Why a run now for the US Senate and Minnesota Green Party endorsement? 

The Democrats won’t change a thing. Republicans don’t want to. And thus the green economy and growing green voters is the only salvation for two thirds of humanity and the planet. Even if I had ten million dollars for a Senate race I’d ask for Green Party endorsement in 2008. As a lifelong environmental activist and entrepreneur I know this year’s national elections are critical in the timing toward driving real eco entrepreneurial solutions and overcoming 40 years of republicanism that has led to a global economic energy depression, war and global warming. I have to do something now!

The local-to-global eco business plan points ( listed below)...

Normally you’d see a US Senate campaigns put out many positions on the issues of the day – the war, health care, the economy…Indeed we will in the coming weeks - and our positions will be green, innovative and solution based. A Green Party candidate, up against a 20 million dollar campaigns, will need to be compelling, controversial, inventive, and capture people’s imagination. So our focus will be actual green economy solutions that will work as part of a local-to-global eco entrepreneurial business plan. We will use these solutions to challenge the major party candidates. AND, we will hold their feet to the fire on ALL progressive and green issues.  We look forward to receiving your input and arguments on the following points and solutions in the coming month  so please email or call us.

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Driving The 2010 to 2020
Local-to-Global Eco Business Plan
If you were CEO of the global "Green Economy Inc."
what would you do?

We CAN implement a local to global eco entrepreneurial business plan that will DRIVE the public, politicians and a new green economy. It will be lead by actual inventive solutions pushed to the top of priorities through innovative, high profile political and promotional strategies. This document is a draft of that eco business plan as an economic strategy which is the only way to drive platform implementations. It is not a reiteration of policy positions we support (98.2% of them!) in the national and state Green Party platforms.  

A basic organizational premise: Thousands of smart innovative people are involved in and supportive of the Green Party here in Minnesota. Many thousands more pay attention to the green economy. That public base of support can generate THOUSANDS of sustainable eco and social entrepreneurial ideas. Hundreds of those ideas will then generate businesses, products, jobs, revenue, profit which will come back as personal financial support to the Green Party and loyal green voters. As importantly they could agree on and push key solutions to our major economic/environmental challenges and grow the green economy to be the driving force of the current economic system. For the first time in global history there is an economic power at hand that can actually solve our challenges and grow the green votes needed to sustain green policy.

Big ideas aren’t inherently anti-green or anti-local – we just need to pick the right ones: Not long ago I received some good feedback from a local green party person, We’ve heard BIG IDEAS before.  We can’t implement every big idea that comes along from somebody that hasn’t been a part of the local process. I get that and appreciate that. Nonetheless, the Green Party CAN leapfrog the impact of the other parties in Minnesota and the US, , CAN dramatically increase the financial and voter support base, and CAN go over the heads of paid-for-politicians and industry lobbyists that control policy in this state and country. We  must implement strategic BIG IDEAS and new tools that can make big ideas happen, tools like an internet referendum on Earth Day (see below).  The Green Party CAN be the architect of green economy power.

The following is a sampling of points to be incorporated into the 2010 to 2020 Local-to-Global Eco Business Plan. Some of these will be key themes and tenets of our campaign.

Premises

A strategically united green economy changes the dynamics of world economic priorities. And it can begin to seriously do so by 2020, the 5oth anniversary of Earth Day.

Energy security and global warming are the key “ironic opportunities”. They are THE strategic alliance factors that will bridge all green economy sectors.  

Our progressive electoral opportunity has not been maximized and only the green economy community can grow the green economic voters needed to ensure electoral success over the next century.

Higher media and consumer marketing profile drives up sales, membership, investment, research, consumer education AND political policy action.

Coop marketing and media action is the only way to get the entire green economies’ profile up to a level where it all makes more money and thus has more economic and policy impact.

Strategic Solutions

Establish a national/regional commercial trade group(s) for “green economy inc”.

Establish an independent, sustainable green economy progressive publication to be dropped in targeted districts in 2008 and built toward statewide and national distribution by 2010. We also need a ubiquitous green economy web site to drive commerce and solutions.

Find a high profile spokesperson from and for the green economy and public policy solutions. I’m not suggesting it will be me. (We also need to find a high profile credible green business candidate for Governor in 2008. And, “Too Late Timmy” and his “greenwash talk” has to be called out and sent packing.)

Put together a Midwest and US regional centers for eco investment and entrepreneurism, both institutionally and average investors. Stop colleges across the country from diluting funds by doing the same research and studies and taking money, or being unduly influenced, from agribusiness and other giant corporate anti environmental interests.

“Entrepreneurilize” organizations across the state to develop “public green entrepreneurial” groups in local communities, churches, etc. and statewide organizations such as the Green Party.

Orchestrate a high profile driving of “Top Twenty” green economy goals (noted below) through a new tool of an Internet Referendum – turning Earth Day into an election day for the green economy. If it isn’t on the front page nothing really changes. We OWN Earth Day and haven’t used it as the political and green economic Chris tmas Day that it could become.                   

Establish a goal, by 2020, to reduce the local, state and national bureaucracy by 20% through attrition, cutting departments such as the Federal Education Department (if we mandate national state standards) and dissolving duplicative administrative services. As an example: We don’t need seven county governments in our Twin Cities metro area and hundreds of city and township governments, nor hundreds of school board associations. The bottom line is that if we expect to solve our overwhelming environmental and human/social challenges we need to get highly efficient and demonstrate to voters that we will do that.

Establish, in Minnesota, at the Ford Plant, the first global electric, hybrid and bio fuels car company as a cooperative owned by workers, consumers, metro governments and eco investors. This organization will cheaply mass produce the exactly same two hundreds million vehicles that are fleets in every metro area. We’ll offer Ford the contract but we CAN build it here without them because the technology, organization and consumer base exists now. Once this global cooperative is formed it will drive the green economy to form hundreds more similar structures to compete in every sector. We have to grow local AND we have to compete globally.

The Ford Plant, if we don’t get the above vehicle organization in time, is our chance to build THE showcase green economy center/village for Minnesota, and every state. Condos, public housing, the first green everything you need “mall”, a permanent exposition for the Living Green Expo and State Fairs Eco Experience, and an eco entrepreneurial/investment center. Let’s not just keep talking that we should do this but form a business organization and a real vision with serious developers and tenants to make this happen.

Advanced BRT (Advanced Bus Rapid Transit) and Advanced PRT (Personal Rapid Transit): Light Rail Transit is better than more roads and more cars. However, the solution we should have presented for the Central Corridor is not the ancient and inherently inefficient closed loop rail technology, with its massive rail infrastructure, disruption and subsidies. The solution is technology that is currently available. It is newly designed, hybrid mass transit, rubber tired vehicles that function and look exactly like LRT vehicles, AND can go on and off the system. We have LRT, at a billion dollars for ten miles, because rail lobbyists made an investment in this boondoggle.  

Seek ye the Holy Grail!  We CAN, right here in Minnesota, establish a high profile priority of research and development to actually find a number of Holy Grails such as:

• 1. Local power development tied to electrical storage technologies which will eliminate the need for transmission lines, AND business development near alternative power sources.
  2. Mini clean burn power plants for every commercial building or complex.

We have the solution to our energy crisis, for the next 25 years at least. Obviously efficiency implementation and policy is the best and cheapest energy policy and technology. However, we CAN clean burn clean garbage in closed loop systems and in clean mini plants. The technology exists now. We have an unlimited supply of garbage that won’t get recycled in the next 25 years and we CAN “mine” the landfills. We need an annual increase in recycling mandates tied to this.