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1) Our farmers already produce 700 more calories of food per person per day than we need. Hence, our #1 national health issue is obesity. We have plentiful food and could have even more plentiful food as more and more of our population shifts to a more intelligent and more sustainable vegan diet. This is a huge advantage and ultimately will shield us from any catastrophe like the Great Depression/Dust Bowl.
2) We have WAY more energy than we could ever consume in the form of wind and solar. We just need to solve some storage/demand/transmission problems. Once the load evening and storage issues are resolved, we can again become the energy capital of the world. This will lead to an accumulation of wealth that will dazzle everyone with its rapidity. We spend $2Billion/day on foreign energy. Spending that money at home will make a HUGE difference.
3) Our auto manufacturers are just going to have to take the lead on alternative powered cars or go BK.
4) I would encourage Wal-Mart and other retailers to set up "built in America" sub-stores. I know that I would pay more if I knew the money was recirculating in this nation. Anyone old enough to remember the "Look For The Union Label" campaign?
5) We should think about putting together a transportation infrastructure project on the magnitude of Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System. The project needs to combine the best features of mass transit with the best features of the individual auto. Have small individual "pods" that join up into long trains. The pods could break off for individual transportation over the last mile (or 5, or 10, or 50). The existing Interstate Highway System can provide the backbone for this project.
6) The construction industry needs to refocus itself on green building/retrofitting. Energy conserved is way cheaper than energy discovered, refined, transported and consumed. Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute has a wonderful concept called the "negawatt" -- a watt of energy conserved.
7) Americans generally need to refocus off of "standard of living" (keeping up with the Joneses) and onto "quality of life" (the simple life). There is a wonderful joke about the New York investment banker who vacations in Mexico and buys some fish from a local fisherman. The fish is so wonderfully fresh and delicious that the investment banker spins a tall yarn about how the fisherman could become a multi-national power in the fish industry. All along the way, the humble fisherman asks the banker, "why?" At the end of the story, the answer is so you relax and enjoy time with your family. The fisherman (who spends an hour or two each day fishing and selling) responds, "but that's what I do now."
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