As Governor, I will fundamentally change the way we generate use and pay for energy. By being smart and innovative we can change energy policy from being a source of economic problems into a source of good jobs and economic growth.

My "Roadmap to Energy Independence" is based on several key ideas:

• We must produce more of the heat and electricity we need right here in Vermont, keeping our energy dollars in the local economy instead of sending them to other states and countries.
• We must increase our use of efficiency measures on both the thermal and electric sides of energy so we can lower our bills and reduce the need for new power plants and transmission lines. The cheapest energy is the energy you don't need to use.
• We must start transitioning away from Vermont Yankee as a major source of electricity. Jim Douglas has offered no plan to replace that power, even though it Vermont Yankee is an aging plant whose license is about to expire. As Governor, I will not put Vermont in such a vulnerable position.

As Governor, I will set the goal of deriving 20% of our electricity supply from wind power in ten years. We will create hundreds of jobs and attract millions of dollars in investment by finally opening Vermont to sensible wind projects. We will create great jobs if we use trees, grasses and fuel crops grown in Vermont to produce pellets for furnaces and stoves. In short, my plan generates energy and good jobs at the same time, while doing the right thing for our environment.

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As Governor I will not balance the state budget by shifting costs onto the property tax. Over the past six years Governor Douglas has proposed budgets that would have done just that. If the Legislature had simply rubber stamped those budgets Vermonters would have paid $103 million more in property taxes. I will address the underlying factors driving up property taxes: healthcare costs, special education, fuel costs and governance issues. I will also work with town and city officials to improve how Vermont assesses property values. We need a Governor who will partner with local school boards, not call them "special interests."

To grow our economy, we need good roads, safe bridges, broadband access throughout the state and complete cell coverage. Business owners have been clamoring for improvements in all of these areas for years. I hear all the time from both small and large employers how frustrated they are with the slow rate of progress on these critical issues.

We need to invest in our infrastructure now to create jobs and to avoid paying much higher costs for these projects in coming years.

Vermont is stuck in neutral on job creation. In 2007, Vermont lost private sector jobs, and our rate of job growth in the last several years is only half the national rate. The jobs that are being created are low wage, and do not cover the cost of rent on even a modest apartment. Despite many promises on job creation, Jim Douglas has not delivered.

As Governor, I will take pride in Vermont as a great place to do business. We need a Governor who can build on all of the positive qualities and assets we have and harness the creativity of our young entrepreneurs. One example is boosting our specialty agriculture sector by helping small producers connect to large buyers.

The poor condition of our roads and bridges is an obstacle to job growth and must be addressed in a more aggressive way. We need to deliver on the promises made about expanding broadband access and complete cell coverage. We need to create a strong partnership between k-12 and higher education and our business sector so that we are training workers for the right kinds of jobs. We need to make sure that Vermonters without college degrees have job training opportunities as well.

Vermonters should have the health care they need, when they need it at a price they can afford. However the health care system is falling short of what Vermont residents and businesses need because of rising costs and increasing complexity. More and more, Vermonters either can't afford the care they need or they become lost in the piles of paperwork and confusing systems.

As Governor, I will focus on keeping people healthy instead of just treating them when they are sick. The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is truer today than ever because of the high cost of treating diabetes, heart disease, cancer and many other conditions. With the right approach to encouraging healthy living habits, managing chronic conditions, smart policies to increase the efficiency of providers, and paying doctors and other providers for keeping Vermonters healthy, we can make progress in controlling costs and improving the health of Vermonters at the same time.

The health reform efforts in the state over the last three years have laid a solid foundation for this change, and made Vermont one of the national leaders in trying to achieve this vision. In the short term, we will continue to be challenged by the annual gap between the costs of the existing system and the revenues to support it.

As Governor I will work to partner with our federal delegation and the new president to remove current barriers in federal law that prevent further integration and simplification of the administration of health care in Vermont and provide more resources to help us transition to a less fragmented, more health-focused health care system.

I'm proud of the quality of our schools and realize the critical role they play in strengthening our communities and our economy. I believe every child in Vermont should enter school ready to learn. We need to invest in childcare options and early education programs to give our children a smart start. Study after study shows that taking a front-end approach to education saves an enormous amount of money in the long run.

As Governor I would make the education commissioner a key player in my administration and partner with local school boards instead of calling them "special interests."