This report proposes a program of development for Lane County, Oregon that is grounded local empowerment, economic equity, sustainable use of resources, production for human need, rebuilding local capital, increasing purchasing capacity, and privileging local enterprises.

Where economic power is centralized, democracy is subverted. Centralization of economic power cannot coexist with a government that is of, by and for the people; centralization of economic power twists political power into government by, for and of the special interests.

When a corporation sets prices on its products, it does so in a way that neglects to account for all of the costs of production of those products. And the costs that are not paid for by the company are ultimately paid for by the society, or by the earth.

The pain of climate change is now being felt, and humanity is compelled to make an immediate and effective response to reverse its causes. For this to occur, proper policies and approaches must first be conceived and put in place. 

Cooperative enterprises — producer, consumer, agricultural, service, and banking — form the core of a PROUT economy, in which the majority of manufacturing and service enterprises would be organized as worker owned and managed cooperatives. 

In a time of economic hard times and high unemployment, there is special need to increase purchasing capacity for all citizens. Those who are without the financial resources to meet their basic needs and to acquire their basic amenities either will require public expenditures for social services or resort to desperate anti-social means for their livelihood.

The profusion of initiatives based on green cultural values can be conceptualized as the emergent building of a green infrastructure. This infrastructure can be depicted as a three-dimensional grid in which the diverse green initiatives can be positioned on a grid having the following three axes:

Oregon’s Willamette Valley makes a useful case-study for both detailing the existing problem and applying the Progressive Utilization Theory as a possible solution.

The purpose of this proposal is to give Lane County and the City of Eugene a way to save the Lane County Fairgrounds.

The combined effects of peak oil and climate change will require significant changes in the development and use of energy resources in Oregon’s South Willamette Valley.