buy local — pressing the manufacturers to open plants here.

Over the next six years about 1,000 MW of wind power are expected to be added to the power grid each year.

Murray Stewart, president of the Energy Council of Canada, agreed, saying Next Era’s “is a big development and there are a lot more on the horizon.”

He also credited Ontario’s Green Energy Act and its feed-in tariff program — it pays a fixed amount to businesses providing energy to the grid, and the rates for sustainable energy ensure a profit — with spurring development.

“There is no question the FIT makes it easier for suppliers and developers to come here — they get a good, long-term contract and a good market,” he said.

What a difference government can make. In Ontario you have a government pushing Feed-In Tariffs and wind energy, while Ted Strickland pushes dirty coal and nuke power for Ohio. How many new manufacturing jobs are your new dirty coal plants bringing into Ohio, Ted? Zilch, Zero, None.

Ohio is already at the bottom of the list of states currently using renewable energy at producing only 1% of renewable energy. Do we really see this number going any higher with Ted Strickland remaining in office for another 4 years? I don't think so.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not America? Germany Kicks Butt When It Comes To Renewable Energy

Germany installed more solar photovoltaics (PV) in the first quarter of 2010 than the US installed in all of 2009.

30,000 new solar PV systems were installed in the first three months of 2010 for a total of 714.7 MW.

In a draft study, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) reports that only 435 MW of solar PV were installed in the entire US in 2009.

Renewable energy journalist Craig Morris was the first to report the story in English at his blog, Notes from the Otherside.

Germany installed more solar PV in the first month of 2010, about 240 MW, than the state of California installed in all of 2009, 212 MW, according to preliminary data from IREC. Germany has twice the population of California but a much smaller land area.

While attention has focused on Germany's solar PV development, the country continues to install wind and biogas plants as well. In 2009 Germany installed nearly 2,000 MW of new wind generating capacity--roughly equivalent to 1,000 wind turbines--and about 1,000 MW of new biogas plants.

Italy was also expected to surpass the US in total solar PV capacity during the first quarter.

America, Losing the World Cup in Renewable Energy as well. What do you expect from leaders like Preesident Obama and Ted Strickland who are addicted to dirty oil, dirty coal, and nuke power?

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

How Green Is Ted Strickland? Ohio Ranks Near The Bottom In Renewable Energy

Ted Strickland likes to claim that he is the "Green" Governor. Ted Strickland lieks to claim that he is turning Ohio into a renewable energy giant.  Fact is, Ohio is near the bottom of the list of states when it comes to having renewable energy.

The League of Womern Voters May 2010 Ohio Renewable Energy Database states the following:

 Ohio continues to lag other states in renewable energy. Ohio still gets only a bit more than one percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Since the national average is about nine percent, we rank close to the bottom of the states by several criteria.

Thus, Ted Strickland is not as green as he makes himself and Ohio out to be.

Ohio ranks close to the bottom of all states in renewable energy.

And we want Ted Strickland to lead Ohio's green energy crusade for another 4 years.

I think not.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more information, contact 330-503-1407

How To Shore Up Ohio's Budget Problem

To fix Ohio's looming budget problem we must focus on three areas: New Tax Revenue, Reduced Tax Expenditures, and Reduced Programmatic Expenditures.

We must reinstate the upper bracket personal income tax rate of 7.5%, which would generate $900 million dollars.

We must increase the CAT tax by .08%, which would cover the estimated General Revenue Fund subsideries to schools and local governments and raise over $400 million dollars.

We must reduce tax expenditures, which cost Ohio over $ 7 billion dollars a year.

We must also reduce expenditures, which could also save millions over the biennium.

A Green Party Governor can call for these changes. Ted Strickland and John Kasich won't.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Illinois Poised To Be Major U.S. Solar Player

At a former industrial site on Chicago's South Side, more than 32,000 solar panels slowly tilt every few minutes, following the sun as it moves across the sky.

Operated by Exelon Corp. (NYSE:EXC) , the 40 acres of panels in West Pullman is the nation's largest urban solar plant, generating 10 megawatts of clean power and hope for an Illinois industry that has long waited for its moment in the sun.

"We have been frustrated over the years that solar has not become more mainstream," said Kevin Lynch, who trains electricians to install solar panels for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. "We understand it's still a relatively expensive technology, but the cost is much less than it was a few years ago."

Indeed, the biggest obstacle to the growth of solar energy -- its cost -- has started to decline. The price of photovoltaic solar panels dropped more than 40 percent last year due to a glut in global supply, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The drop in price is driving renewed interest in solar energy, said Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Last month, Illinois lawmakers passed legislation that will double the state's solar power supply each year and create an estimated 5,000 "green" jobs by 2014. Meanwhile, at least three solar developers have plans to build solar projects of 10 to 20 megawatts in Illinois, Learner said.

To be sure, Illinois is not quite the solar-powered mecca of California or Florida. But the potential is there: The sun in Illinois is more intense than in Japan or Germany, the world's two largest solar markets.

"Illinois has the opportunity to be a very significant solar energy leader between the two coasts," Learner said.

Why Not Ohio? Because Ted Strickland still pushes for more and more dirty coal power plants and nuke plants for Ohio.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Let's Stop Ted Strickland From Hurting Early Childhood Education

Ted Strickland's funding decreases for early childhood care and education in H.B. 1 has damaged Ohio's early childhood system and decreased access to quality care for all families with young children. The decisions Ted Strickland makes with future budgets will not only affect Ohio's families but Ohio's future as well.

Research show that 85% of a child's brain is developed by age 5, making the first five years of life critical to development, growth, and the foundation for future learning. Yet Ted Strickland's decision to decrease revenues in early childhood education will have negative impacts and more costly impacts when these children reach the K-12 system unprepared to learn. The result will be less academic achievement, higer criminal activity among low-achieving children, and eventually a less-prepared workforce.

Ted Strickland's choice to cut spending on early childhood care and education will only mean larger and more damaging costs to our families, our workforce, and our state budget to come.

Ohio is facing a substantial budget deficit next year. Ohio's revenue structure has been severely damaged by five years of tax cuts, all on Ted Strickland's watch. Ohio's budget can no longer be balanced by cuts alone, increased revenue must be part of the solution.

Ted Strickland won't raise revenues for early childhood care and education.

I will.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

If Ohio Needs Jobs, Ohio Needs To Go Green

Between 1998 and 2007, the growth in green jobs was 9.1 percent, far outpacing growth in all jobs at 3.7 percent. This pace is expected to continue across the country. Green Energy expeditures are more labor-intensive than fossil-fuel based expenditures producing three to four jobs as compared to one job from the same amount expended on fossil fuels.

While there is a need for specialized skills in some green jobs, workers still need the basics. Green skills are an overlay of new skills and knowledge; and learners cannot access the new knowledge without the foundation.

For Ohio to gain jobs, you must have a Governor committed to going 100% green, and not just 25% green by 2025 like Ted Strickland.

You need a Green Governor willing to commit 100% to green economic investments such as building retrofitting, mass transit/freight rail, smart grid, wind pwoer, solar power, and advanced biofuels.

Ohio needs to go green for more jobs in the future.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Green Jobs Are Important For Ohio

 A clean green energy economy generates jobs, businesses and reinvestments while expanding clean energy production, increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution, and conserving water and other natural resources.

Can Ted Strickland's dirty coal plants and nuke plants say the same?

A clean green economy is clearly related to the development of new technologies that advance the production and use of clean energy, and conserve the earth's natural resources.

Can Ted Strickland's dirty coal plants and nuke plants say the same?

New Green Jobs in Ohio represent a new demand for labor that results from investments in transitioning our state economy away from carbon-intensive energy, minimizing degradation of our natural resources, and protecting Ohioans from pollution and waste.

Can Ted Strickland's dirty coal plants and nuke plants say the same?

Green Jobs make the enviornment better.

Ted Strickland's dirty coal plants and nuke plants can't.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio Freight Trains Will Create New Jobs

Investments in America’s freight rail system would create thousands of green jobs in Ohio, improve the country’s infrastructure and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, according to a report released by the BlueGreen Alliance and the Economic Policy Institute. Congressman John Boccieri (D – Alliance) and local elected officials joined members of the United Steelworkers (USW), the Ohio Sierra Club, and Growth Options for the 21st Century (Go21) to highlight the significance of this report in Northeast Ohio.

The report shows that the expansion of freight rail in the U.S. can create approximately 7,800 green jobs for every $1 billion of capital invested and serves as a guide for policy makers on sustaining and expanding the domestic freight rail network.  If this is expanded to include re-spending by freight rail and supporting industry employees, between 12,300 and 26,600 American jobs would be created or sustained per $1 billion invested.

It's time we reinvest in improving freight rail lines across the buckeye state.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ted Strickland: Afraid To Lead, Afraid To Raise Revenues

Ted Strickland refuses to stand up and be a leader. Ted Strickland refuses to see the handwriting on the wall and come to the logical conclusion that increases in state tax rates are needed for the future prosperity of the state.

Business tax cuts as well as personal income tax cuts over the past five years on Strickland's watch have lead to Ohio being unable to pay for basic services even with his very tight, massive cuts, and low-growth budgets over the last four years.

If Ted Strickland won't lead this state then I will. I call for restoring the top income-tax rate on taxpayers who make over $200,000 per year.

In terms of business taxes, I believe in raising the CAT tax to a level that more fairly spreads the tax burdens between workers and businesses.

We can no longer afford to have a Governor who refuses to take fiscally responsible steps. Ohio continues to head towards more economic doom and downward revisions in state revenues.

We need a realistic leader to be Governor. We don't need a Chicken from Duck Run.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Our transportation policy encourages the growth of mass transit and alternatives to cars and trucks. We call for major public investment in mass transportation, so that such systems are cheap or free to the public and are safe, accessible, and easily understandable to first-time users. We embrace the “complete streets” concept that calls for streets to be redesigned to better and more safely accommodate all users including cyclists, pedestrians, children, and the elderly.

Green Solutions

MORE SAFE SPACE FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS

1. Make streets, neighborhoods and commercial districts more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.

2. Increase the amount appropriate (native/drought tolerant/etc.) greenery in street design.

3. Utilize traffic-calming methods, where the design of streets promotes safer speeds and safer interaction with pedestrians. Create auto-free zones in urban cores.

4. Develop extensive networks of bikeways, bicycle lanes and paths. Include bike racks on all public transit.

5. Maintain free community bicycle fleets, and provide necessary support for cyclists.

6. Develop affordable mass transit systems that are more economical to use than private vehicles.

MASS TRANSPORTATION

6. Encourage employer subsidies of transit commuter tickets for employees, funded by government congestion management grants.

7. Use existing auto infrastructure for transit expansion where possible. Light rail should be established in expressway medians through metropolitan high-density corridors.

8. Expand our state's network of rail lines, including high-speed regional passenger service.

9. Build rail lines for the exclusive use of passenger trains.

REDUCE ENERGY-INTENSIVE TRANSPORTATION

10. Place a moratorium on highway widening then use the money for mass transit and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.

11. Mandate HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes on freeways, and lower toll fees for carpools.

12. Discourage unnecessary auto use by eliminating free parking in non-residential areas well served by mass transit, and establish preferential parking rates for HOV.

13. Develop and market the conversion of existing, used cars and trucks to electric vehicles, so that such conversions are cheaper than purchasing new vehicles.

14. Support government procurement of high efficiency motor vehicles.

15. Encourage carpooling programs, telecommuting, and other creative solutions to reduce commuter traffic congestion. We advocate fair buy-backs of the most polluting and least efficient vehicles to remove them from the road.

16. We call for incentives to get long-distance truck hauling off of our highways and on to railways. Governments on all levels must take the initiative in eliminating administrative and logistical obstacles to efficient rail freight transportation.

17. Make airports accessible by local transit systems.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://wwww.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party And 10 Key Values For A Better Ohio

1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

Everyone deserves to influence the government decisions that affect their lives. We believe decision making is best done at the individual, local and regional levels. We work to increase public participation and transparency at all levels of government, and to ensure that our public officials are fully accountable.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE

The heart of social justice is the equitable distribution of social and natural resources, both locally and globally, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to develop their innate gifts and talents, and to enjoy the pleasures of life on earth. Greens believe in equal rights for citizens, regardless of gender, race, age, religion, class, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, disability, wealth or health.

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM

Our human community is a part of nature, not separate from it. We must learn to live within the natural limits of our planet, to protect animal and plant life, and the conditions that nourish it. We support a sustainable society that uses natural resources with wisdom, thrift, and with future generations in mind.

4. NON-VIOLENCE

We endorse non-violence, and work towards lasting personal, community and global peace. We support demilitarization, disarmament and elimination of all weapons of mass destruction. Security does not derive from military strength but from justice, cooperation, negotiation, mutual respect, sound economic and social development, and environmental conservation. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree. However, we recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations.

5. DECENTRALIZATION

Greens seek to reverse the increasing concentration of wealth and power, both economic and political. Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual, local and regional levels, while assuring that fundamental rights are protected for all citizens. Power should be centralized only as a last resort. We believe in local self-reliance, buying local, eating local, and strengthening local communities.

6. COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMICS

Greens aim to build vibrant local economies that maintain balance with nature. A Green economy supplies meaningful work with dignity, while paying a living wage that reflects one’s true contribution. We want to reduce the rights and powers of large corporations, and to expand the rights and powers of individuals in our economy, including the right to basic economic security.

7. FEMINISM

We want more women leaders in every area of life. We advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and equal opportunities for women and everyone else. We honor the ability of women and the Earth to regenerate life. A woman’s right to control her own body shall not be infringed.

8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY

We celebrate cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and strive to build peace and understanding between disparate groups. We believe that the diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and governments, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally kept out of it. We depend on the diversity of the natural world and we must protect it.

9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

We must change our values and lifestyles to make them consonant with peace, justice and preserving life on our planet. We should act with the well-being of others in mind, including other peoples, nations, species and future generations. We should not pursue our well-being to the detriment of others. Greens believe in the power of setting a good example.

10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY

The Earth’s resources are finite. We cannot long live beyond the carrying capacity of the earth. So we must build a sustainable society that guarantees our long-term future, and that of other species with whom we share this planet. Where knowledge is limited, we follow the precautionary principle for safety, and to secure the continued abundance of the resources of the planet for present and future generations. Our actions must be motivated by sustainability and quality of life, not short-term profits and perpetual economic growth.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party and Fair Taxes For Ohio

Most working Americans pay too much in taxes compared to corporations, multi-millionaires and billionaires.

Our current tax system is outrageously unjust. It is riddled with loopholes, subsidies and dodges for corporations and the super-rich. Many of our biggest and most profitable corporations pay little or no tax. Much investment income is taxed at less than the rate workers pay.

We can afford to cut taxes for most Americans if we make corporations and the super-rich pay their fair share.

Our tax system is far too complex. Greens want a simpler, fairer tax code.

Political democracy remains a distant promise without economic democracy. A principal instrument for achieving economic democracy is our tax system. Taxes are the means whereby we fund our public services. They can also help create equity, justice, health and sustainability.

Progressive taxation, shifting tax from individuals to corporations, taxing bads not goods, taxing unearned income at same rate as earned income, taxing speculation on Wall Street, and cutting corporate tax giveaways are the best ways to use the tax system to bring about a better America.

Green Solutions

Cut taxes for hard-working Americans

1. People earning less than $25,000 per year, and families earning less than $50,000 per year (adjusted for inflation), should be exempt from income tax. Federal and state income taxes must be strongly progressive.

2. Exempt food, clothing, prescription medications, and other necessities and second-hand goods from sales taxes.

Fair taxes for corporations and wealthy Americans

1. End corporate welfare, such as the bailouts for Wall Street, the big banks and the automobile industry; subsidies for agribusiness, Export-Import Bank loan guarantees; tax abatements for big box stores; the tax loophole for “carried interest” from private equity and hedge fund managers; tax deductibility for advertising and business entertainment expenses; offshore tax avoidance schemes; giveaways for new sports stadiums and casinos.

2. Impose a financial transaction tax on trades of stocks, bonds, currency, derivatives, and other financial instruments.

3. Block financial transactions with tax havens, to stop tax evasion.

4. Enact a wealth tax of 0.5% per year on assets over $5 million.

Eco-taxes to help save the planet

1. Establish a system of carbon taxes on all fossil fuels, to begin to reflect the real environmental cost of their extraction and use. Carbon taxes should be applied as far upstream as possible, preferably when possession of the carbon-bearing fuel passes from extraction (for example, coal mine; oil wellhead or tanker; gas wellhead) to the next entity in the supply chain (for example, coal shipper or utility; oil refiner or importer; natural gas pipeline). Offset potential regressivity for lower income individuals via the Green Tax shift that lowers income taxes and/or other approaches.

2. Eliminate tax subsidies for the oil, gas, nuclear and timber and mining industries.

3. Enact a Green Tax Shift that shifts from taxing people and work (via income and payroll taxes) to taxing natural resource extraction, use, waste and pollution.

4. Enact a system of Community Ground Rent/Land Value Taxation that distinguishes between the socially and privately created wealth of land, by increasing the taxes on the former to retain for society the value that it collectively creates and lowers them on the latter to reward individuals for their initiative and work.

