Western Colorado Alliance 2020 Platform - Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action

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 which would be reviewed and reaffirmed each year. An ad hoc committee of the Board of Directors is submitting the following platform for initial approval at this year’s Business Meeting on August 24.

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

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.

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:

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

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

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

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:

Policies, regulations and practices that minimize the environmental, economic and social impacts of climate change.

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

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

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.

We believe in SOCIAL JUSTICE that respects human and civil 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 existing systems of oppression. More specifically, we support:

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

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 and universal access to health care.

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

Comprehensive and thoughtful reform of our nation’s immigration policies.
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.

Note: The Alliance is hosting a series of workshops between now and the Annual Conference to develop guiding principles for this campaign. Therefore, specific points under this plank will be developed after these workshops.

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:

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

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

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

We believe that PUBLIC LANDS are one of the best ideas our country has ever had. These 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:

Insist that public lands STAY PUBLIC. Transfer of federal lands to states, or worse, private interests, compromises all of the values mentioned above.
Support responsible management of public lands that prioritizes ecological integrity and resilience of those lands.

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

Insist on the involvement of First Peoples/Nations in the decision making for our public lands.

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

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

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

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

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

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:

Comprehensive bonding and reclamation fees so impacted areas can be restored as much as possible to their pre-development conditions.
Requiring royalty payments from private industry that reflect the full worth of the public resource being extracted or harvested.

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.

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

About the author

Arn McConnell

Arn's career includes more than 35 years of experience in broadcast media, online advertising and branding in both Western Colorado and New York City. He is a four-time Colorado Broadcast Award winner and has also won multiple Colorado Press Association Awards. Arn also teaches Film Expression at the college level. He lives with a dramatic pit bull and a grandiose cat and enjoys painting, animating, and exploring cinema in his spare time.