local economies
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Mom-and-pop vs. big-box stores in the food desert
A locally owned grocery in Pleasantville, Iowa. Photo: Ashton B Crew, wikimedia commonsA few weeks ago, when the Obama administration released its Food Desert Locator, many of us realized that a once-good idea has spoiled like a bag of old bread. If you go online and find that your family lives in a food desert, […]
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Michigan to grid operator: We prefer to generate our own renewable energy
Michigan would rather pay a little more for energy if it’s better for the local economy.Photo: Alex GorzenThis post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. The large transmission authority serving the upper Midwest — the Midwest Independent System Operator — has plans for new high-voltage transmission […]
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Cash incentives for renewables are twice as effective as tax credits
This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Using the tax code rather than cash incentives to support wind and solar power costs ratepayers significantly more. I wrote about this problem last year because project developers were selling their federal tax credits to third […]
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How community ownership can save wind power
This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Community ownership may provide the solution for increasing resistance to wind power in the United States. Wind power has expanded rapidly in recent years, but the new wind farms have a common characteristic: absentee ownership. These […]
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Want local communities to support wind? Put them in charge
Let’s turn NIMBYs into YIMBYs.Photo: Eddie CodelThis post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Last month, Grist’s Jess Zimmerman noted sarcastically that “Money is a miracle cure for ‘wind turbine syndrome.'” It is. And environmental advocates frustrated by the (spurious?) health and aesthetic complaints raised […]
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Ontario's 'buy local' energy program growing rapidly
In January, we released a report – Maximizing Jobs From Clean Energy: Ontario’s ‘Buy Local’ Policy – highlighting the impressive job forecast (43,000 jobs) from Ontario’s CLEAN Contract (a.k.a. feed-in tariff) program. News from the province suggests that the program is overcoming hurdles and continuing to grow. Forecasts for 2011 indicate that Ontario could become […]
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A new documentary about the real wealth of nations — happiness
Money can’t make you happy, they say. Maybe a new kind of economy can?What if GDP stood for Great Domestic Pleasantness? How about an economy whose success is not determined by growth for growth’s sake? A new documentary, The Economics of Happiness, explores this rich territory. The film makes a connection between the economic crisis, […]
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With food-system reform slowed to a crawl, local initiatives come to fore
Food-policy reform at the national level isn't getting anywhere fast. But don't get depressed; organize at the local level!
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Mushrooms in the Minnesota winter [VIDEO]
Learn how oyster mushrooms are grown and how to make a delicious terrine out of them -- all while you ponder the local-versus-sustainable question.
