Gregoire joked that the former governor has a "rock star idol" image in China and she hopes some of that will rub off on the rest of the delegates.

The trade mission will emphasize everything from airplane to high tech, along with a new focus on small and mid-sized businesses.

Gregoire says person-to-person, business-to-business contact is critical to Washington's continuing trade prosperity.

The governor admitted the energy crisis and the high cost of fuel is impacting Washington agriculture. She hopes high quality can offset rising prices, but she is clearly worried about the cost of diesel.

"Literally, today a gallon of diesel is costing our farmers more than they are getting in return for a bushel of wheat," Gov. Gregoire said.

She says everyone is feeling the pain at the pump, adding: "Our gas prices went up in the days following the hurricane for no reason. We're not dependent on the Gulf for our gas."

She wants a Legislative committee to look at possible price gouging, and has also ordered the department of Agriculture to begin work immediately searching for alternative fuels.

There is just one refinery in our state producing an alternative: Seattle Biodiesel. Right now, it brings in soybean oil from Iowa to produce diesel for Seattle.

But the CEO, Martin Tobias, says that could change: "This state could be energy independent itself. We have the resources in this state to make all the fuel, in terms of biodiesel that we need to run our diesel trucks and fleets here in this state."

Right now, only a few containers of canola oil from Eastern Washington are at Seattle Biodiesel. But, rapeseed, the source of canola oil, grows well in wheat country.

The governor's idea don't pay farmers to leave land idle, but instead pay them to grow rapeseed, mustard seed or similar oil producing plants: "We are also talking with our agriculture, asking 'Isn't there something more to agriculture?' That's alternative energy, taking what is today's waste and turning it into a new cash crop for agriculture."

It could help all of us too. At one of two Seattle service stations selling biodiesel, regular diesel sold for $3.01.9 a gallon, while biodiesel was 40 cents a gallon cheaper.

Biodiesel proponents say the state would have to provide tax or other incentives to guarantee construction of a processing plant before farmers would be willing to grow oil-producing crops.

Gregoire is also working with members of Washington's Congressional delegation, who are proposing expanding the powers of the Federal Trade Commission to act if oil company are reaping undue windfall profits.