5. To ensure that prices reflect their true environmental cost, enact a system of True Cost Pricing (TCP) for goods and services. TCP is an accounting and pricing system that includes all costs in the price of a product. TCP charges extractive and productive industries for the immediate or prolonged damage (pollution of air and water) and diminishment of natural resources caused by their acts.

6. Impose a carbon fee on goods imported from nations with lower carbon taxes than in the U.S., based upon the carbon spent in manufacturing and transporting them to the U.S.

Taxes for a better, healthier America

1. Simplify the tax code.

2. Eliminate tax incentives to ship jobs overseas.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Cleaner Transportation Provides For New Jobs

Last week,two reports documented the job creation potential of increased U.S. investments in public transit. The Apollo Alliance has long promoted public transit as a key component of our clean energy agenda, because of its effectiveness in reducing transportation-related oil use and greenhouse gas emissions. Public transit is especially important this year, because the national transportation bill has expired and will need to be re-authorized in the near future. The transportation bill presents a unique opportunity to reexamine U.S. transportation policy with an eye toward the twin goals of cleaner transportation and good jobs.

The first report, which was prepared by the Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC) for the Apollo Alliance, focused exclusively on rail transit, which is expected to undergo considerable growth in the coming years, as Amtrak upgrades its railcars and adds high-speed trains, and as lawmakers consider a transportation bill that calls for significantly greater investments in public transit, including rail. It looked at the manufacture of U.S. rail vehicles and their component parts and found that the U.S. rail supply chain includes 247 manufacturing facilities in 35 states.

"Our research found that while there is already a healthy chain of U.S.-based manufacturing locations that produce components and systems for rail cars, the sector still has plenty of room to grow if the next federal transportation bill prioritizes public transit and rail investments," said Marcy Lowe, a senior research analyst at the CGGC and the report's lead author.

The states with the most manufacturing facilities-New York (32 rail manufacturing facilities), Pennsylvania (26), Illinois (23), California (22) and Ohio (13)-would reap major benefits from such a bill. "These states have a real chance to be at the center of America's 21st century rail manufacturing industry," said Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance. "Our nation needs a new transportation policy that invests in expanded public transit and more energy-efficient transportation, including rail. Done right, these investments could mean a windfall of rail manufacturing jobs across the country."

The other public transit report that was released last week backed up the Duke study's finding that increased public transit investments will create more U.S. manufacturing jobs. In a report called The Job Impact of Transportation Reauthorization, the Economic Policy Institute looked at the job creation potential of two different transportation bills funded at the level of $500 billion-one with the current mix of transportation investments and one that invests more heavily in repair and maintenance, public transportation and livable communities. EPI found that the public-transit friendly bill, which is based on a proposal put forward by Transportation for America, would yield 400,000 more jobs over the six-year life of the law, for a total of more than 7.2 million jobs. 761,000 of those jobs would be in manufacturing.

The analysis also found that the Transportation for America investment strategy would especially benefit those hardest hit by the recession, including low-wage workers and Americans without a college degree. Approximately 80 percent of the new jobs created would be filled by Americans without a four-year degree. The proposal also would create jobs at a higher level of unionization (15 percent) than the overall economy (12 percent).

"This study shows why America needs a new direction in our transportation policy," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "Cleaner and smarter transportation investments will create millions of good-paying, quality jobs and put our nation on a path to a lasting economic recovery."

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party and Building Local Economies

Greens support reforms that give communities more control over their own local economies.

Greens believe in decentralization, and call for for a community-based economics whose aim is local prosperity and self-sufficiency.

We support local production, local manufacturing, local sales, local recycling wherever and whenever possible. We believe in face-to-face relationships with local business owners and shopkeepers.

Successful local Green communities nurture everyone of all ages, generate good jobs and housing, and provide public services; creating cities and towns that educate everyone, encourage recreation, and preserve natural and cultural resources; building local governments that protect people from environmental hazards and crime; and motivating citizens to participate in making decisions.

GREEN SOLUTIONS

1. Protect local businesses from the predatory practices of chain and “big box” stores.

2. Support incentives for cooperative enterprises, such as consumer co-ops, workers’ cooperatives, credit unions, incubators, micro-loan funds, and other institutions that help communities develop economic projects.

3. Allow municipalities to approve or disapprove large economic projects case-by-case based on environmental impacts, local ownership, community reinvestment, wage levels, and working conditions.

4. Allow communities to set environmental, consumer, human rights, labor, health and safety standards higher than federal or state minimums.

5. Invest in the commons.

6. Support local living wage laws.

7. Establish local currencies such as Time Dollars, Ithaca Hours and BerkShares, to strengthen local economies and meet local needs more effectively and efficiently.

8. Enact place of origin labeling requirements, to allow consumers to choose food grown near their home.

9. Enact corporate good character laws, requiring corporations to disclose all violations of law they have committed when applying for a permit. Empower officials to deny permits based on lawlessness or repeat violations of law.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Let's Bring Green Jobs To Ohio Now...Not Later

Greens want to help millions of Americans obtain a green-collar job that pays a living wage while helping to build a brighter environmental future.

5 million Green jobs will help us stabilize our national economic crisis and the global climate. Green jobs can conserve energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Green jobs are union jobs and created in communities that really need them. Green jobs nourish our communities because they can’t be outsourced overseas cheaply. Green jobs grow local businesses and foster community development.

GREEN SOLUTIONS

1. Support massive public investment to create 5 million green jobs in fields such as energy conservation, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, green building and the construction of mass transportation.

2. Create an inclusive program to train workers for the new, clean energy economy.

3. Prioritize the creation of green jobs in communities of color and low income communities.

3. Support union organizing at all workplaces.

4. Adopt a reduced-hour 35 hour work week as a standard.

5. Establish more federally funded programs for Green jobs development and skills training.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http;//www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party And Improving Ohio's Agriculture

Greens support a shift towards organic farming, and ending the use of toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

Our current food system is dominated by agribusiness and unsustainable practices that threaten our health, food security, degrade the environment, destroy communities, and squeeze out family farmers. Our so-called cheap food comes at the expense of the exploitation of our farmers and farmworkers along with the oppression of developing countries, inhumane treatment of animals, pollution of air and water, and degradation of our land.

There must be a paradigm shift and a reorganization of our agricultural system with a sense of real sustainability, where culture and ecology redefine the economics and where we create new opportunities by granting local access to safe and nutritious food, as well as farming methods that do not degrade the quality of water, soil, and air.

Green Solutions

Expanding organic farming

1. Establish the highest organic standards and reject the routine use of hormones and antibiotics in animal feed.

2. Shift price supports and government subsidies to organic food products so that they will be competitive with chemically-produced food.

3. Phase out man-made pesticides and artificial fertilizers, as well as a ban on sewage sludge and hazardous wastes as fertilizers. We promote locally or regionally produced, organic composting systems.

4. Educate farmers about best practices and support their transition to organic farming.

Safe, local and organic food for all

1. Localize our food system and decentralize agriculture lands, production, and distribution. We support the creation of land trusts for much of our farmland and encourage public support for producer and consumer cooperatives, community kitchens, Community Supported Agriculture, urban agriculture, and community farms and gardens.

2. In the interests of ecological sustainability, public health, non-violence and alleviating hunger, we promote the initiation of public education to encourage people to reduce their consumption of animal foods, including information on healthy vegetarian diets.

Democratic oversight and consumer power

1. Phase out all public subsidies to large agribusiness conglomerates and redirect the subsidies to small and medium-sized farms that promote local organic production and sustainable agricultural practices.

2. Ensure that food prices reflect the true cost of food production, including the health effects of eating processed foods, antibiotic resistance, pesticide effects on growers and consumers, soil erosion, water pollution, pesticide drift, air pollution and the vast inefficiency and ecological footprint involved in the production of animal foods.

3. Require mandatory, full-disclosure of food and fiber labeling, including products stamped “inspected” by the USDA. Consumers have the right to know the contents of their food and fiber, how they were produced, and where they originated. Labels should address the presence of GMOs, use of irradiation, pesticide application (in production, transport, storage, and retail), and the country of origin.

Biodiversity and the Environment

1. Promote the restoration of formerly traditional food crops, as well as innovative farm production methods, such as permaculture, polyculture and terra preta.

2. Enact a moratorium on irradiated food and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) until safety can be conclusively demonstrated by independent (non-corporate funded), long-term tests for food safety, genetic drift, resistance, soil health, effects on non-target organisms, and cumulative interactions. We support the growing international demand to eliminate patent rights for genetic material, lifeforms, gene-splicing techniques, and biochemicals derived from them.

3. According to the United Nations’ Livestock’s Long Shadow report, the livestock sector is one of the most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Thus, we support a rapid phase out of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) not only because of their adverse impact on the environment, but also on food safety (e.g. disease epidemics), public health, and animal protection.

4. We support the elimination of public subsidies to finance livestock grazing permits on public lands.

5. Promote the widespread growth and use of hemp for industrial purposes. Properly grown, hemp has virtually no psychoactive effects when consumed. With a relatively short growth cycle, hemp is an efficient and economically sustainable crop. Hemp seeds are extremely nutritious, one of the best vegetable proteins and hemp fiber has a wide range of uses including paper, wood alternatives, and textiles.

Denis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party and Cleaning Up Ohio's Environment

THE GREEN PARTY SOLUTION

The obvious answer to fossil fuel depletion and climate change is to simply substitute alternative energy sources for oil, natural gas, and coal.

However, this solution quickly bogs down on two fronts. First, there are no alternative energy sources (renewable or otherwise) capable of supplying energy as cheaply and in such abundance as fossil fuels currently yield in the time that we need them to come online. Second, we have designed and built the infrastructure of our transport, electricity, and food systems – as well as our national building stock – to suit the unique characteristics of oil, natural gas, and coal. Changing to different energy sources will require the redesign of many aspects of those systems.

The energy transition cannot be accomplished with a minor retrofit of existing energy infrastructure. Just as the fossil fuel economy of today systemically and comprehensively differs from the agrarian economy of 1800, the post-fossil fuel economy of 2050 will profoundly differ from all that we are familiar with now. This difference will be reflected in urban design and land use patterns, food systems, manufacturing and distribution networks, the job market, transportation systems, health care, tourism, and more.

It could be argued that these changes will occur in some fashion whether we plan for them or not, that it is only necessary to wait for the market price of fossil fuels to reflect scarcity, with higher costs forcing society to adapt. However, lack of government planning will result in a transition that is chaotic, painful, destructive, and possibly (if the worst climate forecasts are realized), unsurvivable. A passive approach to the fossil fuel depletion problem would lead to social, economic, and political costs of unprecedented scope. Bold action is required.

We need to reduce our overall energy consumption, and restructure our economy to run primarily on renewable energy – and the federal government must lead the way.

The Green Party calls on the United States to take the following actions, including Requirements for Energy Transition.

1. Move decisively to an energy system based on wind, solar and geo- thermal power.

The development of earth-gentle, alternative energy sources must be a cornerstone of any plan to reduce our national reliance on conventional fossil fuels and build a sustainable future. Many alternatives being pushed by policy-makers currently – including nuclear power, coal, industrial-scale biofuels, and low-grade fossil fuels such as oil shale and tar sands – suffer from serious drawbacks, including low energy profit ratios, high environmental impacts, or a limited resource base.

Greens advocate renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and advanced geothermal as the long-term solution to the nation’s and the world’s energy problems. However, further research is needed into new energy storage technologies, as well as new photovoltaic materials and processes, and new geothermal and tidal power technologies. While much of this could be accomplished by the private sector, the economic crisis is likely to delay or undercut needed funding, increasing the need for government support.

2. Electrify the transportation system

America’s existing investment in highways, airports, cars, buses, trucks, and aircraft is enormous. This system is almost completely dependent on oil, and it will be significantly handicapped by higher fuel prices, and devastated by actual fuel shortages. The electrification of road-based vehicles will help; however, this strategy will require at least two decades to fully deploy. Meanwhile, road repair and tire manufacturing will continue to depend upon petroleum products, unless alternative materials can be found.

Even if it is electrified, a ground transport system consisting of trucks and private automobiles is inherently energy intensive compared to public transit alternatives and non-motorized alternatives. The building and widening of highways must therefore come to a halt, and the bulk of federal transportation funding must be transferred to support electrified and non-motorized infrastructure and services. Meanwhile, the existing fleet of private automobiles must be put to use more efficiently through carpooling, car-sharing, and ride-sharing networks.

3. Begin the phase-out of nuclear and coal power plants.

All of the processes associated with nuclear power are dangerous, from the mining of uranium to the transportation and disposal of the radioactive waste. Radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants will remain toxic to humans for more than 100,000 years, and there is no way to store this waste safely.

The plain fact is, there are no technological quick fixes that can effectively isolate nuclear waste from the biosphere for the durations of its hazardous life. Therefore, rather than producing more of this waste, it is essential that the generation of nuclear wastes be halted. The enormous and long-lasting health and environmental dangers alone make nuclear power unfeasible. Cost in dollars is another huge factor, with each new nuclear power plant expected to cost at least nine billion dollars.

Rather than building more nuclear power plants, the Green Party of the United States calls for a moratorium on new nuclear power plants, the early retirement of nuclear power reactors, and the phase-out of technologies that use or produce nuclear waste, such as nuclear waste incinerators, food irradiators, and all commercial and military uses of depleted uranium.

Coal is particularly damaging to the environment. In the absence of commercially viable “clean coal” carbon capture and sequestration technology, coal is not environmentally sustainable.

4. Plan for decentralized, bio-regional electricity generation and distribution.

Regional utility companies are already beginning to invest in renewables and “smart grid” upgrades, but the work is going much too slowly to avert looming power supply problems. Moreover, the credit crunch will likely slow the work that is currently under way.

Therefore the federal government must step in to set goals and standards and to provide public investment capital. This effort must not favor commercial utilities over municipal power districts; indeed, the devolution of control over power systems to the community level should be encouraged, as decentralized power systems are likely to be more resilient in the face of now-inevitable power disruptions.

Keeping electricity production close to areas of greatest consumption demand will cut down on losses due to transportation, assure citizens greater control of their power grids, and prevent the massive ecological and social destruction that accompanies production of electricity in distant, mega-scale projects.

Dennis S. Spisak=Green Party of Ohio nominee for Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Let's Put an End to Ted Strickland's Dirty Coal And Nuke Plants

U.S. dependence on and overuse of dirty and dangerous energy sources has generated an unparalleled assault on the global environment and human rights in many nations. In the U.S., low income communities and communities of color bear the greatest burden of health impacts due to exposure to emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants. Native American communities have been devastated by uranium mining, and the poor of Appalachia witness helplessly as their ancient mountains are destroyed for a few years’ worth of coal-fired electricity.

The regional and global peaks in supply of oil, gas, coal and uranium production are driving up costs of conventional fuels, threatening continued wars and social chaos. To avert this we must move beyond the dirty and dangerous energy sources immediately and invest in only the cleanest, most sustainable energy strategies. We can and must strengthen our conservation and energy efficiency standards. Of highest importance is to use less, then to use wisely, and to have clean production of what is used.

GREEN SOLUTIONS

CLEAN RENEWABLES

1. Support public subsidies for clean renewable energy technologies – technologies that do not create pollution in the course of generating electricity. These can include wind, solar (including solar thermal and concentrating solar), ocean power, geothermal, and small-scale hydro. Since even clean renewable energy can have negative environmental impacts, care must be taken to minimize such impacts. Clean renewable energy does not include nuclear power, any sort of combustion or process in which by-products are ultimately combusted, or hydroelectric dams that block entire rivers.

2. Federal commitment to the mass-production of cheap, non-toxic solar photovoltaic technology to enable widespread deployment of solar power. To make solar more cost-competitive, we support large-scale government purchases of solar cells for installation on government facilities.

3. We support efforts of individuals and institutions to voluntarily purchase wind and solar power products through tradable renewable energy certificates. However, there are limits to the volunteer, market-based approach to promoting clean energy. Just as we cannot expect that individual purchases of organic food will cause all food production to become organic, we cannot expect that voluntary approaches will be sufficient to fully replace current energy supplies with clean energy. We support net-metering to make decentralized energy production economically viable.

4. We support further research to identify more safe, clean renewables and safe energy storage strategies.

END THE USE OF DIRTY AND DANGEROUS ENERGY SOURCES

1. Oppose further coal, oil and gas drilling or exploration.

2. Ban the construction of hydroelectric dams.

3. Ban mountaintop removal mining.

4. Stop the development of fuels produced with polluting, energy-intensive processes or from unsustainable or toxic feedstocks, such as genetically-engineered crops, coal and waste streams contaminated with persistent toxics.

5. Support small and community-scale renewable and biofuels fuel production operations or programs that recover otherwise wasted biomass or utilize clean primary energy sources such as wind and solar.

NO NUCLEAR POWER

1. Ban any new construction of nuclear fission power plants

2. Decommission all existing U.S. nuclear power plants expeditiously

3. Phase out technologies that use or produce nuclear waste, including non-commercial nuclear reactors, reprocessing facilities, nuclear waste incinerators, food irradiators, and all commercial and military uses of depleted uranium.

