Vermont needs to become energy and food independent. We have plenty of wind, solar, biomass, and hydro-power resource-potential to meet our needs. We have plenty of agricultural and water resources. We have plenty of smart and motivated people. What's missing? The problem is that most of us are too busy paying the bills to create real political action and the people in charge of course want to preserve the status quo that put them in charge.

If Vermont secedes and Rob Williams nominates me to be King of Vermont, I will create a Vermont version of the state described in Ernest Calenbachs' book, Eco-Topia.

1. A wood/bio-mass fired winter green-house in EVERY TOWN, sized to provide 100% of each town's winter vegetable needs and staffed by state-paid members who also have an ownership stake in the enterprise.

2. Large tax incentives and university programs to attract Green-Tech industry in areas such as electric/deisel hybrid vehicles, recycling/remanufacturing, PV Solar panels, algae-biodeisel, Zero-point Energy, electro-magnetic spectrum resonance, etc.

3. State-mandated and funded community-bio-mass projects to provide 100% of residential home heating fuel with local sustainably-harvested timber. Provide high-efficiency wood-stoves and installation svc at discounts to Vermonters. Shut down the oil and gas home-heating industry in Vermont, providing local forestry-jobs for Vermonters instead.

4. Take back our Hydro-power: The state should "buy-back" the Connecticut River Damns under Eminent Domain and create a fund for development of many micro-hydro projects that doesn't disrupt the natural cycles of the rivers.

5. State-mandated animal-power: Horse and Ox-teams could provide most of our agricultural "tractor power" but it won't happen without heavy investment and support. Cuba was able to go from 100% reliance on tractors to 100% reliance on ox-teams for their farm-power in less than 4 years when Cuba had their "peak oil" crisis after USSR fell apart. But it wouldn't have happened without heavy top-down programs.

6. Mandate ALL crop-production inputs be "petro-chemical free" within 5 years. This will get our fertilizer and pesticides dis-connected from peak oil. Cuba did this, so can Vermont. Turn Vermont into a gourmet organic mecca of high-value food as an export crop.

7. Outlaw imports of any meat and dairy products: give local farmers a high-value market. Yes, this means our meat, milk and cheese prices will go up initially, but this will be healthy over the long term because those $s will re-create value streams locally.

8. Put up 700 2-Megawatt wind-turbines on Vermont ridge-lines at a cost of $3,000 per Vermont household, creating virtually free green local electricity for 75% of Vermont's homes, funded by the lottery and state income taxes.

9. Turn every dairy farm into a Cow-Power plant. Every 3 cows connected to the system will supply one home's annual electric needs.

10. Turn every sewage plant into a methane-plant to fuel municipal water/sewer energy needs.

11. Shut down every dump and mandate that 100% of all waste be recycled or composted locally.

Oh if I could only be King! Please direct campaign contributions to Vermont Commons.