Hawkins for Auditor

Statement by Howie Hawkins, June 17, 2014

Pete Seeger must have rolled over in his grave Monday when Governor Cuomo announced a half-billion dollars from a state clean water fund will be diverted to the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project. That money was meant for drinking water, sewage, and other clean-water projects. In the 1960s, the recently deceased folk singer pioneered the movement to clean up the Hudson River. Many have urged that the reconstructed bridge be named after him.

Cuomo has no business raiding the Clean Water State Revolving Fund of the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) to clean up the mess this construction project will make. That clean up should be financed from other sources.

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that Zephyr Teachout's entrance into the Democratic Party primary should be used to broaden rather than narrow the political debate in New York.

Hawkins' call for a series of public debates between the candidates of the ballot qualified parties has not yet been embraced by his two main opponents, Cuomo and Astorino.

Hawkins said that since Cuomo is already guaranteed a place in the general election on the Independence and WFP lines, any debate that he participates in during the primary season should be open to his November opponents as well. Hawkins will be the Green Party candidate on the November ballot.

(Syracuse) Howie Hawkins said today that if he was Governor he would use his power under Art. 4, Sec. 3 of the State Constitution to call the legislature into extraordinary session to ensure that they complete work on key issues before taking their six month paid vacation.

Howie Hawkins said today that while he hoped that Zephyr Teachout's potential entrance into the Democratic primary would broaden the gubernatorial campaign debate, he believes it would have the opposite impact.

"We need to replace the failed policies of the Democratic Party, not replace its ringleader. The Democrats have long been a party of the 1%, largely financed and controlled by the same corporate forces that dominate the Republicans as well. Workers, women, immigrants, people of color and environmentalists need their own party and that remains the Green Party," noted Hawkins, a Teamster from Syracuse. 

Massive gas pipelines planned for the Northeast can expect fiercer opposition in coming weeks, now that a five-state Green party alliance has joined the fight to stop two of the biggest pipeline projects. The Green Alliance to Stop the Pipelines (GASP) adds a new front in battles which are already underway in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York. In all five states, residents and officials in the path of the Spectra Energy "Algonquin," and Kinder Morgan "Tennessee" pipelines have held meetings, called protests, and sent stacks of critical comments to federal regulators.

"These massively dangerous gas pipelines put our families and neighborhoods, our air, water, and soil, at grave risk," said Howie Hawkins, Green Party of New York State candidate for governor. "Have we already forgotten the March 12 gas explosion in East Harlem, that killed or injured more than seventy people?" In his campaign across New York, Hawkins is calling for a halt to all new fossil fuel infrastructure and 100% clean energy by 2030.

Ramon Jimenez, Green Candidate for AG, Calls for Prosecution of Carlos Velasquez over Finances of Puerto Rican Day Parade

Ramon Jimenez, the Green Party nominee for Attorney General, criticized Eric Schneiderman for failing to criminally prosecute long-time organizers of the Puerto Rican Day Parade for widespread graft.

Hawkins Says He Can Win As Only Progressive in Three-Way Race for Governor

Cuomo's Start-Up NY creates fewer jobs and costs more than

a public jobs program, says Green candidate

"Reducing carbon pollution from electric power plants is a good start, but the goal must be phasing out coal, oil, and natural gas as our energy sources," said Howie Hawkins, Green candidate for Governor of New York. "The EPA remains vulnerable to industry lobbies, with a negotiation process that will make enforcing emissions reduction difficult."

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party nominee to Governor, will hold a news conference in Albany on Wednesday, June 4 to respond to Andrew Cuomo's revised economic agenda as part of the "Quid Pro Cuomo" to win the Working Families Party line a second time.

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, says the decision by the Working Families Party to reject their grassroots base to endorse Andrew Cuomo for a second time opens up the possibility of Hawkins winning in November.