4. Ban plutonium (MOX) fuel, nuclear fuel reprocessing, uranium enrichment, and the manufacturing of new plutonium pits for a new generation of nuclear weapons.

5. No public subsidies or bailouts for the nuclear power industry.

CONSERVATION AND EFFICIENCY

1. Create extensive energy conservation efforts, with a goal of reducing energy consumption by 50% by 2030. (Review amount and time goal)

2. Decentralize electric grids.

3. Authorize tax-exempt bonds to finance public ownership of utilities and to allow publicly owned utilities to finance conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects.

4. Enact smart energy utility regulation for generation, transmission and distribution, not deregulation.

5. Support building codes for new construction that incorporate the best available energy conservation designs. For existing homes and buildings, we support programs to aid in their weatherization and increased energy efficiency.

6. Support research into advanced fuels when the purpose of the research is to develop a fuel that in its full cycle does not create more problems than it solves.

PUBLIC CONTROL AND TRANSPARENCY

1. Support municipal, county-level, and state efforts to regain control over electricity by establishing democratic, public utility systems, to locally coordinate supply and demand and to eliminate energy trading.

2. Provide ratepayers deserve full disclosure of the specific electric generating facilities used to produce their electricity.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party Wants Universal Health Care Now-Ted Strickland Wants to Keep The Status Quo

Greens support single-payer universal health care and preventive care for all.

Greens believe that a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health insurance program is the only solution that will control costs, provide high quality care, and cover everyone. We believe that health care is a right, not a privilege.

Our current health care system kills tens of thousands of people each year by excluding them from care, while its exorbitant cost is crippling our economy. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a national health care system.

Under a universal national single-payer health care system, the administrative waste of private insurance corporations would be redirected to patient care. If the U.S. were to shift to a system of universal coverage and a single payer plan, as in Canada, the savings in administrative costs would be more than enough to offset the cost of additional care. Expenses for businesses currently providing coverage would be reduced. State and local governments would pay less because they would receive reimbursement for services provided to the previously uninsured, and because public programs would cease to be the “dumping ground” for high-risk patients and those rejected by HMOs when they become disabled and unemployed.

Most importantly, the people of America will gain the peace of mind in knowing that they have health care they need. No longer will people have to worry about the prospect of financial ruin if they become seriously ill, are laid off their jobs, or are injured in an accident.

Greens want to provide Americans with a wide range of alternative health care services, not just conventional medicine.

Green Solutions

Enact a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health plan that will provide the following with no increase in cost, including:

1. A publicly funded health care insurance program, administered at the state and local levels;

2. Lifetime benefits for everyone;

3. Freedom to choose the type of health care provider, with a wide range of health care choices;

4. Decision-making in the hands of health providers and their patients;

5. Comprehensive benefits, as good or better than existing plans, including dental, vision, mental health care, hospice, long-term care, substance abuse treatment and medication coverage;

6. Participation of all licensed and/or certified health providers, subject to standards of practice in their field;

7. Portability regardless of geographical location or employment;

8. Primary and preventive care as priorities, including wellness education about diet, nutrition and exercise;

9. Greatly reduced paperwork for both patients and providers;

10. Fair and full reimbursement to providers for their services;

11. Preservation of all health care services currently available;

12. Cost controls via streamlined administration, national fee schedules, bulk purchases of drugs and medical equipment, and coordination of capital expenditures. Prices of medications must be publicly negotiated;

13. Hospitals that can afford safe staffing levels for registered nurses;

14. Establishment of national, state, and local Health Policy Boards consisting of health consumers and providers to oversee and evaluate the performance of the system, expand access to care, and determine research priorities; and

15. Establishment of a National Health Trust Fund that would channel all current Federal payments for health care programs directly into the Fund, in addition to employees’ health premium payments.

16. Holistic health including naturopathy, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and herbalism.

17. Medical marijuana

18. More comprehensive services for those who have special needs: the mentally ill, the handicapped and those who are terminally ill.

19. A better mental health care system that safeguards human dignity, respects individual autonomy, and protects informed consent.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party And Ending Poverty In Ohio

Every Ohioan has the right to food, housing, medical care, jobs that pay a living wage, education, and support in times of hardship.

Greens believe that support for families, children, the poor and the disabled must not be given grudgingly; it is the right of those presently in need and an investment in our future. We must take an uncompromising position that the care and nurture of children, elders and the disabled are essential to a healthy, peaceful, and sustainable society. We should recognize that the work of their caregivers is of social and economic value, and reward it accordingly. Ensuring that children and their caregivers have access to an adequate, secure standard of living should form the cornerstone of our economic priorities. Only then can we hope to build our future on a foundation of healthy, educated children who are raised in an atmosphere of love and security.

Green Solutions

1. Restore federally-funded entitlement program to support children, families, the unemployed, elderly and disabled, with no time limit on benefits.

2. Establish a graduated supplemental income, or negative income tax, that would maintain all individual adult incomes above the poverty level, regardless of employment or marital status.

3. Provide massive investments in living-wage job development and work training programs. Publicly-funded work training and education programs should have a goal of increasing employment options at finding living-wage jobs.

4. Provide public funding for the development of living-wage jobs in community and environmental service, including environmental clean-up, recycling, sustainable agriculture and food production, sustainable forest management, repair and maintenance of public facilities, neighborhood-based public safety, aides in schools, libraries and childcare centers, and construction and renovation of energy-efficient housing. Oppose enterprise zone give-aways which benefit corporations more than inner-city communities.

5. Enact tax policies to encourage businesses to adopt fair employee wage distribution standards.

6. Stop forcing welfare recipients to accept jobs that pay less than a living wage. Workfare is a form of indentured servitude.

7. Require corporations receiving public subsidies to provide jobs that pay a living wage, observe basic workers’ rights, and agree to affirmative action policies.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party And A Safe Environment For All Ohioans

Greens believe that no one — including people of color and the poor — should be poisoned nor subjected to harmful levels of toxic chemicals and that no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operations or policies.

Low-income citizens and minorities suffer disproportionately from environmental hazards in the workplace, at home, and in their communities. Inadequate laws, lax enforcement of existing environmental regulations, and weak penalties for infractions undermine environmental protection and civil rights. Environmental justice is the crossroads of environmental activism and the civil rights movement, founded on two fundamental beliefs:

All people have the right to live, work, learn, and play in safe and healthful environments.

People have the right to have a say in decisions that affect environmental quality in their communities.

Greens believe that government must ensure the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Green Solutions

1. Ensure that all people have the right to a clean and healthful environment;

2. Make pollution prevention (i.e., the elimination of threats before they occur) the preferred strategy for dealing with environmental justice issues; always consider cumulative environmental impacts when evaluating risk

3. Base decision-making upon the precautionary principle, such that polluters bear the burden of proof in demonstrating the safety of their practices.

4. Expand the application of the precautionary principle from chemicals-and-health to land-use, waste, energy, food-policy and local economic development. Continue to develop the precautionary approach into an overarching philosophy for community decision-making, combined with the public trust doctrine (which states government’s role is to protect the commons), and the commons (where we must give the benefit of the doubt to public health and the natural environment).

5. Actively support programs, policies, and activities that build the capacity to identify disproportionate sitings of facilities, discriminatory land use and zoning laws, and to assure nondiscriminatory compliance with all environmental, health and safety laws in order to assure equal protection of the public health.

6. Ensure procedural justice, ensuring the public right-to-know to make rules and regulations transparent in order for communities to access and participate in the decision-making process

7. Ensure corrective justice, ensuring the right of communities and agencies to seek redress. Communities and agencies must not be required to show or prove “intent” to discriminate to achieve redress for problems of disproportionate environmental impacts.

8. Target precautionary and corrective justice actions and resources in communities with the highest concentrations of environmental hazards.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www,dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party For A Better Education In Ohio

Greens support equal access to high-quality education, and sharp increases in financial aid for college students.

Ohio will be a great state to the extent that our schools are excellent. Right now, we are abjectly failing this test. We must make major changes.

Every child deserves a superb public education that fosters critical and independent thought, and provides the breadth and depth of learning necessary to become an active citizen and a constructive member of our society.

In general, we expect too little from our students, teachers and schools. We must teach our children and teenagers to be leaders, and challenge them with difficult material in literature, philosophy, history, music, art and economics.

Greens believe in education, not indoctrination. We do not think schools should turn our children into servile students, employees, consumers or citizens. We think it is very important to teach children how to ask good questions.

Effective schools have sufficient resources. Too many of our teachers are overworked, underpaid, and starved of key materials. We must be more generous to our schools, so that our children will learn what generosity is, and know enough to be able to be generous to us in return.

Green Solutions

1. Eliminate gross inequalities in school funding by adjusting educational funding formulas at the state level.

2. Provide free college tuition to all qualified students at public universities and vocational schools.

3. Oppose the administration of public schools by private, for-profit entities.

4. Increase funding for after-school programs for “latchkey” children.

5. Provide state funding for day care that includes school children under the age of ten when after-school programs are not available.

6. Give classroom teachers at the elementary and high school levels professional status and salaries comparable to related professions requiring advanced education, training and responsibility.

7. Purchase and use computers only when they are instructive, and not merely to benefit computer hardware or software companies.

8. Teach non-violent conflict resolution and humane education at all levels of education.

9. Encourage a diverse set of educational opportunities, including bi-lingual education, continuing education, job retraining, mentoring and apprenticeship programs.

10. Prohibit advertising to children in schools. Corporations should not be allowed to use the schools as vehicles for commercial advertising. Schools must safeguard students’ privacy rights and not make private student information available on corporate (or federal government) request.

11. Provide healthy school meals that are rich in vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber, and offer plant-based vegetarian options. Support Farm-to-School programs that provide food from local family farms and exchange of educational opportunities.

12. Ban the sale of soda pop and junk food in schools. Junk food is defined as food or beverages that are relatively high in saturated or trans fat, added sugars or salt, and relatively low in vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber.

13. Oppose military and corporate control over the priorities and topics of university academic research.

14. Expand opportunities for universal higher education and life-long learning.

15. Make student loans available to all college students, with forgiveness for graduates who choose public service occupations.

16. The “No Child Left Behind” Act must be revised, eliminating state-wide norm-referenced standardized testing in favor of criterion-referenced testing while allowing multiple ways for children to show what they have learned from a rich challenging curriculum. The section that gives the military access to student records should be eliminated.

17. Include a vigorous and engrossing civics curriculum in later elementary and secondary schools, to teach students to be active citizens.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party and Green Jobs For Every Ohio Citizen

Greens want to help thousands of Ohioans obtain a green-collar job that pays a living wage while helping to build a brighter environmental future.

Green jobs will help us stabilize our  economic crisis and the global climate. Green jobs can conserve energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Green jobs are union jobs and created in communities that really need them. Green jobs nourish our communities because they can’t be outsourced overseas cheaply. Green jobs grow local businesses and foster community development.

GREEN SOLUTIONS

1. Support massive public investment to create green jobs in fields such as energy conservation, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, green building and the construction of mass transportation.

2. Create an inclusive program to train workers for the new, clean energy economy.

3. Prioritize the creation of green jobs in communities of color and low income communities.

3. Support union organizing at all workplaces.

4. Adopt a reduced-hour 35 hour work week as a standard.

5. Establish more federally funded programs for Green jobs development and skills training.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party On Work And Job Creation

The Green Party proposes a third alternative to a job or no job dichotomy: that is to provide everyone a sustainable livelihood. The need of our times is for security, not necessarily jobs. We need security in the knowledge that, while markets may fluctuate and jobs may come and go, we are still able to lead a life rooted in dignity and well-being.

The concept of a “job” is only a few hundred years old; and the artificial dichotomy between “employment” and “unemployment” has become a tool of social leverage for corporate exploiters. This produces a dysfunctional society in various ways: (1) It is used to justify bringing harmful industries to rural communities, such as extensive prison construction and clear cutting of pristine forests. (2) It has been used to pit workers (people needing jobs) against the interests of their own communities. (3) It has created a self-esteem crisis in a large segment of the adult population who have been forced into doing work that is irrelevant, socially harmful, or environmentally unsound.

We will also promote policies that have job-increasing effects. Many people will still need jobs for their security. We need to counterbalance the decline in jobs caused either by new technology, corporate flight to cheaper labor markets outside our borders, or the disappearance of socially wasteful jobs that will inevitably occur as more and more people embrace a green culture.

To begin a transition to a system providing sustainable livelihood, we support:

1. creating alternative, low-consumption communities and living arrangements, including a reinvigorated sustainable homesteading movement in rural areas and voluntary shared housing in urban areas.

2. Universal health care requiring coverage for all.

3. The creating and spreading local currencies and barter systems.

4. Subsidizing technological development of consumer items that would contribute toward economic autonomy, such as renewable energy devices.

5. Establishing local non-profit development corporations.

6. Providing people with information about alternatives to jobs.

Creating Jobs

For creating jobs we propose:

7. Reducing taxes on labor. This will make labor more competitive with energy and capital investment. (See Taxation above.)

8. Solidarity with unions and workers fighting the practice of contracting out tasks to part-time workers in order to avoid paying benefits and to break up unions.

9. Adopting a reduced-hour (30-35 hours) work week as a standard. This could translate into as many as 26 million new jobs.

10. Subsidizing renewable energy sources, which directly employ 2 to 5 times as many people for every unit of electricity generated as fossil or nuclear sources yet are cost competitive. Also, retrofit existing buildings for energy conservation and build non-polluting, low impact transportation systems.

11. Supporting small business by reducing tax, fee and bureaucratic burdens. The majority of new jobs today are created by small businesses. This would cut their failure rate and help them create more jobs.

12. Opposing the trend toward “bundling” of contracts that minimizes opportunity for small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses.

13. Reducing consumption to minimize outsourcing – the exportation of jobs to other countries – thus reducing the relative price of using U.S. workers.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

What Will Dirty Coal King Ted Strickland Do?

This July, Green For All is calling for a Dirty Energy Independence Week of Action. As the President pointed out, America is addicted to oil and fossil fuels. It is only fitting that, as we celebrate our nation's freeing itself from Britain, we also move boldly on the next frontier of American independence: independence from dirty, deadly fossil fuels that are polluting our country, compromising our security, and costing Americans their livelihoods.

What will Dirty Coal Boss Ted Strickland do? Will he join the movement to end our addiction to dirty coal or will he continue to hawk for more and more dirty coal plants to be built in Ohio?

Considering Ted Strickland is backed through political contributions from dirty coal energy producers such as Duke Energy, First Energy, and Dayton Power and Light, Ted will continue to promote " Burn Coal Baby, Burn!"

As the Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor, I stand with Green For All.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Virginia Seeks To Lead Drive For Electric Cars

Why Not Ohio? Let's Block Dirty New Coal Plants

No new coal plants should be built in Ohio unless and until they can safely capture 100 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

Ohio should not build new power plants based on old, dangerous, carbon-spewing technologies. If coal is to play any part of our future energy mix, dramatic breakthroughs in carbon-capturing technology must take place.

Also, mountaintop removal should be banned. No coal company should be allowed to blow up mountains-destroying America's beauty, poisoning its rivers, and destroying rural communities.

It's time we break our addiction to dirty coal, before our addiction breaks Ohio.

Ted Strickland is addiction to dirty coal money from coal supplies and electric companies. Thus, Ted Strickland is addicted to continuing keeping dirty coal in business or Ohio.

To keep your air safe, to keep your rivers clean, to keep your local communities intact, it's time we elect a truely Green Governor in Ohio.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Let's Invest In Low-Carbon Mass Transportation

In an era of increasing oil prices, traffic gridlock, and hazardous air quality, it's time Ohio invests in local mass-transit systems, regional and interstate high speed rail, and low carbon means of transportation of both passengers and freight.

Expanding mass transit and rail infrastructure promises to create thousands of good constrcution jobs for Ohio while expanding transportation choices and strengthening communities across the Buckeye State.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Let's Increase Production Of Renewable Electricity

Ohio needs to deploy it's abundant renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal . We must grow the market for renewables. We should have an Ohio Governor whose's objective is to drive the price of renewable energy cheaper than traditional fossil-fuel based energy in the market, thus allowing an ending to finanical incentives.

Ted Strickland won't agree to this. He is backed too much by the dirty coal and nuke industry.

Renewable electricity creates more than twice as many jobs per unit of energy and per dollar invested than traditional fossil fuel-based electricity.

And electricity and heat account for more than 30 percent of all U.S. carbon emissions, a figure that can be drastically reduced by turning to low-carbon renewable energy.

Ted Strickland believes in a future of adding more dirty coal to Ohio's landscape. Ted Strickland thus does not believe in reducing carbon emissions, and thus does not believe you deserve a cleaner Ohio.

Ted Strickland does not deserve to be Governor after 2010.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

We Need an Ohio Governor To Support Green Jobs

Ted Strickland doesn't and won't. We need a Green Party Governor for Ohio who will lead the way for improving energy efficiency and deploying more renewable technology at a scale that will produce massive demands for skilled labor.

We must have a Green Party Governor who will push hard for investing in worker training, support employment services, manufacuring extensions, and community development to meet these goals.

We must use public investment to prime new industries as well as lift people out of poverty. We must connect to people's immediate self-interests and larger moral purposes of creating solutions.

