WE ONLY HAVE ONE PLANET.

ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, &
AGRICULTURE

We are in the midst of an historic ecological crisis. At the root is materialism and unrestrained capitalism. Only if we address those fundamental problems will we have a chance. Many people believe a major societal collapse is on the horizon. Unless we take decisive steps, starting right now, I fear they may be proven correct. There is a great deal we must do, starting as soon as possible, to slow our continued slide into the abyss:

Climate Change & Environmental Protection

• Tackle the climate crisis immediately. It is the most profound and urgent problem facing humanity. We need to start treating it that way.

• Advance renewable energy through tax incentives, subsidies, and research.

• Cut subsidies for fossil fuel industries. They make a killing already. They should not benefit from government support.

• Force the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job.

• Fight offshore drilling tooth and nail. It's the last thing South Jersey (or the world) needs.

• Implement new taxes on the immense profits of oil, gas, and coal companies, with regulations established to prohibit them from passing on the expenses to consumers. Use the proceeds for climate change mitigation and to support the survivors of the climate crisis, especially in marginalized communities, both in the United States and around the world.

• Restore the National Monuments illegally shrunk by the Trump administration.

• Protect and preserve wildlife habitat here and around the world.

Food & Farming

• End subsidies for destructive industrial farming. 

• Incentivize regenerative organic agriculture and small family farms, and support farmers who choose to transition to sustainable methods.

• Stop recklessly imposing tariffs on China and other countries. Trade wars hurt farmers most.

• Stand up for the Right to Farm and the Right to Repair farm equipment. [links]

• Fight the proliferation of genetically engineered (GMO) crops, beginning with mandatory labeling, moving toward regional GMO-farming bans, and ultimately a national ban on wind-pollinated and insect-pollinated GMO crops. 

• Ban dicamba and glyphosate for any agricultural use, while launching a thorough, unbiased, scientific survey of the safety and efficacy of all chemicals approved for agricultural use.

• Remove the corporate influence from the FDA and the USDA because such a critical industry should not be self-regulating. Corporate/government collusion over the food system threatens us all.

• Increase opportunities and protections for migrant farmworkers.

• Legalize marijuana and hemp farming without imposing restrictions on their sustainable cultivation.

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• Explore ways to help would-be farmers access land, including the creation of a National Land Bank to acquire vacant, abandoned, foreclosed, repossessed, or tax-delinquent land and hand it over to new farmers (who would be obligated to use organic & regenerative practices). Land owners with more land than they need or can take care of could donate land to the Land Bank for a significant tax write-off. Ushering in a new era of sustainable homesteading would improve society immeasurably.

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