The cost of incineration is escalating as the cost of recycling, composting and reuse decline. With the penetration of recycling and composting infrastructure through out the US, the window of opportunity for incineration irreversibly closes. Continue reading
Independent businesses are largely at the mercy of Visa and MasterCard when it comes to the fees they must pay every time they swipe a credit card. These fees, which are ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, have soared from $27 billion in 2004 to $48 billion last year (or $427 per household). Recognizing the tremendous market power held by card processors, many countries now regulate credit card transaction fees, setting them at rates as low as one-sixth of what U.S. businesses pay. Continue reading
Since 2005, residents and local business owners have been working to block this large retail development from spoiling their vibrant, walkable, urban neighborhood, which is home to many immigrant-owned small businesses. In late April, the developer backed out. Continue reading
My old friend Neil Seldman emailed me the other day. He was shocked after reading Kansas City, Missouri was still in the drop-off phase of recycling and people are fighting to keep the last drop-off center open. Continue reading
Benoit Felten of FiberEvolution.com interviews Tim Nulty (former GM of Burlington Telecom, currently working on massive rural FTTH network in Vermont) at the Freedom to Connect Conference. Covers many topics, especially the economics of FTTH and why the public sector should invest in these networks. Continue reading
Smithfield Farms was heavily fined for dumping waste into a Virginia River and forced to build a sewage treatment plant. When we changed trade rules by enacting NAFTA, Smithfield set up in Mexico, where environmental laws are virtually non existent. And the whole world may now be paying the price. Continue reading
Who makes the rules for how you use your Internet Connection? Who decides whether it should upgrade the network speeds? For most of us, private companies make these decisions and they are more interested in maximizing their profits than what is best for the community. This is a major reason why broadband is slower and more expensive than other countries like Japan, Sweden, and France.
The Economist takes on the cable companies and why they are not interested in bringing faster speeds to the U.S.
The newly published Sustainable Food Retail Framework aims to help cities struggling with a lack of grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods better balance the need to quickly fill the gaps (a mandate that often favors large supermarket chains) with the advantages of fostering development that delivers more long-term stability and greater economic, community, and environmental benefits (a framework that favors local business). Continue reading
Sticking up for its downtown businesses, the Owen Sound City Council derailed Wal-Mart’s plans to expand a current store into a supercenter. Continue reading
The PUC has an approval process that stacks the deck against the public.
A few days ago the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved a massive high voltage transmission project (known as CapX) that will cost Minnesotans an amount equal to the projected biennium state budget deficit and four times the total bill to taxpayers for the Gopher and Twins stadiums.
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