We must have a Governor who will lead us in neighborhood -level actions, restoring communities with green space and green buildings, restoring bodies with parks and clean air, and restoring families with purpose and paychecks.

When's the last time you heard Ted Strickland speak in these terms? The answer is never. Ted's talk is not there, thus, Ted's actions are not there as well.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ted Strickland likes to proclaim that the Ohio economy has turned a corner, but the state's unemployment rate, which was 10.9percent in April, is expected to remain in double digits into 2012, according to Ted Strickland's Council of Economic Advisors.

The Green Party solution to fixing Ted's unemployment mess is that government must play a key role in creating an inclusive, green economy- by setting standards, spurring innovation, realigning existing investments, and making new investments.

A Green Party Governor would accelerate growth in 3 ways-regulate conduct by establishing standards, invest money through direct spending and offering incentives, and convene leaders by spurring the formation of new collaborative institutions that solve problems by bringing together public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders.

Ted Strickland is re-active, not pro-active in solving Ohio's unemployemnt mess. We need a Green Party Governor who will support problem solvers to unemployment-the clean energy producers, green builders, community educators, green-collar workers, and green consumers.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? It's Time For A State Bank Of Ohio

It's time to promote the idea of a state-owned bank for Ohio.

Modeled after the powerful Non-Partisan League’s state-owned bank in North Dakota, An Ohio state-owned bank could be modeled after the nation’s commercial banks and — relying on the commonly accepted practice of “fractional reserve banking” — could provide fixed-rate mortgages at two percent and credit cards at six percent. The Bank of the State of Ohio, could also provide attractive rates on car loans and other consumer borrowing while offering CD’s yielding a 6 percent return.

The bank’s profits would help fund the state government in much the same way that the Bank of North Dakota regularly contributes to that state’s budget. In the past decade, the nation’s only state-owned bank plowed nearly $300 million into North Dakota’s treasury.

Consequently, it’s one of the few states that doesn’t find itself in a fiscal crisis.

In 2009, North Dakota enjoyed a record $1.3 billion surplus, enabling the state legislature to shift more of the burden for funding education to the state while requiring local governments to cut property taxes by $295 million. In addition, individual taxpayers and businesses received about $100 million in income-tax reductions.

According to the Wall Street Journal, state lawmakers anticipate a $700 million budget surplus in June 2011, the end of its next budget cycle. With a jobless rate of only 4.4 percent, the state also boasts the lowest unemployment rate in the nation.

A similar state-owned bank could become the catalyst for an “economic miracle” in recession-ravaged Ohio, a state that experienced thousands of foreclosure filings in 2009. The bank could be instrumental in providing the necessary capital to create jobs for many out-of-work Ohioans.

Why not Ohio? If the Big 10 can look west to Nebraska for help, surely Ohio state government could look west to North Dakota for help.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

Why Ohio? Ted Strickland Protects Coal Industry And Not Communities

Coal ash is toxic.

Communities near the approximately 2,000 coal ash sites scattered across the country face a heightened risk of cancer, learning disabilities, birth defects and other illnesses due to the hazardous materials -- including arsenic, lead and mercury -- that seep into our drinking water.

Yet the industry and Ted Strickland would have us believe coal ash is as safe as regular dirt!

As the Green Party Nominee for Governor, we need strong EPA safeguards to protect our health and environment.

The EPA is taking a stand against King Coal by proposing the first ever federally enforceable regulations for coal ash, but coal companies and Ted Strickland are fighting back, pushing for weaker safeguards and winning support from key legislators.

In January, the National Governors Association sent an inaccurate and misleading letter -- based on outdated studies that don't reflect the latest science -- to the EPA and members of Congress denying the hazards of coal ash and urging the EPA to maintain the current system, an inadequate patchwork of state level protections.

The next Ohio Governor should protect communities, not the coal industry, by supporting strong, federally enforceable coal ash regulations. Ted Strickland is NOT THAT GOVERNOR!

If the BP oil disaster and the Tennessee coal ash tragedy taught us anything, it's that we can't just take the polluter's word for it anymore.

It's time to stand up to the coal industry's lies and break free of the last century's dirty, dangerous, and deadly energy technology.

Don't let Ted Strickland stand in the way of critical protections against coal ash -- send a message today ! Vote for the Green Party of Ohio this November!

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Let's Use Tax Incentives And Grants For Alternative Energy

It's time Ohio uses tax cuts, tax credits, and grants for solar, wind,water, and other alternative green energy sources.

Tax Credits should not be given for dirty coal and nukes like Ted Strickland is supporting.

We can no longer build a state on liquefied fossils and then think it will last forever.

We must move to make Ohio energy independent and to convert our centralized electric grids into more efficient and locally owned sources of power generation.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

A Green Party Governor Will Clean Up Ohio's Environment, Ted Strickland Won't

It's time we realize we cannot afford to continue to poison our Ohio waterways and air.

Ted Strickland never talks about cleaning up Ohio. He continues to talk about adding more dirty coal plants to Ohio, adding more dirty nuke plants to Ohio, and adding more construction junkyards to Ohio.

Ted Strickland won't clean up Ohio because corporate lobbyists have bought and control Ted Strickland. Yet Ted Strickland will stand up and tell you that these dirty coal and nuke industries are deserving of support and by supporting them is a positive political vrtue.

It's time that a Green party Governor for Ohio and the people of Ohio take back the commons of our air and water, and the first step is to reject corporate participation in politics.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

A Green Party Governor: Bring Back The Middle Class To Ohio

It's time we return Ohio to the more steeply progressive tax rates that led to the creation of the American middle class in the era of 1947-1980. This will be good for Ohio, and good for corporate Ohio as well.

People living on the edge of existence shouldn't pay taxes on the necessities of life. On the other hand, those who have accumulated so much wealth should be subject to substantial taxation.

In Sweden, they have a most vital middle class and highest quality of life. CEO's earn 13 times as much as their average blue-collar workers. In The U.S., the aveage CEO makes 411 times as much as the aveage worker.

The simple reality is that they are not working as hard as 411 people all at the same time nor are they 411 smarter than their fellow workers.

America was created in response against aristocracy. We must bring back the middle class by resoring the tax laws that created it.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more information, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party Way of Strengthening The Social Safety Net

The best way to lead Ohioans out of poverty in the 21st century is to ensure that we have a strong middle class with an abundance of well-paying jobs and high levels of worker security. We must have government authorizing the existence of corporations and providing for their security and at the same time authorizing the existence of labor unions and guaranteeing their security.

When organized capital and organized labor have relatively equal levels of power, society stabilizes, as we saw from the 1940's to 1970's, the golden age of the middle class.

When government tilts the scales in favor of business and corporations, we see  job secuirty vanish, wages drop, corporate profits soar, and corporate corruption runs rampant.

A Green Party of Ohio Governor would see that labor is given the same authorities and limitations that business has to organize, negotiate, and fully participate in the marketplace.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.org

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

Thanks to Dirty Coal and Ted Strickland, EPA Puts Ohio On Notice To Reduce Sulfur Dioxide

Thanks to Ted Strickland and his love of dirty coal, five Ohio counties have too much sulfur-dioxide pollution, according to a new federal health standard that will force the state to look for ways to reduce the amount of toxin.

Let's Require a Living Wage in Ohio

The Green Party of Ohio believes in a living wage for all Ohioans. One of our core liberal ideas-which helped build the middle class-was the notion that workers should earn enough to participate fully in society.

A well-payed labor force will become a market for Ohio goods. Business does not require low-wages for success.

Conservatives like the Democrats and Republicans believe if corporations get cheap labor, it means cheaper goods for you and me. Not so. Did Nike shoes become cheaper when they moved operations overseas during the 1980's and 1990s? I think not.

Labor is only a small part of the cost of most products, and when conservative business owners drive down the cost of labor, they usually keep the difference for themselves.

It's time to reinvest in Ohio workers with a living wage.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

Let's Provide Health Care For All

The Green Party of Ohio supports single-payer health care for all Ohioans.

We believe in a health care system itself that is private, and you can choose any doctor, hospital, or pharmacy. Government pays the bills directly to whomever you chose to provide you with health care. The only losers would be the insurance companies and Ted Strickland, who supports them, fastening themselves onto our backs like giant leeches.

Why should America and Ohio rank 54th in the world in fairness of access to health care and drive a half-million families a year into the desperation of bankruptcy with medical expenses? We can do better.

The health insurance and HMO industry spends thousands of dollars to keep Ted Strickland, Democrats, and Republicans under their thumbs and us in the dark.

We can do better. By voting for the Green Party of Ohio this November.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

A Free High-Quality Public Education For Ohio

The Green Party of Ohio advocates for a free public education-one for producing mobility between economic classes. In those nations where any child can attend school with no costs to him or his family do we see the smallest differences between rich and poor, and the least rigidity of the remnants of class systems.

A free public education is a key to the survival of Ohio. We must bring into acttion that mass of talents which lies buried in poverty. And we can do so by providing quality free education.

We must put a full education back into the reach of all our citizens.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more information, contact 330-503-1407

A Green Party Philosophy for Ohio

The Green Party of Ohio believes in the following philosophy for Ohio, a philosophy lost on the Democrats and Republicans:

A Stronger Ohio: greater strength in our economy, our education system, our health care system, our families, our communities, and our environment.

Broad Prosperity: for all Ohioans, completely free.

Better Future: in all areas of life, economically, educationally, and environmentally.

Effective Government: eliminate waste

Mutual Responsibility: best values of families and communities. Authoritative, equal, two-way, based around caring, responsibility, and strength.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

Green Party Progressive Directions

The Green Party of Ohio wants to move the Buckeye State in the following progressive directions in 2010:

The economy: Centered on innovation that creates good-paying jobs and provides every Ohioan a fair opportunity to prosper.

Health: Every Ohioan should have access to a state-of-the art, affordable health care system.

Education: A vibrant, well-funded, and expanding public education system with the highest standards for every child and school. We also support early childhood education.

Environment: A clean, healthy, and safe enviroment for ourselves and our children: water you can drink and air you can breathe. Polluters pay for the damage they cause.

Energy: We need to make a major investment in renewable energy for the jobs it will create, independence from Middle Eastern oil, improvements in public health, preservation of the environment, and the effort to halt global warming.

Equal Rights: We support equal rights in every area involving race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.

Protections: We support keeping and extending protections for consumers, workers, retirees, and investors.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Massachusetts Goes More Solar

The roof of National Grid's distribution center in Northbridge, Massachusetts is covered with about 4,700 solar panels, making it the largest solar-generating facility in the state and the first such project to be owned by a utility.The rooftop array - capable of producing about a megawatt of electricity, or enough to power 200 homes - was built mostly with Massachusetts technology and expertise.``It's all good work for all the right reasons,'' said Michael Monahan, business manager for Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, whose members worked on the project. The Cambridge consulting firm Zapotec Energy Inc. (NYSE:EGAS) was also involved, as was the renewable-energy developer Nexamp Inc. of North And over. The panels were made by Marlborough-based Evergreen Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:ESLR) ``These are projects that a utility is in a good position to take ownership of and build,'' said Dan Leary, Nexamp's president. "They own the electrical infrastructure.''This week, the panels will begin converting sunlight into power, said Ed White, a National Grid vice president. The company also is moving forward with solar projects in Dorchester, Everett, Haverhill, and Revere that will provide an additional 4 megawatts of electricity-generating capacity, possibly by the end of the year.

 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. is also looking to build solar projects, according to documents filed with the state Department of Public Utilities, and has received approval. Having more renewable energy available to customers - especially electricity generated locally - is a goal of Governor Deval Patrick, who wants Massachusetts to have 250 megawatts of solar power generating capacity by 2017. Currently, it has 28.1 megawatts, with more than 30 megawatts in the pipeline.The electricity from National Grid's project is expected to eliminate about 1.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the equivalent of removing 400 cars from the roads.The project is expected to cost less than the $6.5 million originally estimated, White said. Since 2008, when National Grid filed plans to build solar facilities, panel prices have dropped. Customers will pay about a penny a month more for the facility over two decades.

Why not Ohio? Is It because Ted Strickland and his energy companies still like to import  dirty coal into Ohio which pollutes our rivers and air?

I believe so. Ohio will never be truely green with Dirty Coal Ted Strickland in charge of the state.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more information, contact 330-503-1407

A Green State Government For A Better Future

A Green Party Government does what Ohio's future requires and what the public sector cannot do-or is not doing-effectively, ethically, or not at all. It is the job of the government to promote, and, if possible, provide protection, greater democracy, more freedom, a cleaner enviroment, broader prosperity, better health, and the building and maintaining of public infrastructure.

This is the principle that the Green Party of Ohio is running on in this year's election.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party of Ohio's Progressive Vision

We picture an Ohio where people care about each other, not just themselves, and act responsibly with strength and effectiveness for each other.

We want to protect Ohioans, we want them to propser, and we want them to be treated fairly.

There is no fulfillment without freedom, no freedom without opportunity, and no opprtunity without prosperity.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio's Dependence on Imported Coal

The Union of Concerned Scientists reported last week that the

cost of importing coal is a major drain on the

Why Not Ohio? Because Ted Strickland Is Committed To A Dirty Environment

As long as Ted Strickland backs dirty coal and nuke power for Ohio, our families will have dirty water, dirty air, and no real means of gaining progressive employment in the ever-growing clean green energy world.

As long as Ted Strickland supports dirty coal and nukes, we will not see jobs created.

We will not see less air pollution and less childhood asthma.

We will not have clean environments and homes.

We will still be dependent on Middle Eastern oil.

Clean, green energy is not just about energy. it's about jobs, health, clean air and water, global warming, and foreign policy. Issues that all Ohioans care about. Issues that Ted Strickland will not try and solve as long as he is a slave to dirty coal and nuke lobbyists.

Ohioans deserve a Governor who will champion their fight for a cleaner world and a world of more jobs and economic growth, not a slave or puppet to dirty coal and nukes.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio Needs The Progressive Values Of the Green Party

This year's Governor's race in Ohio comes down to what values are important to you and your children. Ohio needs the progressive values of the Green Party of Ohio to move Ohio forward in a positive direction after November 2nd.

Ohioans want progressive values that focus on environmental protection, worker protection, consumer protection, and protection from disease.

There must be opportunity and prosperity for all Ohioans.

Our children and our parents must be treated with fairness by others.

We must have community-building and cooperation between communities.

The Green Party of Ohio holds those values that will help you and your family prosper in the future. We are the party of hope to those oppressed by a current system run by Democrats and Republicans. The Green Party is the only party interested in building foundations to help as many people as possible. Helping people, not corporations, is the right thing to do.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Just Say No To Vouchers

The Green Party of Ohio does not believe in a voucher system to support private schools. We believe in funding a good public education system.

While the Republicans and to an extend the Democrats support a voucher system here in Ohio, what we are setting Ohio up for is a system where the wealthy will have good schools-paid for in part by what used to be tax payments to public schools. By continuing this voucher system, the poor will not have money for good schools. We will end up with a two-tier school system-a good one for the deserving rich and a bad one for the undeserving poor.

It's time to end vouchers-time to invest in public schools again like we used to. It's time we had a Green Party Governor to just say no to vouchers!

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Taxes: Your User Fee In Ohio

Unlike the Democrats and Republicans, the Green Party of Ohio knows that taxation is paying your dues, paying your membership in Ohio. If you join a country club or rec center, you pay fees. You did not build the swimming pool. You have to maintain it. You did not build the tennis courts. Someone else has to maintain it or it will fall apart.

People who avoid paying taxes, like corporations that move out of the country and state, are not paying their dues. It is patriotic to be a taxpayer. It is traitorus to desert our country and not pay your taxes.

Taxpayer investments have also supported companies and wealthy investors. The wealthy have gotten rich using what taxpayers have paid for. They owe the taxpayers of this country a great deal and should be paying it back: to help Ohio families maintain coummunities, schools, and the environment.

Taxes: the user fee we need to support to keep Ohio a great state in the nation.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Tax Cuts Will Harm Ohio Families

John Kasich's tax cuts will harm Ohio families. By cutting taxes, John Kasich will make sure there is not enough money in the budget for any of the state's social programs. Not enough money for the homeless, disabled, schools, education, or environmental protection.

We need taxes for Ohio families. We need taxes to live in a civilied society.

We need taxes to have democracy and opportunity.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info,ontact 330-503-1407

Green Collar Jobs And Job Growth

Green Collar Jobs can grow an inclusive sustainable economy by developing education and job-training programs that improve social equity and provides pathways out of poverty for Ohioans while strengthening the middle class by equipping workers for high-demand jobs in the green economy.

This will also strengthen and make further progress on our stated commitment to improving Ohio's environment in ways that grow both the green economy and gree-collar jobs locally.

We can build on climate and environmental commitments to create market demand for green products, services, skilled workers, and create more propserous local economies.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Green Collars Jobs As A Central Stategy

We in Ohio must see that green collar jobs are a central strategy for advancing environmental, economic, and climate protection goals.

Green collar jobs will provide pathways to prosperity for all workers and offer comptetive salaries while leading to a lasting career track. This will help strengthen our middle class.

