Jill Stein, 65, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, is banking on a groundswell of support from disaffected, debt-ridden young people as she again makes a run for the highest office in the land. Stein, who received more votes – 456,169 – than any other general election female candidate in the 2012 race, sat down with The Bulletin’s editorial board on Friday to discuss her platform, the unlikelihood of collaborating with the Bernie Sanders campaign and her plan to cut the military and reinvest in renewable energy.

On Bernie Sanders: “The Green Party’s been trying to get in touch with Bernie Sanders for about four years, so I’m not holding my breath. Many of his supporters are also our supporters and they have been urging us since the beginning to collaborate. And as the road became very rocky for Bernie, which was pretty much inevitable as the Democratic Party is not friendly to rebel campaigns, we were glad to reach out to him. He has been very clear that his commitment is to the Democratic Party.”

On student debt relief: “There are 43 million young people who are locked into debt for which there is very little hope of escaping, given the economy. Our campaign is the only one that will cancel student debt by creating quantitative easing packages. If we could do that for the crooks that crashed the economy I think there’s a very strong case for doing that for the young people. There is the potential for our campaign to spread like a wildfire among a demographic that is otherwise left high and dry.”

On her chances: “This has been a very unusual election season and all the rules of game are collapsing one-by-one. I’m not holding my breath that we’re going to win, but I’m not ruling it out. I wouldn’t offhand say that it’s impossible for a voter revolt. In fact, both parties are really holding on by the skin of their teeth trying to maintain their lock on the system. But 50 percent of voters are independent.”

The plan: “For every $1 spent on fossil fuels, we can create three times as many jobs in alternative energy. We need a New Green Deal – like (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s) New Deal plan, on steroids- by creating 20 million new jobs focused on areas of clean, sustainable energy, sustainable food systems efficient, renewably powered transportation. We’re calling for 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.”

Paying for it: “If you’re not needing 1,000 military bases around the world to protect your fossil fuel supplies, you don’t need a trillion-dollar military budget. We call for substantial cuts to the military of about 50 percent. This dangerously bloated military creates a trigger finger in foreign policy. We will downsize the military and put those dollars into true security at home. That’s where some of the funding comes.”

And the rest: The other funding is internal because it turns out what’s good for the planet is also really good for the people. Our health improves so much from eliminating the fossil fuel-linked diseases that the money saved from averted health costs alone is enough to pay for the energy transition. Also for good measure, a Wall Street tax that could generate hundreds of billions of dollars. And creating a more progressive income tax with a top rate to be decided, but I think when you’re talking about billionaires, 70 percent is certainly not too much to ask.”

How the money is spent: “Our plan creates a national funding source that is largely locally and regionally controlled that entails the startup of new businesses, co-operatives, factories and government jobs. It’s largely grants to businesses and a process that is community controlled without the lobbyists or contractors.”

Passing Congress: “We don’t get elected without a major groundswell. We plan to harness whatever momentum gets us into office, like those tens of millions of victims of predatory debt (who) will be the engine for the whole agenda.”

Education: “As much as a high school education was needed in the 20th century, in the 21st century we need post-secondary education. We need free public higher education – that should be a right. And to have that without being saddled with debt. Higher education has been privatized and it’s been a disaster, an exercise in profiteering without an educational mission. What used to be in the higher domain, like our health care and education systems have been hijacked. And they need to be reclaimed.”

Foreign policy: “We need to stop selling arms in the Middle East to both sides, including Israel – put a wet blanket over the entire region. We need to take the lead. As the lead arms supplier to all combatants we can be very powerful. Freeze all funding to nations that support terrorism, snuff out their life-support. Doing more of the same is not likely to be helpful. We pulled out all the stops after 9/11. What more are we going to put into this to make this failed strategy work?”

On being a spoiler: “An argument I hear from people is that they love our agenda, but are worried if they vote for us they’ll get Trump. You can solve that through rank-choice voting so you can vote for an underdog as number one and it’s automatically reassigned in a loss. But it’s a concocted problem. This idea that the lesser evil is going to fix it for you is complete nonsense. What happens when you elect lesser evil? You basically make the greater evil inevitable, because people stop coming out to vote for the lesser evil. Silence is not a political strategy. Democracy needs a moral compass.”

— The above interview was condensed for length.