The Ecology Party of Florida is a minor environmental political party in the United States state of Florida. Founded as a front group to support Ralph Nader's 2008 presidential candidacy, it has remained minimally active in the years since that election.
Ecology Party of Florida | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Cara Campbell[1] |
Treasurer | Gary Hecker[1] |
Founded | 2008[2] |
Headquarters | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Membership (2012) | 125[2] |
Ideology | Environmentalism Regionalism |
Seats in the Florida Senate | 0 / 40
|
Seats in the Florida House of Representatives | 0 / 120
|
Website | |
ecologyparty | |
The party, which describes itself as "peacefully revolutionary", was founded by supporters of Ralph Nader in 2008 (under Florida elections law, political parties are recognized upon filing a statement of existence with the Florida Secretary of State naming a chair and a treasurer).[2][3][4] The party was formed to give Nader easy access to the Florida ballot line in that year's election; Florida elections law allows any registered political party to place a candidate for president of the United States on the election ballot, but requires unaffiliated candidates (which Ralph Nader was in 2008) to submit a petition signed by 119,316 registered voters.[5] The party nominated Nader for president of the United States in 2008.[6] Nader accepted the nomination and appeared on the ballot in Florida as a candidate of the Ecology Party of Florida, while running in most other states as independent or unaffiliated.[3][6][7]
In 2009 the party registered as a co-intervener in an attempt to stop administrative licensing of two proposed nuclear reactors in Levy County, Florida.[8] Contributions from an anonymous donor allowed the party to retain legal representation in support of its efforts.[2]
The party did not nominate a candidate in the 2012 presidential election.[9]
In 2015 the party joined with a number of other groups, including Greenpeace, the Tea Party Network, Sierra Club, and Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, in pushing a ballot initiative in Florida that, if passed, would permit businesses to produce "up to two megawatts of power a day [sic]" and sell it directly to businesses and residences on adjacent property.[10]