Green Jobs will also emphasize community-based investments that cannot be outsourced and contribute directly to preserving and enhancing environmental quality.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

We Need Green Technology To Power Ohio In The Future

By electing a Green Party Governor to Ohio, Ohioans would be sending a message that we want a clean-technology revolution in Ohio and a transformation of our aging energy infrastructure to become the next great engines for green energy innovation, productivity, job growth, and social-equity gains.

Our nation has always prospered when we invested in innovative technology in the past: from rural electification, the transcontinential railroad and interstate highway systems, telecommunications, and the Internet.

Bold Green Public Leadership will provide incentives for scientific inquiry, new technology, and an infrastructure that will allow the private sector to flourish while building up the middle class.

Building a green clean energy economy will generate hundreads of billions of dollars of productive new investments.

This is a vision Ted Strickland can't seem to comprehend. This is why Ted Strickland remains fixed to dirty coal and nukes as his "green energy plan."

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party: Equal Protection and Equal Opprtunity For All Ohioans

The difference between the Green party of Ohio and the Democrats this election year is the straight fact that the Green Party of Ohio believes in equal protection and equal opportunity for all Ohioans, principles the Democrats have long abandoned.

For the most vulnerable in Ohio, The Green Party has a duty to do two things: minimize their pain and maximize their gain. On good days, we do not leave anyone out. On bad days, we do not leave anyone behind.

The Green Party of Ohio does not accept a state where people of color and low-income people are always first in line for everything bad and then left to benefit last and least when it comes to anything good.

All Ohioans must be allowed to share equitably in the benefits and the burdens of moving to a more survivable green economic system. This is how Ohio will be a better place under Green Party political leadership.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Ohio Needs A Green Economy To Help Ohioans

Ohio needs a Green Party Governor who will push Ohio into a Green Economy where ordinary people can earn money. The only part of the U.S. economy that is growing, and can grow long-term, is green. New green products, services, and technologies can help struggling communities. The possibility of new green-collar jobs offers a chance to improve community health and opportunities to build wealth in a sustainable way.

Ordinary people have a chance to dignified and meaningful employement, have a chance to become inventors, investors, owners, entrepreneurs, and employers in a green economy.

A Green Economy can bring new green-colar jobs and businesses to former brownfields, depressed urban areas, and hard-hit rural towns.

A Green Economy can bring hope, optimism, and opportunity to inspire and energize people of all races and classes.

We need this broad, populist movement. And we need a Green Party Governor to lead it.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Burning Coal Is Dirty Business, Ted

Clean Coal is an oxymoron, the technology for it does not exist. Burning and mining coal are the two dirtiest activities happening in Ohio, both back wholeheartedly by Ted Strickland.

Ted Strickland believes we can pump all of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants into big holes in the ground. It's not an option. No earth-born container is guaranteed forever.

Ted Strickland believes we can have clean coal by turning it into liquid fuel. However, with this process you have double the carbon dioxide emissions:first during production, and again from the tailpipe of cars or jets.

The bottom line is, there is no clean way to burn coal. This is of no concern to Ted Strickland, who believes Ohio should continue to burn coal, and tons of it.

When will Ted Strickland wake up and smell the clean air? Can't say. Since Ted Strickland is controlled by dirty coal-firing electric power companies who pour thousands of dollars into his campaign, Ted will continue to embrace burning dirty coal in Ohio. And for Ohio, our environment, and our children, this is a sad state of affairs.

As a Green Party Governor, I would call for an immediate turn to clean green energy. I would call for a start to a massive build-up of clean green energy technology for Ohio, a "New Green Deal". We need to push far greater then we currently are for solar and wind power development in Ohio. This will be my goal, and my plan.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Brownfields for Solar and Wind Power Sites

As the Green Party Nominee for Governor, I propose using Ohio's many industrial brownfields as sites fior new solar and wind farms for the Buckeye State.

Brownfields have become an attractive option for renewable-energy projects like solar and wind. Among about 15 million acres of polluted land in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has identified 11,000 sites as ripe for renewables. These include brownfields, abandoned mines, federal facilities and Superfund sites, which are properties the government has designated as some of the most contaminated in the U.S.

The EPA has pegged the sites for potential uses like wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and landfill-produced methane, and is working with other agencies, local governments, developers and utilities to promote projects.

Among the advantages: Brownfield land is cheap, often abandoned, close to such necessary infrastructure as power lines, roads and water, and is often properly zoned. Population centers, and hence available labor, also tend to be nearby.

When zoning and infrastructure are already in place, it speeds up the permitting process, which is often the largest risk in project development. With renewables, it makes sense to avoid undeveloped land. Wind turbines, for example, which some consider eyesores, tend to meet less opposition when the proposed site has been polluted. The EPA also helps with cleanup costs.

While the overall cost of each cleanup depends on the site, the combination of EPA subsidies and discounted land prices often make it worthwhile for the projects to proceed. But there can still be drawbacks. Performing required assessments takes time. Renewable companies also need to be careful they don't penetrate the cap that often sits under 18 inches of soil and protects the outside world from the contamination underneath.

We have the Brownfields, so let's use them now!

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

A Green Party Way of Improving Ohio

New Conditions impose new requirements upon government and those who conduct government. The Democrats and Ted Strickland will continue to operate in their fail ways of the past four years if re-elected this November. That is why we need a Green Party Governor and leadership to move Ohio forward.

We need a green government that owes to every man an avenue to work, a right to own property, and a right to health care.

We must see that purchasing power is well distributed throughout every group int his state. We need to see wages restored and unemployment aided, and farmers brought back to their level of prosperity. We need to create opportunity once more in this great state.

We must have government leadership that believes in change and progress. We must have a state government for the benefit of the many, not the benefit of the few.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

If Your Health Care is Poor, Thank Ted Strickland

If you suffer from no health care or poor health care coverage, thank Ted Strickland. Ted Strickland believes in the status quo. Ted Strickland believes in keeping the current insurance companies in business in Ohio and believes in keeping the current insurance coverage you currently have, if you have any at all. See, Ted Strickland takes huge campaign contributions from Aetna and Medical Mutual, so Ted has to make sure these insurance companies stay in business. 

How else does Ted Strickland regulate your health coverage? Well, because under the current system, most employers offer only one or two health plans, so it is frequently the case that employers, not patients, determine the choice of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. Your employers are forced to take whatever plan Ted Strickland and his insurance donors will provide. Sounds like a pretty good racket, eh?

That's why I call for the Health Care for All Ohioans Act, legislation that is simplicity, inclusiveness (everyone is in, no one is left out), offers breadth of service, equality, preservation of the current private delivery system, and, perhaps most of all, affordability. Multiple state and federal studies show that by eliminating the overhead associated with private insurance and negotiating prices with drug companies, it is possible to offer lifetime coverage to everyone in the country for an amount similar to that which we currently pay for coverage of only part of our population

Health insurance would be uncoupled from employment, so that individuals who lost or changed jobs would keep the same coverage, regardless of age, preexisting conditions, or state of residence. No one would be without health insurance, accomplishing in the simplest way possible the overall goal of health reform--improving access to health care for all Americans.

Patients would be free to choose any physician or hospital in the country, as opposed to the current system, in which patient choice is frequently limited to providers within the various health plan networks. Providers of patient care would see significant reductions in paperwork, having to interact with only one health plan instead of the seemingly endless number of plans and subplans with which we now deal.

For improved health care, vote Green this November. For continued poor health care in Ohio, Vote for Ted Strickland.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Green Party Supports Single Payer Health Care, Why Not Ted Strickland?

The Green Party of Ohio supports the Health Care for All Ohians Act, a single-payer health care plan for the Buckeye State. Why doesn't Ted Strickland?

Why Ted? Did the $18,000 campaign donation from Aetna have something to do with it? WHY DO YOU SUPPORT A SYSTEM THAT produces enormous waste? Of every health care dollar spent in the United States, 31 cents is spent on administration (more than double that of other industrialized nations).  Consider the disturbing fact that 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies are related to medical bills. More astonishing is the fact that 77 percent of Americans who go bankrupt because of medical bills had insurance when they became ill. Because it is a business, private insurance has, at its core, the bottom line. The only way to succeed is to selectively recruit healthy patients or to deny coverage to patients when they become sick. Only under single-payer can we eliminate the administrative costs associated with billing hundreds of payers and the sizeable overhead of the private insurance industry. These overhead dollars are spent marketing, underwriting, lobbying, and fighting claims—none of which makes our patients healthier. Elimination of this administrative waste would save more than $400 billion annually.

Why are you against saving Ohioans money, Ted? Why don't you speak up for single-payer health care? Did the $10,000 from Medical Mutual make you bite your tongue? Ample evidence, including studies by the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office, shows single-payer can assure universal coverage while saving money. For those who suggest we would lose choice under a single-payer system, we ask, choice of what? Choice of insurance plan—yes. Choice of doctor and hospital—no. A high-quality system is not one in which our patients choose their insurance plan but one in which they choose their doctor. Single-payer is the only reform option that actually expands choice.

For those who say single-payer is socialized medicine and worry that government bureaucrats will suddenly begin making health care decisions, they need to remember that single-payer is publicly financed but privately delivered. Medical decisions should be made by patients and doctors.

Given the magnitude of these difficult economic times, it is high time to reconsider the most fiscally conservative and financially sustainable option for reform—a single-payer system. That's why I support the single-payer option for Ohio. Ted Strickland and his insurance buddies don't.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Will Ted Strickland Continue To Pollute Ohio's Water?

Last year, The Ohio EPA released study results on Ohio's CCD landfills, concluding that liquid watse from these landfills DO pose serious threats to groundwater, the environment, and public health. Arsenic, lead, and other toxins are poisoning our groundwater.

This past February, Governor Strickland was asked and urged to issue a statewide moratorium on dumping any potentially contaminated waste into our landfills.

Ted Strickland has yet to act!

Waste from construction and demolition sites continue to be dumped into Ohio's landfills. 

Ted Strickland has been told we expect safe groundwater for our communities. Yet Ted Strickland refuses to act.

Is Ted Strickland the Green Governor we are led to believe? I think not.

Is Ted Strickland the Governor controlled by dirty polluters? It seems so.

As Governor, I would call for a halt to dumping immediately. Ted Strickland

says "Dump, Baby, Dump". Can we really afford 4 more years of Ted

Strickland protecting our environment?

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

A Green Progressive Way to Cut Ohio's Budget

Last week it was reported the total state revenues came in $282 million below estimates last month, putting Ohio $742 million - or 3.5 percent - below projections for the fiscal year to date. If budget cuts are needed, no doubt Ted Strickland will again take his meat ax approach, where budget requests across the board are reduced by a fixed percentage. Again, Ted Strickland will fail to recognize such an approach will have a disproportionate burden on programs that are smaller and will suffer because they have less ability to make meaningful savings.

It's time Ohio has a Green Progressive approach to budget cutting. I call for an agency by agency analysis; a review based on past agency spending, budget hearings, and budget requests. This will be a more reasonable approach to assessing an agency's budgeting needs. It will rely on the monitoring of the agency. This type of analysis can be quite objective.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party Nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Just Say No to Liquid Coal and Ted Strickland

Ted Strickland backs the dirty coal to liquid fuel plant in Wellsville, Ohio.

I believe our public officials should support clean energy, not dirty coal. Because we want the robust economy and environment that investing in clean energy jobs will bring. Not dirty coal, like Ted Strickland believes in.

The proposed Baard Energy liquid coal plant would take 20,000 tons of coal per day and process it into liquid transportation fuel. Baard's allies have been writing to the Department of Energy to say the only way the project can move forward is with federal assistance.

The fact is, even Wall Street doesn't want to invest in liquid coal. That's why Baard has failed to raise enough money from the private sector.Our tax money shouldn’t be a lifeline for failing, dirty energy projects

I believe this is a project that is not worthy of the Department of Energy's (DOE) support.

Baard officials have repeatedly made grandiose public claims that don't stand up to scrutiny. They have made no legally binding commitment to control carbon emissions, and indeed the lifecycle emissions of the facility as permitted could reach 26 million tons of CO2 every year. In addition, Baard is now being sued in federal court for failure to pay its contractors' fees. Baard even claimed to have received a $2 billion DOE loan guarantee -- before subsequently withdrawing empty-handed from the loan guarantee program.

The private sector seems to be wholly unconvinced of the wisdom of investing in liquid coal, pending a future carbon regime and other regulatory costs associated with coal. Why should taxpayers take on risk that even Wall St. is avoiding? Make no mistake: we in Ohio want investment in clean energy technology that will stimulate our economy, create jobs and help prevent the worst of global warming. We are grateful for the Obama administration's strong leadership on clean energy. But the Baard project will instead pollute our air and lock Ohio into the past.

Ted Strickland supports the Baard Plant. Ted Strickland wants to pollute our air and lock Ohio in the dirty coal past. Can we afford to keep Ted Strickland around for another four years?

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Nominee for Governor.

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio Needs To Become More Progressive

Ohio needs progressive leadership to overcome the hadrships of the 21st century, leadership Ted Strickland is not providing.

Some states, such as Wisconsin, and Minnesota, are widely known for their progressive, innovative state policies. They welsome ideas from outside the confines of their state house. Some states hire highly paid staff and consultanats to develop public policy. Some states rely on sophisticated legislative policy development staffs formed around specific problem areas such as education and economic development.

Ohio, uses none of these approaches. And will not under the continued leadership of Ted Strickland. Ted Strickland does not  try and solve problems. The only approach Ted Strickland takes is listening to special interest groups and their advocates for information. Now we know why Ohio is NOT know as an innovative state in the public policy arena.

It's time to elect a Green Party Governor who will look for innovations to 21st century problems. Ohio must become more progressive in solving education, health and human services problems for all Ohioans. We need a governor who will lead, and not just listen to special interest groups like Ted Strickland currently does and will continue to do if he is re-elected in 2010.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio nominee for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Americans Want Clean Green Energy From Wind Power

In a national survey administered in March by Public Opinion Strategies and Bennett, Petts & Normington, results showed that an overwhelming bipartisan majority -- 89% -- of American voters (including 84% of Republicans, 88% of Independents and 93% of Democrats) believe increasing the amount of energy the nation gets from wind is a good idea.  Furthermore, a majority of Americans -- 56% -- disapprove of the job Congress is doing on renewable energy and 67% believe Congress is not doing enough to increase renewable energy sources such as wind.

But Governor Ted Strickland still considers building more and more coal plants as the answer for Ohio's energy problems. Ted Strickland is out of touch with Ohioans and Americans. Ted Strickland supports those energy policies put forth by dirty coal and nuke lobbyists.

It's time Ohio truely elects a Green Governor for the Buckeye State.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Ole King Coal: Ted Strickland Loves Dirty Coal Campaign Money

Ole King Coal, AKA Ted Strickland, is a merry ole soul, and a merry ole soul is he. He dances for his dirty coal contributions into his re-election campaign this year.

Early this year, Ted Strickland backed the ill-fated Duke Energy plan for another dirty coal plant in Meigs County. Also earlier this year, Duke Energy poured $16,000 into Ted Strickland's re-election campaign coffers.

But one energy company who profits from dirty coal is not enough for Ted Strickland. Ted has also reaped huge campaign contributions from Dayton Power and Light as well as First Energy Ohio.

Why is Ted Strickland passive on bringing solar and wind power to Ohio compared to his continued huge push for dirty coal plants? Could it be Duke Energy has Ted Strickland right where they want him? Pushing a pro-coal agenda?

I think so. As Green Party Governor of Ohio, I will take no PAC money from dirty coal and power companies. I stress more green energy for Ohio, let's make Ohio the Green Power Giant of America in solar and wind power research, development, and manufacturing.

Ted Strickland won't. Duke Energy told him so.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Ted Strickland wants you to pay HIGHER Healthcare costs

Ted Strickland wants you to pay higher healthcare costs. He wants you to pay higher premimums. He wants you to pay higher co-payments. He wants you to pay higher deductibles. He wants people to be excluded from coverage.

Why? Because Ted Strickland is on record saying that healthcare insurances companies need to remain in Ohio. Strickland issued his pro-insurance company message when a public option plan was being considered by Congress.

Why does Ted Strickland back insurance companies? Maybe it's because Insurance Companies are bankrolling Ted Strickland's campaign for re-election.

Aetna has contributed $18,000 dollars. Medical Mutual has contributed $10,000.  Seems to me Ted is in the backpockets of the big boys.

I support The Health Care for All Ohioans Act which will lead to NO co-payments, deductibles, premiums, and NO ONE EXCLUDED for coverage.

Too bad Ted Strickland can't say the same.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Why Not Ohio? Solar Power Heats Up As Costs Drop

Earlier this year in a Toledo Blade article, Ted Strickland admitted that Ohio has been passive in pursuing more solar energy in Ohio. Now, a story out of Kansas City points out how other states continue to build a growing solar power industry in their area while Ohio stands still....

Hey Ted Strickland: "Clean coal" won't work, new research says

Someone in the Democratic Party needs to tell Ted Strickland, our dirty-coal loving governor to sit down and read the following report released last week:

"Clean coal" won't work, new research says

US research paper questions viability of carbon capture and storage
A new research paper from American academics is threatening to blow a hole in growing political support for carbon capture and storage as a weapon in the fight against global warming.

