The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a four-year-old, statewide grant and loan program for grocery store development, has financed over 50 independent grocery stores and small food retailers in underserved areas of the state. Continue reading
The Republicans keep handing the Democrats a winning election issue. And the Democrats keeping refusing to accept the gift. I hope the beginning of the formal election campaign knocks some sense into them.
Thegift is the Republicans’ continued opposition to extending renewable energy incentives. Eight times since the fall of 2007, a Republican-threatened filibuster has thwarted a vote on extending these incentives. They will expire at the end of this year — and with that expiration, many believe the solar and wind industries will come to a grinding halt.
Republicans Have Handed Democrats a Winning Election Issue By David Morris, originally published in Alternet, August 20, 2008 The Republicans keep handing the Democrats a winning election issue. And the Democrats keeping refusing to accept the gift. I hope the beginning of the formal election campaign knocks some sense into them. The gift is the… Continue reading
ILSR launches NetworkStPaul.com. This new web site will serve as a clearinghouse and resource for the push to build a community-owned fiber-to-the-home network in St. Paul. Continue reading
Al Gore’s heroic speech challenging us to make our electrical system 100 percent renewable promised it would simultaneously address three major crises: the weak economy, catastrophic climate change and the dire national security problems inherent in our dependence on imported oil.
He got two out of three right. A crash renewable electricity initiative would provide an immediate boost to our economy and could slow climate change, since electricity accounts for about a third of our overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Five years after the project was first introduced, the homeowners group, University Park Estates Neighborhood Association, has thwarted plans for a 140,000-square-foot Home Depot in its community. Continue reading
ILSR vice president, David Morris, responds to Al Gore’s recent speech proposing a 10 year effort to move the United States to a 100% renewable energy electric system to address three major crises: the weak economy, catastrophic climate change and the dire national security problems inherent in our dependence on imported oil. Morris says that Gore got got two out of three right. Continue reading
When Local Became the New Organic By David Morris, originally published in Minnesota Law and Politics, August 2008 We can pinpoint with some precision the date the local food movement came of age: Dec. 15, 1997. That day the United States Department of Agriculture finally issued the organic standards that Congress had said it required… Continue reading
Shopping center construction continues at a furious pace, even as chain retailers announce plans to close more than 6,500 outlets and vacancy rates soar. Continue reading
At a time when most of the United States has slower, more expensive Internet connections than our overseas competitors, communities across the country have responded with initiatives to build the infrastructure of the 21st century. And then they have been sued.
Monticellois hardly the first community where an incumbent provider believes it alone should decide how that community connects to the world. Lafayette, a conservative city in Louisiana, spent several years in the courts before it could break ground on a publicly owned citywide network. Cajun culture did not allow for giving up on the project. Nice Minnesotans should do no less.
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