Western Colorado Alliance 2021 Platform

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Western Colorado Alliance 2021 Platform

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From 1983 through 2017, Alliance members adopted resolutions at our annual conference to shape the organization’s policy and issue work. While the resulting 100+ resolutions covered a wide range of topics, they did not easily convey our values and purpose which are bigger and more inspiring than any one issue or position.

At our 2016 annual conference, we adopted a resolution to transition from this resolution-based process to a platform that would be reviewed and reaffirmed each year. The 2021 Platform was ratified at the Western Colorado Alliance’s 40th Annual Conference on September 19, 2020.

We always welcome feedback from the membership. If you have any comments, please send it to us at platform@westerncoloradoalliance.org.

Our mission: Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action brings people together to build grassroots power through community organizing and leadership development.

Our vision: We believe that right now, today, we have the ability and opportunity to create a future where engaged local voices are leading communities that are healthy, just, and self-reliant.

1. We believe in an authentic GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY where each one of us has an equal right and opportunity to impact public decisions that affect our lives, and where government is open, honest and responsive to the needs of the people. More specifically, we support:

a. Reducing the influence of moneyed interests in elections and the legislative process.

b. The protection of individual voting rights and fair representation practices (e.g., in drawing legislative district boundaries and in reforming the Electoral College).

c. The protection of a free press as an integral part of any democracy.

2. We believe that global CLIMATE CHANGE is the most important worldwide environmental crisis of our time. Science has shown that human activity is a major cause of climate change and, as such, we have an immediate and urgent responsibility to act to address its causes and impacts. We recognize that climate change has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low-income communities and any solution must be based in CLIMATE JUSTICE. Specifically, we support:

a. Pro-active policies, regulations, and practices that:

  • promote biologic carbon sequestration (see also planks under Local Food & Agriculture and Public Lands);
  • eliminate the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases;
  • minimize the environmental, economic and social impacts of climate change (climate justice); and
  • foster societal and ecological resiliency to adapt to and survive climate change.

b. Genuine consideration of the cumulative impacts of climate change in all decision-making in every sector of our society.

3. We believe in the inalienable right of individuals and communities to a CLEAN AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT including air, water, land and food supplies. More specifically, we support:

a. The protection of the world’s water quality and availability, as well as the integrity of aquatic ecosystems.

b. The protection of our air quality, including the reduction of toxic emissions and those that contribute to climate change.

c. The principles of “reduce, reuse and recycle” to conserve the world’s limited resources and limit the harmful effects of production and disposal of consumer products.

4. We believe in SOCIAL JUSTICE that respects human rights, uplifts all people to their potential, and values everyone’s participation in their communities and in decision-making processes. Our belief in Social Justice requires us to not only support equitable policies but also to eliminate systemic oppression and racism. More specifically, we support:

a. Systems that equitably value the contributions and dignity of all workers, including the right to collective bargaining, substantial paid family and medical leave, and an adequate living wage.

b. A comprehensive approach to creating health equity that encompasses a wide range of social and economic factors such as education, social welfare, housing, income, environmental conditions, nutritious food, social and emotional health care,and universal access to health care.

c. Environmental justice policies that protect poor and minority communities from bearing an inordinate burden on their health from industrial development.

d. Comprehensive and thoughtful reform of our nation’s immigration and refugee policies to reflect the values of the United Nations’ Global Compact for Migration.

5. We believe in HOMEGROWN ECONOMIC PROSPERITY, reflected in a Western Slope that is home to diverse and resilient local economies that work for all of us while protecting the natural environment that makes our communities desirable places to live.

a. Note: We are continuing our work to create a grassroots vision of Homegrown Prosperity for Western Colorado but our keystone event for the program was canceled as a result of COVID-19. In the meantime, we suggest the adoption of the National Economic Transition Platform, a vision for rural economies built by a national coalition of grassroots communities around the country, including our Alliance and the Western Organization of Resource Councils.

6. We believe our communities have exciting opportunities to shape A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE. We believe we can substantially reduce energy usage and, through the use of clean and renewable sources, reduce air pollution, eliminate the harmful effects of fossil fuel extraction, create new jobs and industries, and lessen our contribution to climate change. More specifically, we support:

a. Governmental policies that provide incentives for clean energy projects, and regulations that require/encourage energy conservation and efficiency practices in homes, transportation and industries.

b. Restructuring/scrapping of utility contracts that are prolonging fossil fuel use and discouraging increased renewables.

c. Regulation of public utilities in a manner that protects both consumer interests and environmental sustainability.

d. Proactive upgrades of energy delivery systems to anticipate changes in energy technology.

7. We believe that our nation’s PUBLIC LANDS must be managed in ways that respect our collective histories and recognize the Native peoples who have called these lands home for millennia. These lands connect our cultures and communities and we all depend on them for a sustainable future. Public lands support healthy wildlife populations and their habitat and forests crucial to the health of our atmosphere. They protect the headwaters of many vital watersheds and provide the safest refuge for essential biodiversity. These lands also sustain a strong and growing outdoor recreation economy that enhances everyone’s quality of life and nourishes the human soul. More specifically, we:

a. Recognize that public lands are the ancestral territory of Native peoples who have called them homes since time immemorial. For this reason we insist on their involvement in the decision making for our public lands.

b. Insist that public lands remain public. Transfer of federal lands to states, or worse, private interests, compromises all of the values mentioned above.

c. Support responsible management of public lands that prioritizes ecological integrity and resilience of those lands and our climate.

d. Support maintaining the size and integrity of existing wilderness areas, parks, and monuments along with connecting wildlife corridors, as well as expanding such protections to other areas that have appropriate characteristics.

8. We believe that food production and marketing systems that prioritize LOCAL FOODS AND AGRICULTURE are best able to sustain healthy communities and economies, protect the environment and safeguard the rights of farm workers. More specifically, we support:

a. Policies and practices that support soil health and regenerative agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, improve crop yields, drought and flood tolerance, and air and water quality.

b. An individual’s rights to be able to make informed food choices through improved labelling on how and where their food is raised and processed.

c. Livestock production systems that are as humane as possible and minimize the need for antibiotics and other chemical intervention.

d. A Farm Bill that includes the programs and policies prioritized by the WORC Farm Bill Platform.

e. International trade and domestic policies that strengthen human and environmental health, food sovereignty, workers’ rights and competitive marketplaces in all countries involved.

9. We believe that local communities should have a fair say in where, how, and if NATURAL RESOURCE EXTRACTION occurs in their area, and that when these economic activities are permitted, they should employ the best available technologies for protecting public and environmental health. Specifically, we support:

a. Comprehensive bonding and reclamation fees so impacted areas can be restored as much as possible to their pre-development conditions.

b. Requiring royalty payments from private industry that reflect the full worth of the public resource being extracted or harvested.

c. Stringently enforced regulation of all extractive practices using evidence-based safety and environmental standards, including setbacks from industrial activities and the emission of contaminants to air and water.

d. Transparent and inclusive processes for decision-making that genuinely and adequately address the concerns of the community in the final decision.

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