The Green Party has a vision for the economy of Nova Scotia's future. It is a green economy that provides for the basic needs of all Nova Scotians, and builds our prosperity by real value creation at the local scale.

Our province has wonderful potential for renewable energy production, huge opportunities for conservation, plenty of good farmland, and rich natural resources. Nova Scotians are hard-working and resourceful. We have everything we need to build a strong and sustainable economy.

It's time for government to step up and help Nova Scotians in this work. We need legislation that mandates a fair price for renewable energy producers. We need a long term funding commitment to energy efficiency. We need investment in local farmers and local food production. We need a realistic plan to see us through the challenges we face.

It is time for us to acknowledge that our old economic paradigms have failed us. We now face a global depression, and we must take immediate action to prepare Nova Scotia for what lies ahead. We need a resilient, local, sustainable economy that will provide for Nova Scotians through tough times.

Our economy is now pressed up against the limits of the natural world, and new paradigms and new approaches are needed to overcome these challenges. This depression has been brought about by over-consumption of the earth's limited resources, financed by unsustainable levels of debt. Across the world, governments are engaged in a desperate attempt to restart this over-consumption by taking on ever more debt. The Green Party recognizes the long-term futility of this approach because we understand that on a finite planet, infinite economic growth is an impossibility. Over-consumption cannot continue forever.

In Nova Scotia we know what happens to an economy when it hits the limits of nature. In recent years the collapse of the cod stocks has all but destroyed many of our our fishing economies. We need new solutions that generate real wealth while respecting the limits of nature and the health of communities.

The upcoming spring 2009 budget will be an important one. It comes at a time when the magnitude of the challenges we face has become clear. The Green Party wants to see a budget that invests in the sustainable and reliable economies of the future.

If you would like to share your thoughts about what you want to see in Nova Scotia's 2009 budget, please visit Green Leader Ryan Watson's weblog and see the entry Green Budget for NS.