The document from Houston University claims that governments wanting to use CCS have overestimated its value and says it would take a reservoir the size of a small US state to hold the CO2 produced by one power station.

Previous modelling has hugely underestimated the space needed to store CO2 because it was based on the "totally erroneous" premise that the pressure feeding the carbon into the rock structures would be constant, argues Michael Economides, professor of chemical engineering at Houston, and his co-author Christene Ehlig-Economides, professor of energy engineering at Texas A&M University

"It is like putting a bicycle pump up against a wall. It would be hard to inject CO2 into a closed system without eventually producing so much pressure that it fractured the rock and allowed the carbon to migrate to other zones and possibly escape to the surface," Economides said.

The paper concludes that CCS "is not a practical means to provide any substantive reduction in CO2 emissions, although it has been repeatedly presented as such by others."

The report has come at a critical time when British and other governments worldwide have started to fast-track a series of CCS prototype schemes as a way of removing carbon from the atmosphere and helping with climate change.

On 8 April, Royal assent was given on to what is now the Energy Act 2010, which made law plans to raise a levy on power users to establish four CCS projects in Britain. Ministers see this as a potentially planet-friendly way of building new coal fired power stations, such as the one E.ON wants to construct at Kingsnorth, in Kent.

The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), which lobbies on behalf of the sector, says Britain is now at the forefront of new technology with a legislative framework in place that offers the opportunity for long-term investment.

Projects are proceeding in the US, such as the experimental coal-fired Mountaineer plant in New Haven, West Virginia, which began small-scale carbon capture last year, as well as in Canada, China and other countries.

Jeff Chapman, chief executive of the CCSA, believes Economides has made inappropriate assumptions about the science and geology. He believes the conclusions in the paper are wrong and says his views are backed up by rebuttals from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Pacific Northwest National laboratory and the American Petroleum Institute.

The British Geological Survey confirmed it was looking at the Economides findings and was hoping to shortly produce a peer-reviewed analysis.

Economides, who has a PHD from Stanford University, said he had seen the arguments against his paper from the API and dismissed them as "nonsense" saying vested interests are protecting a new concept foisted on the world by geologists without proper thought.

"I was a [practising] petroleum engineer for many years and soon realised that geologists did not understand flow and the laws of physics, against which you can't argue."

Chapman pointed out that Statoil, a Norwegian oil company, had been injecting CO2 into an old reservoir on the North Sea Sleipner field for some time as a successful experiment in carbon storage. But Economides says the Sleipner scheme involved a million tonnes over three years, while one 500mW commercial station would need to absorb and store 3m tonnes annually for 25 years.Economides, who admits he veers towards being something of a climate change sceptic, says the oil and coal industries see these schemes as potential solutions so they can keep on doing what they have been doing in the past, but "CCS is the last refuge of the scoundrel," he said.

Ted Strickland supports CCS at the new Wellsville, Ohio Baard plant that he backs. Ted Strickland wants to continue to pollute the Ohio environment by backing such broken processes such as CCS.

I spoke out against the Baard plant based on unuseable CCS procedures,Ted Strickland still supports the project.

It's time to dump Ted Strickland from office.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Nova Scotia To Introduce Feed-In Tariffs

Paul Gipe reported last week that  as part of Nova Scotia's Renewable Electricity Plan, the province in Eastern Canada will implement a series of feed-in tariffs for locally-owned projects.

Nova Scotia, one of Canada's Maritime Provinces, announced the Community-Based Feed-in Tariffs or COMFIT program to "encourage the development of local renewable energy projects by municipalities, First Nations, co-operatives, and non-profit groups."

If implemented as proposed, Nova Scotia will be the third province to use feed-in tariffs to develop renewable energy. Prince Edward Island, also a Maritime Province, has had a simple feed-in tariff for several years, and Ontario, Canada's most populous province launched its successful program last fall.

The government's Renewable Electricity Plan proposes building 300 MW of new renewable capacity by 2015 in three equal tranches: one for the provincial utility, one for independent power producers, and one for community-owned projects. Significantly, the plan proposes reducing coal-fired generation from 75% of supply to 40% of supply by 2020.

Why not Ohio? Why are more and more Canadian Providences and States here in the USA going to feed-in tariffs to lower use of coal-fired energy plants? Is it because Ted Strickland supports building more and more coal plants in the Buckeye State? Considering his support for building a coal to fossil fuel plant in Wellsville, one has to believe Ted Strickland is controlled by dirty coal lobbyists in Columbus.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Sorry Ted, Proposed air pollution rules would restrict toxic emissions

Ted Strickland and his dirty coal and power companies got some bad news in today's Columbus Dispatch:

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Why Vote Green on May 4th!

The latest report indicates that over 11 percent of our workers are either unemployed or underemployed. Our infrastructure, and school and health care systems are failing. We are 8 billion in state debt. The richest of the rich have become more so while the majority of workers have fallen behind to inflation over the last 20 years.

Sixty-five percent of the people in a recent USA Today poll said they think most members of Congress don't deserve re-election. The poll shows that only 28 percent of voters identify themselves as Republicans and only 32 percent as Democrats. Thirty-nine percent have declared themselves as independents.

It is obvious that voters are abandoning hope that either of the two major parties can lead the country in the right direction. We have been disappointed too many times by both major parties. Ohio voters now have the unique opportunity to send the message to the rest of the country: We all deserve better!

Ted Strickland has failed Ohio. John Kasich will damage Ohio even further!

It's time for the Green Party in Ohio!

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

VOTERS HAVE CHOICES THIS YEAR!

Shift Green

Green America's corporate responsibility director, Todd Larsen, crunched the numbers published by the US Department of Labor for the average American household's 2009 purchases, and came away with an inspiring conclusion. If all American households shift just 10 percent of their current spending to green purchases, we could steer $300 billion toward green jobs and the green economy.

Think about it. That's $300 billion toward businesses that build community… $300 billion toward recycling, composting, and reuse… $300 billion toward reduced energy use… $300 billion toward fair supply chains that protect workers and stop sweatshop abuses.

Equally powerful, the reverse of the equation is true. Shifting 10 percent to green means pulling $300 billion worth of support out of the business-as-usual economy. That's $300 diverted from supporting fossil-fuel expansion… $300 billion pulled from irresponsible, exploitative banks… $300 billion of support denied to big-box stores with questionable sourcing standards and disastrous carbon footprints.

It's time to say goodbye to corporate controlled Democrats and Republicans like Ted Strickland and John Kasich!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ted Strickland: Education Governor? OhiO Schools Face Severe Budget Cuts

Ted Strickland is another in a long line of Governor's who likes to tell the OEA and others he is the "Education Governor". And like other Governor's, he will punish schools with severe budget cuts as possibly soon as the 2011 state budget.

State Rep. Randy Gardner has told area school superintendents to expect a 20-percent or higher cut in state aid in the next state budget bill.
Gardner, R-Bowling Green, sent a memo more than a week ago to superintendents in Lucas and Wood counties alerting them that local schools were likely to see an average reduction in state funding of between 22.7 percent and 30.1 percent, depending upon which of two scenarios is used.
The new budget takes effect in 15 months.

His office provided the two scenarios to administrators: One that accepts the Gov. Ted Strickland’s forecast of more than $1 billion in new state revenue growth in the next budget, and one that shows state tax receipts experiencing no growth in the next two years.

The numbers are based on data from the Department of Education, the governor’s office and the Legislative Services Commission, among others.
The assumptions also do not include any major tax increases, new gambling revenues or new federal stimulus dollars.

In the current state budget, districts lost an average of 10 percent of funding — but the state closed the gap by doling out federal stimulus dollars that brought the actual cuts closer to 1 percent, according to Gardner.

Without a new flow of revenues, Gardner said Ohio could be facing a deficit between $6 billion and $8 billion in the next two-year budget.

Ted Strickland's "Turnaround Ohio" plan was to fix education funding. His plan has not. It's time we elect a Governor who will fund education properly.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info-contact 330-503-1407

Ohio Jobs: Dropping Like Flies

When Ted Strickland took office in January of 2007, about 5.66 million Ohioans were employed. This March (latest month available), about 5.29 million Ohioans were employed - a 6.54 percent drop. Nationally over that period, the employment drop was 4.86 percent.

Ted Strickland has failed this state in creating and keeping jobs. He has been slow in creating new Blue-Green Energy and manufacturing jobs, always last to push new creative ways to bring solar and wind power jobs to Ohio then his neighboring state governors.

Ted Strickland is a sailboat without a sail. He drifts aimlessly across the state trying to figure a way out of the current mess- a mess he first blamed on Republicans and now the Obama Administration.

Ted Strickland's "Turnaround Ohio" plan has failed. His cuts to education and social programs will only get bigger in 2011 when he has to try and close an 8 billion dollar budget gap without producing new jobs and a greater tax base.

Ohio will continue to list like a battered ship on the high seas with Ted Strickland on deck. It's time to retire, Ted.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

How The Health Care for All Ohioans Act Would Work

Under the Health Care for all Ohioan Act, All Ohioans would be covered for all medical necessary services, including: doctor, hospital,preventive, long-term care, mental health,reproductibe health care, dental, vision, prescription drug, and medical supply costs.

Doctors would be paid fee-for-service or receive salary from a hospital or nonprofit HMO/group practice. The system would pay hospitals,for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by health boards.

A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private insurers and saving what they waste on profit,administration,and harassing patients and doctors. Premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and business would be replaced by modest new taxes amounting to half or 2/3 what we pay now. Such savings are impossible if the killing, profiteering insurers stay in business.

Costs would be controlled through preventing disease instead of treating it later,negotiated fees, budgeting, and bulk purchasing.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

The Problem With Healthcare in Ohio

Elected Republicans and Democrats in Ohio are blocking single-payer health care. Their phony "reform" will mean thousands more deaths, personal and business bankruptcies, and much higher costs.

Green Party Support for House Bill 8

As a father of two sons with autism, I support House Bill 8, which would prohibit health insurers from excluding coverage for specified autism services for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. House Bill 8, which would prohibit health insurers from excluding coverage for specified autism services for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. We need to spare parents from unmanageable medical expenses that come with treating children and adults with autism.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio is a Blue State: The Unemployment Blues

Lst week's unemployment numbers do not print a pretty picture of Ohio for March of this year. The Akron Beacon Jouirnal reported the following stats:

21 counties have unemployment rates of 15 percent or higher.

Counties with an unemployment rate of 10 percent or higher grew from four to 81.

The seven remaining counties all have rates of 9 percent or higher.

When Ted Strickland ran for governor he promised to turn around Ohio.

He promised to create gobs of jobs, but the ship of state has not turned. Instead, it is sinking.

The improved tax climate and Strickland's efforts to address the state's economy did not protect 8,000 jobs at the DHL Express USA distribution facility in Clinton County in southwest Ohio.

That county's unemployment rate jumped from 5.7 percent in 2006 to 19 percent as of February.

For 28 years, the federal government has poured money into the emergency food and shelter program primarily based on a mixed criteria of poverty and unemployment rates.

The counties that met the eligibility requirements were typically in Appalachia and in the northeastern part of the state that suffered from a blend of urban poverty and manufacturing job losses.

In 2006, 62 counties were eligible for the funding. Four years later, the number had increased to 79 of the 88 counties, including nine counties that were added to the list since 2009.

The economic crisis facing Ohio is now epidemic. It's time for a change in Governor.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Has Ted Strickland's "Turnararound Ohio" Plan Worked? 429,300 Jobs LOST!

Ted Strickland promised to "Turnaround Ohio" in 2006... And he has:  429,300 jobs have been lost on his watch.

The little known fact about unemployment rates is that they count only people who are actively seeking work. If you don't look, you're not counted. National labor experts say this generally adds about 2 more percent to the unemployment number, so it's not a stretch to say that an Ohio county with 18 percent unemployment really has one out of five people out of work. This is what is happening in the following Ohio counties: Clinton, Highland, Huron, Morgan, Noble and Ottawa counties.

Ohio's unemployment rate when Strickland stepped into office in January 2007 was 5.3 percent and Ted Strickland blamed what he saw as failed Republican policies for Ohio's problems in 2006. Now Strickland blames Obama and the national scene. When will Ted Strickland take blame?

With unemployment at 11 percent, the blame must be Strickland's. He has failed to bring in new blue-green jobs at the rates of other surrounding states. He has failed to keep jobs in the Buckeye state.

The next Governor for Ohio must create jobs. Ted Strickland has failed during his tenure.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the May 4th Green Party Primary!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Low Income Folks Want Green Collar Jobs

Why Ohio Needs To Turn To Green Jobs

The green-collar jobs movement  got another major boost: a groundbreaking  report underscores how the growing green economy can provide high quality jobs for those who need them most. The author, Professor Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes of San Francisco State University, is a leading national expert on green-collar jobs.

This report deepens our understanding of how to harness green business growth to build pathways out of poverty. Prof. Pinderhughes' research provides us with critical guidance as we develop the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, the nation's first attempt to carry out the model that Professor Pinderhughes describes in her report.

Some highlights:

Green businesses need workers, offer training, and pay well.  Of the Berkeley green businesses surveyed by Professor Pinderhughes:

• 86 percent hire workers without previous direct experience or training for green-collar jobs.
• 94 percent provide on-the-job training for workers in entry level positions.
• 90 percent pay the full cost of insuring their workers.
• 73 percent of businesses stated that there was a shortage of qualified green-collar workers for their sector, with the greatest needs in energy, green building, mechanics and bike repair.
• The average hourly wage for green-collar work in Berkeley is $15.80 plus benefits. This is $4.00 higher an hour than Berkeley's current minimum "living wage," which is the highest in the nation.

To bring jobs back to Ohio, Ohio needs a Green Party Governor committed 100% to Green Energy, and not committed to dirty coal and nuke power like Ted Strickland  is.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contacvt 330-503-1407

And Ted Strickland Wants To Build More Nuke Plants In Ohio?

The Plain Dealer report says it all about problems at Davis-Bessie Nuke Plant:

As many as 16 critical parts in the Davis-Besse reactor lid are cracked or flawed, and the problem could get worse.

Engineers expect to find additional problems when they conduct a third round of high-tech inspections in the coming weeks.

The cracks can lead to radioactive coolant seeping into reactor lid, corroding it and ultimately leaking into the heavy-walled building containing the reactor. That’s what happened to Davis-Besse in 2002.

The reactor has been shut down since Feb. 28 for what owner FirstEnergy Corp. initially thought would be a fairly routine refueling and safety inspection. There is no re-start date at this point because of the time-consuming repairs that have barely begun and the planned additional inspections..

And Ted Strickland, our "Green" Governor wants to build a new nuke plant in Piketon or in your backyard someday?

As Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor, I say no more nukes for Ohio. Ted Strickland will say "Come on down, let's GLOW BABY GLOW!"

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Ted Strickland Never Met A Smokestack he Didn't Like

SunCoke Energy, a subsidiary of Sunoco Inc., wants to build a $340 million dollar coke production and electrical facility in South Middletown on the border of Monroe. The plant would produce metallurgical-grade coke to be supplied solely to AK Steel Inc. in Middletown via a conveyor system.

However, last month it was learned that,  the SunCoke Haverhill North Coke Company’s P901 and P902 plants — similar to the $360 million plant to be built in Middletown — “violated and continues to violate” its bypass venting permit requirements. Since Jan. 1, 2009, SunCoke has failed to comply with its permit in at least 116 instances, emitting 594 percent tons more of particulate matter and 134 percent tons more sulfur dioxide through its bypass stacks than allowed, said Gina Harrison, an environmental scientist with the U.S. EPA’s Region 5 office.

Where does Ted Strickland stand on the building of the Suncoke Middletown plant? He supports it.

Gov. Ted Strickland, whose office has openly supported the project, said he has been “in frequent contact” with SunCoke and AK Steel, a partner in the project.

“Just let me emphasize if I can, this facility will be the cleanest coke plant in America. It is using the most advance technology available. It will be constructed with all of those concerns in mind and so that the environment will be protected and it will be a major boost I hope for the Middletown community,” Strickland said in a phone interview Tuesday, Feb. 9.

While Strickland said he was aware of the objections posed by the city of Monroe and several residents there regarding the potential health hazards, he said he believes the Middletown plant will be state-of-the-art and pose no threat to human health.

Does this sound like a "Green" Governor to you? Does Ted Strickland really care about the citizens of Middletown and their health? Or is Ted Strickland once again demonstrating that he is in the pockets of dirty coal, nukes, and energy plants?

As the Green Party of Ohio's candidate for Governor, I stand with the vast majority of Middletown residents who do not want a dirty coke plant in their backyard.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party primary on May 4th!

For more info: contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Indiana and Illinois Add Massive Wind Power

The wind-energy industry last year installed about 5,700 turbines with more than 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity - enough to serve more than 2.4 million homes - according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas leads the nation with more than 9,000 megawatts of total wind generation capacity, including 2,292 megawatts added last year.

Indiana added 905 megawatts of capacity in 2009, second only to Texas in the amount of wind generation capacity added last year. Illinois added over 600 megawatts of capacity in 2009, and ranked 5th in additions.

