Democrats and Republicans compete over who will be in charge of business as usual. Greens recognize business as usual is not only unsustainable, but will ruin the earth if allowed to continue until it fails unequivocally. The critical difference between Greens and the two-party system is especially visible in our energy platform.

Greens look first to conservation. This means using less energy of every type; less oil, less coal, less natural gas, and less electricity, particularly less nuclear electricity. Biofuels should be substitutes for fossil fuels in the context of reducing use of all fuels for transportation, not as a supplement for oil-based gasoline and diesel. Conservation is the only policy to address both the immediate price of energy and the long-term problem of cutting carbon emissions.

We are for public transportation in revitalized cities with active, democratic neighborhoods. We are for revitalizing the countryside with community farming to undo the damage of corporate farming. We are for getting cities and countrysides to work together with local foods, local manufacturing and local trading.

We want to replace the disaster of a global corporate economy with a network of prosperous local economies, democratically controlled. It'll be a tough transition, so we will need universal health care and reinforced social security to get from here to there.

Most importantly, we are entirely opposed to the War of Terror the United States is now fighting for control of the world's resources, starting with oil. An ever-growing economy forever hungry for more resources is very much like an ever-growing cancer that will destroy the body in which it grows. This cancer is eating our democracy in the name of national security and destroying our rights while waving a flag that used to stand for freedom and human rights.

McCain promises - along with a hundred-year occupation of the Persian Gulf - to grow the economy AND protect the environment. Greens recognize these are incompatible goals. McCain is spouting contradictory nonsense very like the "doublespeak" described by George Orwell. Obama promises "Change you can believe in,"and policies that are no change at all; an illusion of change,

Both sides of the two-party coin promise - and they mean it - a society run from the top down; business as usual. Cynthia McKinney - our candidate for President - promises an opportunity to work for a society run from the bottom up. If that's what you want, then you already agree with Greens.

We invite you to look at the complete national Green Party platform at http://www.gp.org; the Green Party of Michigan's platform at http://www.migeens.org; and the Reconstruction Manifesto at http://www.runcynthiarun.org/ReconstructionManifesto.

[end proposed platform summary]