Get state into solar business

My name is Ben Mitchell, and I am the Liberty Union candidate for lieutenant governor. I am writing today to clarify the proposal I made recently on public television. Rather than relying only on tax increases and spending cuts, we need alternative ways to generate revenue and reduce the tax burdens on working families. For example, I want the state to actually create state-owned manufacturing capacity to build solar panels and install them on every public building.

My proposal is that the state of Vermont use bonding to set up factories in Newport and Springfield. These factories will turn recycled plastic and glass into photovoltaic solar panels to be installed on every school and every office building in the state. Not only will this investment reduce property tax liability and reduce the reliance on base-load electricity production, but the factories will be able to sell their panels and generate state revenue. These investments will also create needed manufacturing jobs in some of the areas hit hardest by the economy. Liberty Union has long advocated socialized energy, so this is only an initial step to the state taking control of our own economic future.

Ben Mitchell

Westminster