Why not Ohio? Why did Ohio fail to score in the top 5? Is it because again we see that we do not have the "Green" Governor we are led to believe we have in Democrat Ted Strickland? Ted Strickland is all talk and very little action. Ted talks green energy but Ohio fails to walk the walk. While other states are building and producing green wind energy, Ohio plans are always "down the road."

It's time we elect a Green Power Governor in Ohio. Ohio will never realize it's Green Power potential as long as dirty coal and nuke power Governor Ted Strickland runs the show and the state.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Ontario Races Ahead to Close Coal-Fired Coal Plants

In another in a series of stunning announcements from Ontario, the provincial power authority has awarded connections and contracts for 2,500 MW of new renewable generation capacity under its precedent-setting feed-in tariff program.

More announcements are expected in the months to come as the Ontario Power Authority brings on an additional 1,500 MW of new transmission capacity and works its way through an 80 MW backlog of residential rooftop solar applications.

In typical Canadian understatement, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) says the contracts awarded may be "the single largest green initiative of its kind in Canada." In reality, the program may simply be the single largest green initiative in North America as the province races ahead in its plan to close its coal-fired power plants by 2014.

Why Not Ohio? Is it because we have a dirty coal power plant supporter in the likes of Governor Ted Strickland? Considering Ted has never met a dirty coal power campaign donation he didn't like, Ohio will never look to reduce coal power plants as long as Ted Strickland remains Governor. It's time for a Green Power Governor for Ohio!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

While Ohio Build Coal Plants, Other States Build Wind Farms

While the folks at Duke Energy still look at new ways to build more coal plants in Ohio, other states are getting energy companies to look at building green renewable power sources.

Constellation Energy Group (NYSE:CEG) , the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., said Wednesday it closed a deal to buy a $140 million wind energy project in Garrett County that is expected to start operating by the end of the year. Constellation is buying 28 2.5-megawatt wind turbines from Clipper Windpower Inc. The 70-megawatt project will generate 125 new jobs during construction. The project is part of Constellation's push to promote and expand its clean-energy offerings in the Mid-Atlantic area. Constellation struck a 20-year power purchase agreement with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative for renewable energy credits produced at the wind turbine facility.

We need a Governor in Ohio who will push power companies to build more green renewable energy sources, not more dirty coal plants which pollute the Ohio environment.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ohio Must Return to a Progressive Fair Tax System

Strickland/Kasich: which one is the Democrat? Which One is the Republican?

The Columbus Dispatch reported this week that former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson will headline a fundraiser for Gov. Ted Strickland on April 21 at Nationwide Arena.

The event will feature a $1,000-per-person private reception from 3:30 to 4p.m., including a photo and autograph opportunity with the former Los Angeles Lakers all-star. A $100-per-person general reception will follow from 4 to 5 p.m.

Lis Smith, Strickland campaign spokeswoman, said that the governor met Johnson at President Barack Obama's inauguration. "As a part-owner of the Dayton Dragons (Class A baseball team) and someone who shares Ted's interests in investing in education and strengthening small businesses, Mr. Johnson wanted to lend his help to Ted's re-election campaign," she said.

Also, friends of Republican John Kasich, Strickland's opponent in the Nov.2 election, are holding a "Boot Scootin' Birthday Bash" fundraiser for Kasich on May15. The event at the Highmark Farm, 7480 Badenoch Dr. in Dublin, includes a $500-per-couple VIP reception. General admission is $250 per couple.

I though Ted Strickland said last week he rememebers where his roots are? How many people from Portsmouth can afford a $1,000 meeting? 

Ted Strickland talks like he's a member of the poor working class of Ohio while John kasich represents Wall Street and Lehmen Brothers.

Is there really a difference between Strickland and Kasich? I don't think so.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Myths and Facts Regarding Single-Payer Health Care

Financing single-payer national health insurance:

Universal, Comprehensive Coverage
Only such coverage ensures access, avoids a two-class system, and minimizes expense

No out-of-pocket payments
Co-payments and deductibles are barriers to access, administratively unwieldy, and unnecessary for cost containment

A single insurance plan in the state, administered by a public or quasi-public agency
A fragmentary payment system that entrusts private firms with administration ensures the waste of billions of dollars on useless paper pushing and profits. Private insurance duplicating public coverage fosters two-class care and drives up costs; such duplication should be prohibited

Single site operating budgets for hospitals, nursing homes, allowed group and staff model HMOs and other providers with separate allocation of capital funds
Billing on a per-patient basis creates unnecessary administrative complexity and expense. A budget separate from operating expenses will be allowed for capital improvements

Free Choice of Providers
Patients should be free to seek care from any licensed health care provider, without financial incentives or penalties

Public Accountability, Not Corporate Dictates
The public has an absolute right to democratically set overall health policies and priorities, but medical decisions must be made by patients and providers rather than dictated from afar. Market mechanisms principally empower employers and insurance bureaucrats pursuing narrow financial interests

Ban on For-Profit Health Care Providers
Profit seeking inevitably distorts care and diverts resources from patients to investors

Protection of the rights of health care and insurance workers
A single-payer state health program would eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people who currently perform billing, advertising, eligibility determination, and other superfluous tasks. These workers must be guaranteed retraining and placement in meaningful jobs.

As long as Ted Strickland takes $10,000 donations from Medical Mutual and other insurance companies, you will never see Single-Payer Health Care in Ohio. It's time to remove Ted Strickland from office and in place put Single-Payer Health Care for all Ohioans.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Michigan Institute Calls for Feed-in Tariffs at Municipal Utility

Paul Gipe wrote last week that  the Michigan Land Institute has proposed that Traverse City Light & Power implement a system of feed-in tariffs to wean the municipal utility from its dependence on coal.

Traverse City Light & Power is a municipal utility serving the small town of 15,000 in the "little finger" of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Traverse City is the largest town in a 14-country region. The utility is better known for installing one of the first, if not the first, municipally-owned, commercial-scale wind turbines in 1996. The utility has done little with renewable energy since that pioneering project.

The Institute, a Traverse City non-profit, urged the utility's board of directors to both implement an aggressive program of energy efficiency and launch a program to develop clean sources of energy, including wind, solar, and biomass.

The Land Institute's recommendations are contained in a report titled 20-20 by 2020: a Clear Vision for Clean Energy Prosperity. The report, among other recommendations, urges the utility's board to adopt feed-in tariffs to encourage locally-owned wind and solar energy. The Institute argues that feed-in tariffs, in contrast to tax subsidies, allows both non-profits and profit-making enterprises to participate. Through feed-in tariffs, says the Land Institute, the utility need not raise its own capital to build solar and wind projects in the community, the utility's ratepayers make the investment themselves and revenues they earn return directly to the community where they live.

If Traverse City Light & Power moves on the recommendations, the utility would be following in the footsteps of Gainesville Regional Utilities, a Florida municipal utility that launched a highly regarded solar feed-in tariff in 2009.

Why Not Ohio? It's because we have a current pro-dirty coal and nuke Governor in Ted Strickland who will not go the extra mile to encourage locally-owned wind and solar energy. When you are a puppet to dirty-coal and nuke lobbyists like Ted Strickland is, saving the planet is not a concern.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Wind is 20Pecent of Iowa's Energy

The Center of Rural Affairs last week reported wind energy accounts for up to 20 percent of Iowa's total electricity production, and is helping to keep the state's power costs among the lowest in the nation.

Authors of the study said it debunks arguments that alternative energy and other measures to combat climate change are too expensive. The study was conducted by the Iowa Policy Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization based in Iowa City.

The study found that wind produced 3,670 megawatts of electricity in the state. If that power were used solely within the state it would produce enough electricity to power 940,000 homes roughly three-quarters of the state's homes.

The study noted that MidAmerican Energy is one of the most aggressive utility companies in the nation on wind energy, securing approval in December to install another 1,001 megawatts of production.

Iowa continues to rank second to Texas in wind production in the United States, the study found.

Coal-fired plants produce about 75 percent of the state's electricity, and there is one nuclear plant in the state.

In examining electricity costs, the study found that Iowans paid about 6 cents per kilowatt hour in 1998. That climbed to 7 cents per kilowatt hour by 2008. Over the same time period, national average electricity costs went from 7 cents per kilowatt hour to nearly 10 cents.

Why not Ohio? Why doesn't Ohio look to reach double-digit use of wind power? It's because Ohio continues to be led by Ted Strickland, a governor who is controlled by the dirty coal and nuke power lobbysists in the state.

It's time we elect a Green Party Governor who will say NO to dirty energy lobbyists and embrace real clean, green renewable energy!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Ohio? Why Do So Many In Ohio Receive Food Assistance?

Every week last year, 225,700 Ohioans received emergency food assistance from a pantry, soup kitchen or similar service.

A report released today by the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks illustrates the recession's devastating impact on the state.

In all, more than 1.4 million Ohioans received emergency food assistance at least once, and often more frequently, in 2009.

That's a jump of 18 percent from three years ago, the report found.

40 percent of those surveyed in Ohio say they must choose between food and medicine or other health care needs. Thirty-one percent have at least one household member in poor health."

Among the other findings:

* More than a third of those receiving assistance are children.

* 32 percent of households include at least one employed adult.

* Half of those surveyed say they have had to choose between buying food and paying for utilities.

The report is heartbreaking. Yet it underscores the fact that Ted Strickland's campaign to bring jobs back to Ohio is not working. We need to turn Ohio forward in the way we market the state and go after new blue-green jobs.

Ted Strickland's plan to cut more state funding for social programs underscores the need for more increased state revenues instead of Ted's current campaign of axing more social programs. The poor can no longer afford to have Ted Strickland in office another four years.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

How to Turn Ohio Green

We need a mixture of tax credits, grants and additional incentives to make bring
green manufacturing jobs to the state. We currently have a public utilities
property tax still on the books and it is a hindrance in luring solar companies
to Ohio.

Ohio continues to subsidize coal. Of the $150 million set aside to provide
grants and loans that typically range between $50,000 and $2 million for
advanced energy projects, $66 million was designated for "clean" coal
technology. Per the Ohio Constitution, state funding for coal projects can be in
the form of grants, but funding for other alternative energy projects, such as
solar, must be in the form of loans.

Why is Ohio lagging behind? The answer is simple, and it comes from Ted
Strickland's own mouth:

"Ohio been a passive state for quite a while, and this is just one of them," Mr.
Strickland said. "There was just no real[effort] pursuing alternative-energy
companies."

We need a proactive governor to bring Green jobs to Ohio. ..

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary May 4th!

For more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Michigan Encourages Solar Development

The Ohio Sierra Club reported this week  that Ohio's outdated tax law is actually deterring companies from bringing renewables the state. A solar array or wind farm in Michigan pays about one-seventh the taxes that the same facility would pay if it were located in Ohio. The current tax law was written decades before wind and solar technologies were commonplace. Modernizing our state's energy sector also requires modernizing the tax laws so that Ohio solar and wind companies have a fair playing field.

It's time Ohio supports tax abatements for wind and solar!

Unfortunately, Ohio's big energy companies are pushing the legislature to give the same tax breaks to the already heavily subsidized coal and nuclear industry.

We want more support for wind and solar in Ohio - not new nuclear or coal plants! 

While coal and nuclear have been receiving public subsidies and government support for years, renewable technologies remain under-supported. Reducing the tax burden for wind and solar technologies will allow Ohio to catch up with surrounding states, making our state truly clean and green!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http:://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Not Ohio? Colorado's New Renewable Energy Standard Among Nation's Strongest

From the Apollo Alliance last week:

Colorado's New Renewable Energy Standard Among Nation's Strongest

Though the pace of federal action on climate and clean energy issues continues to lag, states across the nation are keeping up the momentum with strong legislation on a diversity of clean energy fronts. Colorado topped the list this week by adopting a renewable energy standard (RES) that requires 30 percent of the state's energy to come from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2020. Colorado's RES, which also promotes rooftop solar by requiring three percent of the renewable energy to be acquired through distributed generation, is among the strongest in the nation.

"I salute the dedication and commitment of all lawmakers who support the expanded use of renewable resources and cleaner-burning natural gas," said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter in an op-ed that ran on Sunday in The Pueblo Chieftain. "The energy of our future generations will be cleaner and more sustainable because of their vision and their leadership. Colorado's workforce will usher in a new era of economic opportunity to compete in and be a leader in a fast-changing world."

Not only will the Colorado RES create strong demand for renewable energy, it also includes several provisions that will ensure that clean energy jobs are good jobs. One provision requires that a certain ratio of workers on solar installation projects be certified solar installers. According to Charlie Montgomery of the Colorado Environmental Coalition, who is also active with the Colorado Apollo Alliance, community colleges and apprenticeship programs in the state will prepare workers to take the certification test available through the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). Certified workers bring a high level of competency to their work and can usually demand higher pay than uncertified workers.

"This new law will provide safe, quality photovoltaic installations and create green careers for Colorado's working families," said Mary Broderick, renewable energy and marketing agent with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 68, which will help train a new generation of solar installers.

The bill also requires Colorado's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to consider job quality and community economic impacts when it considers proposals to build new electricity resources. Whereas in the past, the PUC was required to analyze a proposed project's cost effectiveness, now the PUC must also consider such factors as the project's ratio of in-state workers to out-of-state workers; the availability of long-term career opportunities; and the wages, health care and pension benefits being provided by the utility or company proposing the project.

Why not Ohio? If Ohio is to be the leader in renewable energy, we should have the strongest standard in the nation. But Ted Strickland can't commit to that, because he is in the back pockets of dirty coal and nuke lobbyists.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

What is Wrong With The Obama Health Bill

Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director of the 150,000 member National Nurses Untied, wrote last week: 

Unlike Social Security and Medicare which expanded a public safety net, this bill requires people -- in the midst of the mass unemployment and the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression -- to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket to big private companies for a product that may or may not provide health coverage in return.

Too many people will remain uninsured, individual and family healthcare costs will continue to rise largely unabated and private insurers will still be able to deny claims with little recourse for patients.

If, as the President and his supporters insist, the bill is just a start, let's hold them to that promise. Let's see the same resolve and mobilization from legislators and constituency groups who pushed through this bill to go farther, and achieve a permanent, lasting solution to our healthcare crisis with universal, guaranteed healthcare by expanding and improving Medicare to cover everyone.

Leaders of the National Nurses United have raised many of these concerns about the legislation for months. But, sadly, as the healthcare bill moved closer to final passage, the space for genuine debate and critique of the bill's very real limitations was largely squeezed out.

Much of the fault lies with the far right, from the streets to the airwaves to some legislators that steadily escalated from deliberate misrepresentations to fear mongering to racial epithets to hints of threatened violence against bill supporters.

For its part, the administration and its major supporters shut out advocates of more far reaching reform, while vilifying critics on the left.

Both trends are troubling for democracy, as is the pervasive corruption of corporate lobbying that so clearly influenced the language of the bill. Insurers, drug companies, and other corporate lobbyists shattered all records for federal influence peddling and were rewarded with a bill that largely protected their interests, along with a Supreme Court ruling that will allow corporations, including the health care industry, to spend unlimited sums in federal elections.

Rightwing opponents fought as hard to block this legislation as they would have against a Medicare for all plan. As more Americans recognize the bill does not resemble the distortions peddled by the right, and become disappointed by their rising medical bills and ongoing fights with insurers for needed care, there will be new opportunity to press the case for real reform. Next time, let's get it done right.

Let's Support Single-Payer Health Care for Ohio!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Why Ohio Needs Single-Payer: Where Obama's Bill Falls Short

Ohio still needs Single-Payer Health Care because President Obama's plan falls short of the mark.

Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director of the 150,000 member National Nurses Untied, wrote last week: 

That's why I support the Health-Care for All Ohioans Act=Ohio needs a health care system that will work for all Ohioans!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio Candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

How to Fix Ohio's Budget Mess

There's only one fair way to fix Ohio's budget mess, although Ted Strickland and John Kasich are both not man enough to do or say it: Raise Revenues.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidtae for Ohio Governor

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info, call 330-503-1407

Physicians For Single-Payer Health Care

From the Physicians For a National Health Care Program on the current federal health care bill apsted this past Sunday:

==============================================

This bill's passage reflects political considerations, not sound health policy. As physicians, we cannot accept this inversion of priorities. We seek evidence-based remedies that will truly help our patients, not placebos.

A genuine remedy is in plain sight. Sooner rather than later, our nation will have to adopt a single-payer national health insurance program, an improved Medicare for all. Only a single-payer plan can assure truly universal, comprehensive and affordable care to all.

By replacing the private insurers with a streamlined system of public financing, our nation could save $400 billion annually in unnecessary, wasteful administrative costs. That's enough to cover all the uninsured and to upgrade everyone else's coverage without having to increase overall U.S. health spending by one penny.

Moreover, only a single-payer system offers effective tools for cost control like bulk purchasing, negotiated fees, global hospital budgeting and capital planning.

Polls show nearly two-thirds of the public supports such an approach, and a recent survey shows 59 percent of U.S. physicians support government action to establish national health insurance. All that is required to achieve it is the political will.

The major provisions of the present bill do not go into effect until 2014. Although we will be counseled to "wait and see" how this reform plays out, we cannot wait, nor can our patients. The stakes are too high.

