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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	667
Proposal	2012 Platform amendment proposal: Eco-Action - Transportation
Presenter	Sponsored by Eco-ACtion -- Platform Committee
Floor Manager	Budd Dickinson
Phase	Closed
Discussion	05/14/2012 - 05/27/2012
Voting	05/28/2012 - 06/03/2012
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	31 0.6666
Consens Quorum	39 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

The purpose of this amendment is to update the GPUS Ecological Sustainability Section, part D. 3. to change the title from “Automobiles” to “Motor Vehicles”, to substitute letters for bullet points, and to improve subsections d, e, f, g, and i on gasoline efficiency and pollution.

Proposal

Amend Ecological Sustainability Chapter III, Section D. Transportation

Original wording:

D. Transportation

Automobiles

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

13. Mandate HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes on freeways, and lower toll fees for carpools.

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

15. Substantially increase the taxes on gasoline, but allow some compensation for low income drivers.

16. Support ambitious increases in motor vehicle fuel efficiency, including the use of hybrid electric designs. Legislate a "gas guzzler" tax on new vehicles that get a lower MPG than the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards and offer "gas sipper" rebates for vehicles that get a higher MPG.

17. Schedule an increase in CAFE standards to 60 MPG for cars and 45 MPG for light trucks by the year 2015.

18. Develop and market to the general public fuel efficient cars as well as solar, electric and other non-fossil fuel powered vehicles for local travel. Support government procurement of high efficiency motor vehicles. Electric components of vehicles should not be put "on the grid" while we still have polluting electricity generation sources providing power to that grid.

19. 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.

Proposed changes:

D. Transportation.

3. Motor Vehicles

a. Place a moratorium on highway widening, appropriating funds instead for mass transit and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.

b. Mandate HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes on freeways, and lower tolls for carpools.

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

d. Regularly increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to levels which truly challenge automakers to improve the state of the art, using the fuel economy performance of vehicles worldwide for reference. Eliminate the distinction between cars and light trucks, the footprint loophole, the E85 loophole and the 8500-pound exemption.
Eliminate the perverse incentives for alternative fuels that increase the nation's petroleum consumption. Enact a Fee & Dividend system on the carbon content of gasoline, Diesel fuel and E85.

e. Enact a fuel-economy-based Federal sales tax that creates a significant incentive for people to select more-efficient vehicles, and for automakers to make them available in the United States.

f. Lead by example, using government procurement to put more high-efficiency and alternative-fuel vehicles into service.

g. Electrify truck stops, freight terminals and loading docks. Enact & enforce anti-idling regulations. Idling engines consume nearly a billion gallons of gasoline & Diesel fuel and emit ten million tons of carbon dioxide annually. (2007 data)

h. Encourage carpooling programs, telecommuting, and other creative solutions to reduce commuter traffic congestion.

i. Remove the most-polluting vehicles from the road by requiring every vehicle to comply with the emission standards in effect when it was manufactured before issuing or renewing its license.

Resources

IMPLEMENTATION / TIMELINE / RESOURCESā€Ø
Approval of this proposal will amend the 2012 Draft Platform, to be presented for approval at the 2012 Presidential Nominating Convention.

References

REFERENCESā€Ø
2010 Platform: http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2010/index.php
ā€ØProposition 636: http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=636

CONTACTā€Øā€Ø
Platform Committee
ā€ØJan Martell, co-chair, 919-682-2472, ninth.st@frontier.com
ā€ØBruce Hinkforth, co-chair, 262-569-1370, bhinkforth@milwpc.comā€Ø
Section editor Tim Willard, dravidic@yahoo.com

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