Sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita Ave. • Berkeley CA 94709 • 510-841-4824
These perceptions we hold self-evident:
• The earth of all the planets in the solar system is uniquely equipped as an integral part of the web of life to capture the energy of its star, the sun, through its atmosphere and the photosynthesis of its green world of forests, prairies, deserts, and oceans.
• These captured energies have been the genesis and support of the myriad of life forms to which the Earth has been the mother.
• The first right to these energies belongs to all creatures of the Earth and they may not be used for destructive purposes.
These historical perceptions we hold factual:
• For millions of years humans and their ancestors lived in balance with earth's energies, resources, and other creatures.
• After the last Ice Age, the relationship of humankind to earth changed. The world became divided into “good” and “bad,” the cultivated and the wild, the civilized and the primitive. From then on, small communities have been colonized by distant powers, local resources extracted by remote industries, local events have been shaped by far-off, dominating forces.
• Now that the Earth is no longer a terra incognita, colonization—whatever its form, open or disguised, internal or external—and its destructive extraction of human and natural resources can no longer be accepted.
We hold, therefore, the following principles of Humankind’s use of the earth’s energies shall be observed:
• that the Energies which enable life shall not be used to diminish life, but shall be accessible to the life forms dependent on those energies. Where necessary these energy sources shall be secured for the public by right of eminent domain.
• that such energies shall not be privatized or hoarded.
• that such energies shall be extracted without injury to the environment or creatures dependent on that environment. The harnessing of solar and wind energy will be supported. The use of nuclear power or weapons will be especially rejected.
• that indigenous populations have first right of survival to the energies their ancestral lands provide.
• that the purpose of life is to discover and participate in the wonder of the life systems and to further those intricate, self-dependent systems wherever possible.
• that it shall be the purpose of our communities—educational, governmental, spiritual—to make the energies necessary to life freely available or provided on a no profit basis. The production and access to these energies—thermal, electricity, gas, clean water, education, transportation, exchange of ideas (media), basic housing and food—shall, therefore, be held and operated as public trusts without discrimination based on location, income, or any quality of the users.
• that governments hold all corporations to the strictest interpretation of their charters or share responsibility for damage to the environment and populations affected.
• that the funding of political campaigns by any citizen or corporation be limited to no more than an average citizen can reasonably afford and that public airtime be made available at cost the last month of any campaign.
• that we call attention to undemocratic tendencies to stifle dissent in all of our institutions, including those of public education, government, and health care, while using our collective energies to affirm and respect our differing voices, experiences and needs.
• that populations be provided at cost with the latest birth-control information and methods available.
• that the human right to housing be insured for all, partly by providing that one quarter of all new housing starts be made available at cost-plus for life-time residency, and by creating more land trusts that prevent speculative gouging.
• that individuals, communities, businesses, labor unions, educators, farmers, and political leaders who affirm and actively support the Berkeley Principles shall receive our maximum support.
TO LEARN MORE about the Berkeley Principles and to register your adoption please go to Why Berkeley Principles?