We pledge to continue our work for the only equitable, financially responsible and humane remedy for our health care mess: single-payer national health insurance, an expanded and improved Medicare for All.

================================================

This is why Ohioans need the Health Care for All Ohioans Act passed. We need a sound program for healthcare here in the Buckeye state. Ted Strickland does not support health care for all, he supports keeping the current program of high deductibles, high premiums, high co-pays, and high priced insurance companies operating in Ohio. I call for Single-payer healthc are NOW!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party of Ohio candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Will Ted Strickland Say NO to Murray Coal?

Murray Energy, Ohio's largest coal mining company, wants to divert a pristine, high-quality stream from its course in Belmont County and transform the dry streambed into an artificial storage lake for billions of gallons of dirty coal slurry. Murray's current slurry impoundment has released toxic slurry repeatedly over the past decade into nearby streams.

Slurry is a waste product formed when coal is "washed" with water and chemicals to remove rock and impurities. In January, the U.S. EPA declared its opposition to the project as currently proposed, saying it will have "substantial and unacceptable adverse impacts

What stance will Ted Strickland take? Will he oppose it, or support it?

As the Green Party candidate for Governor-I stand with the EPA and declare my opposition to the project. Let's see if Ted Strickland is man enough to do the same, or will he cave into his dirty coal lobbyists and support the project?

Dennis Spisak

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Go Green! America Could Produce 12 times More Wind Power

From Green Options:

A recent study from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) suggests that the continental U.S. has the potential to produce 37 million gigawatt-hours of electricity from wind power each year. That’s a huge leap from the 52,026 gigawatt-hours we used in 2008.

This study was just looking at potential for wind energy, but it’s exciting news for the wind industry regardless. It certainly makes bills requiring a high percentage of renewable energy from utilities like this one in Colorado seem much more doable!

Of course, the problem with wind is the same problem you run into with any renewable: storage. Wind is intermittent, and in order for us to effectively incorporate renewables into our power supply on any sort of large scale, we need a way to store excess power for the times when the wind’s not blowing. Battery technology has come a long way, and it’s looking like there are some really promising solutions in development on that front.

Between the potential energy payoff, advances in battery technology, and improvements in the turbines themselves, maybe we ought to be throwing more research dollars at wind power?

A Green Party governor would support more research dollars for wind power and not more dollars for dirty coal and nuke plants like Ted Strickland does.

Dennis S. Spisak-Green Party candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

A Single-Payer Healthcare System For Ohio

The Green Party of Ohio supports the Health Care for All Ohioans Act.

Under this single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.

Physicians would be paid fee-for-service according to a negotiated formulary or receive salary from a hospital or nonprofit HMO / group practice. Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional health planning boards.

A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private insurers and recapturing their administrative waste. Modest new taxes would replace premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and business. Costs would be controlled through negotiated fees, global budgeting and bulk purchasing.

Ted Strickland will keep the current system of healthcare in Ohio. I call for Single-Payer Healthcare for all Ohioans.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidate for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Primary on May 4th!

formore info,contact 330-503-1407.

Why Not Ohio? Indiana Graduates First Green Technicians

Last Monday, the Apollo Alliance was proud to co-sponsor an event honoring the first "Green Technician" graduates of an Indianapolis training program run by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 481 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Central Indiana. After receiving their certifications, the newly minted Green Technicians displayed an array of solar panels and a wind turbine they recently installed at the Electrical Training Institute, where they received their instruction.

"Each graduate of the Green Technician program will be an Industry Certified Technician, ready to work on anything from windmills to retrofits of existing buildings that need to become more energy efficient. We are incredibly proud of their achievement," said Jim Patterson, director of the Electrical Training Institute.

The green technician training program is an apprenticeship program that includes classroom instruction and on-the-job training. Apprentices are paid during the course of their training.

Why Not Ohio? Why are other states getting the jump on us in creating 21st century green technology jobs? Why are other states building more 21st century green manufacturing jobs quicker than Ohio?

The reason is Ted Strickland is passive when it comes to embracing Green Technologies. TellStrickland will always be a Dirty Coal and Nuke Governor first. We need a Green Party Governor to bring Green Technology jobs quicker to the Buckeye State.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Thank Ted Strickland: Ohio Has 3 Of The Dirtiest Coal Plants in Nation For Mercury Pollution

In a story from yesterday's Columbus Dispatch:

Three Ohio power plants are among the top 50 "dirtiest" in the U.S. for the mercury they emit from their smokestacks, according to a report released today.

American Electric Power's Gavin plant along the Ohio River in Gallia County more than doubled its output, emitting 937 pounds of mercury in 2008 compared to 435 pounds it released in 2007.

That was enough to rank Gavin 12 on the Environmental Integrity Project's list.

The Washington D.C.-based advocacy group used pollution data on 467 coal fired power plants that utilities report each year to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's toxic release inventory to compile its rankings. AEP's Conesville plant in Coshocton County, pictured above, was No. 14 on the list with 898 pounds of mercury emitted.

FirstEnergy's Sammis plant, along the Ohio River in Jefferson County ranked No. 44 with 498 pounds of mercury in 2008. Mercury is linked to nerve and kidney damage in children and is linked to brain damage and mental retardation in fetuses.

The U.S. EPA considers coal fired power plants "the largest human-caused source of mercury emissions to the air in the United States."

It's one of the most common pollutants found in Ohio's lakes, streams and fish. That's prompted a statewide Ohio EPA advisory that residents should eat no more than one meal of locally caught fish per week.

And Ted Strickland is a "Green" Governor? Thanks to Ted Strickland being in bed with the dirty coal lobbyists Ohio continues to pollute the air and streams of this great state with mercury. And it will only get worse with Ted Strickland as Governor, Ted propses to keep 75% of Ohio's power sources to remain coal fired plants. It's time we elect a Green Party Governor to Ohio to help clean our state's natural resources.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th

for more info, contact 330-503-1407

Ted Strickland & John Kasich: Both Supporters of Big Agribusiness

Ohioans for Humane Farms is spearheading a new, citizen-backed ballot initiative to prevent some of the cruelest factory farming practices in Ohio.

The measure will require the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt certain minimum standards that will prevent animal cruelty, improve health and food safety, support family farms and safeguard the environment throughout the state of Ohio.

But wait, both Ted Strickland and John Kasich oppose the Ohioans for Humane Farms. Why? because both support Big Agribusiness, who in turn, support both Ted and John with hefty campaign contributions.

Ted and John haven't met a coroporate donor they didn't like. That's why they both oppose the Ohioans for Humane Farms, yet support Dirty Coal and Nuke Plants. There is no difference between Ted aand John. Both are true conservatives!

It's time we elect a Governor who stands with and for the safety of the people. It's time we elect a Green Party Governor who supports the Ohioans for Humane Farms.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Governor

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info: contact 330-503-1407.

Why Not Ohio? Colorado Sets New Energy Economic Program

Advancing Colorado's New Energy Economy
	Mar 11, 2010	Denver Post
	By Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. Congratulations to the state legislature for giving final approval this week to landmark legislation that keeps Colorado at the epicenter of America's New Energy Economy and once again demonstrates how we are transforming the country's energy, economic and environmental future. House Bill 1001 requires our largest utility companies to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. Our new 30 percent standard will be the best in the Rocky Mountain West and one of the highest nationally. More importantly, it will continue to position Colorado as a national pace-setter for creating jobs, strengthening our economy and protecting our environment. We are leading America toward a clean energy future by strengthening our ability to compete nationally and internationally for service and manufacturing jobs. We are spurring new innovations and new energy technologies. We are moving closer to energy independence by expanding homegrown energy supplies. And we are ensuring stable, reliable, sustainable and affordable energy for all Coloradans. HB 1001 is just the latest step in our ambitious efforts to build a New Energy Economy here in Colorado. Our commitment to a clean energy future has attracted companies like Vestas, the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines, and SMA Solar, one of the world's leading producers of solar inverters. These two companies are adding up to 3,200 Colorado jobs to the state's workforce. And they aren't alone. Innovative companies like Solix Biofuels and Abound Solar are spinning out of our research universities. Firms like Ascent Solar, Siemens Wind, RePower, SunRun and Solar City are providing new opportunities, strengthening communities and changing the state's economic landscape. We've also linked Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, and the Colorado School of Mines to form a unique "collaboratory" with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. Thanks to this unique, cutting-edge collaborative effort, Colorado is now home to the best energy research corridor in the world. With Xcel Energy's support, HB 1001 will allow us to advance this New Energy Economy, in large part by expanding the use of distributed or local renewable energy such as rooftop solar. We anticipate the new 30 percent renewable energy standard will lead to large-scale clean energy projects and at least 100,000 additional solar rooftops over the next decade. The benefit of rooftop solar is that it doesn't need expensive, long-range transmission systems. The legislation also provides a statutory framework that will not increase costs to consumers. In fact, because of the success of our New Energy Economy, we have seen prices come down in renewable energy, allowing for even greater purchasing power. While no state or nation has been immune to the global recession, Colorado's New Energy Economy has been our brightest light. We now have the fourth-highest concentration of renewable energy and energy research jobs in the country. With the passage of HB 1001, this sector will only grow stronger and stronger. ================================================ Why Not Ohio? Because Ted Strickland is tied to closely to Dirty Coal and Nuke Lobbyists. As long as Ted Strickland is Governor, we will continue to see Green Jobs go to Colorado and not come to Ohio. That's why we need a Green Party Governor in Ohio. Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidate for Ohio Governor Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th! Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/ Http://www.dennisspisak.com For more info: contact 330-503-1407.

89,000 New Foreclosures in Ohio in 2009

Sixty-four of Ohio's 88 counties saw an increase in
foreclosure filings last year, and in 34 counties, filings
grew by double-digit rates. While urban counties continue to
lead the state in foreclosure filings, smaller and less
urban counties are experiencing larger growth rates.

A new report released today by Policy Matters Ohio analyzes
foreclosure filings and other housing trends in Ohio and its
counties. Statewide, foreclosure filings continued to grow
in 2009 with 89,053 new foreclosure filings, a 3.8 percent
increase since 2008. Compared to ten years ago, when Ohio
had 31,229 new foreclosures, this is a 185 percent increase.
The latest numbers indicate that there was one foreclosure
filing for every 56 housing units in the state last year.

The gain in filings is particularly crippling to the state,
coming after years of increased filings and the broadest
foreclosure prevention attempts to date, according to the
study. Statewide, filings have more than quintupled since
1995.The study reviews federal efforts such as the HAMP
program to curb foreclosures, finding dismal results. Nearly
one-third of Ohio mortgage holders are "under water", owing
more than their houses are worth, and one in every six
homeowners is either delinquent or in foreclosure.

Foreclosures and their impacts on homeowners and communities can be reduced by requiring that lenders and borrowers go through mandatory mediation, by creating a disincentive to foreclosure by requiring banks to pay to properly maintain homes they foreclose on, and by giving foreclosed homeowners the right to rent their homes for some years after foreclosure. Strengthening state enforcement against fraud and other abuses, while giving whistleblower protections to employees at lending institutions, will further help deter predatory and fraudulent practices.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidate For Ohio Governor

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

For more info: contact 330-503-1407

Ted Strickland Stops 1,500 Jobs From Entering Ohio

One only has to read Monday's Toledo Blade article on solar power in Ohio to see that Ted Strickland is not the "Green" Governor he positions himself to be.

According to the article:

=======================================================

Norm Johnson,, chairman of the nonprofit group Ohio Advanced Energy, vice chairman of Germany's Calyxo GmbH, and chief executive of its North American subsidiary, said Mr. Strickland is to blame for Ohioans not having thousands more jobs in the solar industry right now.

He said the governor hasn't moved quickly enough to create a market for solar panels in Ohio and has left the door open for German and Chinese companies to sell their products here once more customers begin buying solar panels.

"While our industry has received excellent help from [U.S. Rep.] Marcy Kaptur, we've received mediocre help from Ted Strickland," Mr. Johnston said.

His primary complaint is the Strickland administration's rejection of his $750 million proposal to build 30 solar fields - each capable of producing at least 10 megawatts of electricity - on cleaned-up industrial sites throughout the state.

The plan, put forth by Ohio Advanced Energy, included an estimate of 1,500 jobs immediately and called for the project to be funded by federal stimulus dollars, state-issued bonds, and other methods

=======================================================

While Ted Strickland won't help solar companies with funding, but Ted will bend over backwards to help Nuke and Dirty Coal Plants get funding in Ohio. That's why Ohio has only created 8,000 solar jobs in Ohio, while states like Michigan and New Jersey have created some 13, 000 and 16, 000 respectively!TEd Strickland is not a "Green Energy" Governor!

It's time we elect a Green Party Governor to get Solar Power untracked here in the Buckeye State!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor!

Upset the setup! Vote Green in the May 4th Ohio Primary!

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info: contact 330-503-1407

==================================================

Ted Strickland is on record saying he wants more Nuclear Plants for Ohio.

Can we and our children afford to have unsafe nuclear plants be the goal of any future governor? I oppose building any new Nuclear Plants in Ohio.

Ted Strickland doesn't. Who is looking out for your children and family?

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Governor

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

Vote in the Ohio Green Party Primary on May 4th!

for more info: contact 330-503-1407

It's time for Ohio to just say no to Ted Strickland and his nuclear energy program. Ted Strickland and the nuclear lobby thinks that the public has forgotten about Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. And it doesn't want you to hear about the recent incident in Vermont, where radioactive tritium -- a cancer-causing carcinogen -- leaked from a reactor and polluted groundwater.

The nuclear danger is real for all Americans -- even those of us who don't live near a reactor. Dealing with nuclear waste means transporting it by train across the country. One derailment in a heavily populated area could have catastrophic consequences. It's our job to remind the public about these risks and why we've had a 30-year moratorium on new reactors.


Ted Strickland and the corporations angling to profit from new reactors are some of the wealthiest in the country. So why are they asking for our tax money? Because Wall Street banks won't risk investing in new reactors unless the government backs them up with a pre-emptive bailout. It's no wonder. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the risk of default on new nuclear loans is "well above 50 percent." If Wall Street doesn't want to take the risk, why should taxpayers?

It's time for Ted Strickland to stop selling Nuclear Power to the people of Ohio. It's time for Ohio to stop Ted Strickland from ever placing another Nuke Plant in Ohio. It's time for Ohio to Move Foward and Remove Ted Strickland from the Governor's office in November!

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidate for Ohio Governor

Vote in the Green Party Primary in Ohio on May 4th!

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info: contact 330-503-1407.

Ted Strickland want to build more Nuclear plants for Ohio. What does that mean? If the costly new nuclear plants aren't finished, then taxpayers cover the huge financial loss.

If they are built, then we're stuck with power plants that generate overpriced electricity and create deadly radioactive waste that will remain toxic for thousands of years.

Either way, the nuclear industry wins, and we lose.


Nuclear power creates deadly radioactive waste, from the mining process onwards.   It's got a scary history: think Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

Just recently, a nuclear plant in Vermont was ordered shut down after radioactive tritium, which is linked to cancer, leaked from the plant into local water supplies.

Nuclear power is so financially risky that even Wall Street won't bet on it.  It's a public health and financial disaster waiting to happen.

Instead, our government should promote energy efficiency and a decentralized power system based on safe, clean, renewable energy.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor!

Vote in the Green Party Primary on May 4th!

Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/

Http://www.dennisspisak.com

for more info: contact 330-503-1407

As Green Party Governor of Ohio, I would advocate smaller high speed rail plans for Ohio than Ted Strickland's monsterous 3-C project. By doing smaller projects such as a Cleveland-Youngstown-Pittsburgh and a Columbus-Pittsburgh model, we could test the benefits of high speed rail before committing to a huge cross-state project.

High Speed Rail would be more attractive than more highways because:

1. Less use of land space.
2. Cost of a mass rail transit system would cost ¼ of what it would be to build another 4-lane highway.
3. Faster travel.
4. Less maintenance costs (no orange barrels out every 6 months)
5. Less cars on the road. Less pollution in the air.

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidate for Ohio Governor

Ted Strickland and Jean Schmidt: Kissing Cousins when it comes to Nuclear Power Plants

Last June, WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported on the story of state and federal officials gathering in Piketon, Ohio to support a nuclear plant site there. Ted Strickland was holding hands with GOP queen Jean Schmidt praising nuclear power:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Officials made a step forward Thursday concerning the future of energy production in the Buckeye state.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Congresswoman Jean Schmidt were among the leaders who gathered in Piketon, Ohio to announce plans to explore the option of a nuclear power plant there.

Piketon is about 100 miles east of Cincinnati.
 
The announcement took place at 10 a.m. at the former uranium enrichment plant which is the site possibly intended for the new energy plant. It has the necessary infrastructure for a nuclear plant.
 
The plant would take 10 years to build. It would employ about 4,000 people during construction and about 800 people when the plant is complete.

Duke Energy would reportedly be a partner in the plant along with a French firm. As of now, officials have not decided to move forward with the nuclear plant.  They have only announced a group to explore the possibility of a plant in Piketon.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now we know why Duke Energy is a huge contributor in financial donations to the Strickland Campaign: They have a Nuke Plant