Will we act before it is too late?
Our oil-addicted economy is beginning to unravel under the pressure of increasing oil prices and depletion of petroleum reserves. American blood and dollars are being squandered in endless wars to protect oil supplies. Climate change is already causing major disasters, and appears to leading to an environmental catastrophe that will wreck the economy and destabilize human civilization. We can’t continue down this road much longer. If we do, our resources will be exhausted simply reacting to mounting problems, and we will be caught in an irreversible downward spiral. We need take a different path - a path away from oil addiction and toward a Secure Green Future.
The Secure Green Future public policy question will appear on the ballot in 11 House districts across the state. It calls for decisive action to break our oil addiction while simultaneously addressing the climate crisis. By voting for the SGF, people can speak out in favor of full mobilization of our society’s resources to arrest climate change and build local green economies that include sustainable regional food systems. A bright and healthy future is possible - if we act before it is too late.
Your voice needs to be heard. If you are in one of the SGF House districts, be sure to vote “Yes” on November 4. No matter where you live, you can sign
the SGF statewide petition. If you’d like to help spread the word on SGF, please respond to the
volunteer or
donation pages on this website. By speaking up, we let our elected officials know that there is public support for decisive action. With each person who takes a stand, the Secure Green Future comes a little closer.
The Secure Green Future Question
Shall the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that:
- reduces greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts by 80% by 2020, and
- phases out tax incentives for energy-intensive projects, while expanding job creation
programs for locally-owned businesses and cooperatives involved in renewable energy,
conservation, and sustainable agriculture?
Q&A of the day
Q: The Secure Green Future ballot question is
asking for an 80% cut in greenhouse gasses in
12 years (by 2020) while most presidential
candidates and legislators in Congress are
promising to reach such goals only by mid-
century. What’s wrong with the more leisurely
pace?
A: There is a certain political comfort that comes
from not offending well-connected lobbyists and
putting off decisive action until some other
administration takes office. But there comes a
time when we must act on the scientific findings to
avoid a clear and present danger. The longer we
wait, the more likely it is that the planet will pass a
crucial tipping point, and that the slide toward
catastrophe will be irreversible. Today, we can
use our resources build a secure future.
Tomorrow, the resources required will soar
beyond our means, and our wealth will be sucked
into disaster relief. We simply can’t afford to let
major cuts in greenhouse gases wait for the
future. We need to take decisive action now.
Congratulations to the volunteers who successfully placed SGF on the ballot in these 11 districts:
- 8th Bristol (Rodrigues - Fall River, Westport)
- 1st Hampshire (Kocot - Hatfield, Montgomery, Northampton, Southampton, Westhampton)
- 3rd Hampshire (Story - Amherst)
- 3rd Middlesex (Walrath - Bolton, Hudson, Maynard, Stow)
- 9th Middlesex (Stanley - Lexington, Waltham)
- 15th Middlesex (Kaufman - Arlington, Lexington, Woburn)
- 23rd Middlesex (Garballey - Alrington, Medford)
- 24th Middlesex (Brownsberger - Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge)
- 32nd Middlesex (Clark - Melrose, Wakefield)
- 15th Norfolk (Smizik - Brookline)
- 3rd Worcester (Dinatale - Fitchburg)
Write to sgf-info@masschc.org to be put in touch with a local coordinator!
To help us pass the Secure Green Future question in all 11 districts,
we need funding for printing, website expenses, and organizer time.
Please help by donating to the Committee for a Secure Green Future.
For More Information:
Relevant Links:
Acknowledgments: The Committee for a Secure Green Future (CSGF) is a nonpartisan committee formed to put the Secure Green Future question before voters. We thank the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities (MCHC) for hosting this website. The SGF question was originated by the Advisory Ballot Working Group of the Green-Rainbow Party.
