Tsunami Disaster Should Be Occasion to Restore International
Cooperation, Rejoin and Strengthen Kyoto.
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-487-0693, mclarty@greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Greens joined other Americans
and people from all over the world in sending donations and support to
the victims of the tsunami that devastated coastal regions of the Indian
Ocean on December 26.
"We in the Green Party's Black Caucus send our
prayers to the victims of the South Asian earthquake and tsunamis and
urge support for their families and communities," said Sundiata
Tellem, co-chair of the Black Caucus.
"We urge the international community to
immediately take all necessary steps to extend the protections of the
Early Warning System to the Indian Ocean and the areas struck by this
recent tsunami," added Michele Tingling-Clemmons, who also
co-chairs the Black Caucus.
Greens credited the generous contributions and
pressure from millions of Americans for the Bush Administration's
decision to expand its aid package to $350 million.
"We need to sustain this aid in the coming
years, and help rebuild Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Thailand, and
other nations," said Jody Grage Haug, co-chair of the Green Party
of the United States. "This isn't charity -- it's moral and
political necessity, and it requires foreign policies based on
international cooperation and good will instead of military and economic
dominance. Imagine what we could do for the tsunami victims with the
billions we're now spending on the failed Iraq occupation."
Greens urged the U.S. to see the disaster as a
motivation to return to the table, renegotiate and endorse the Kyoto
protocols, and work to stem catastrophic global climate change, which
promises comparable devastation of coastal area far into the future if
causes are not urgently addressed.
"Even though the earthquake and tsunami were
unrelated to global warming, the disaster offers lessons about human
vulnerability and dependence on the earth, as well as the need for
international cooperation," said Peggy Lewis, co-chair of the Green
Party of the United States. "The U.S. must join the Kyoto accord,
and press for measures, such as drastic reduction in CO2 emissions, that
are based on the need to sustain life, health, and ecological balance
rather than the desire to sustain corporate profit margins and current
consumption levels."
MORE INFORMATION
The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
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