Back to top Jump to featured resources

Viewing all Articles Page 146 of 228

Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Broadband | Written by Christopher | No Comments | Updated on Jun 4, 2008

Monticello Fiber Network Fighting Frivolous Lawsuit

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/monticello-fiber-network-fighting-frivolous-lawsuit/

Minneapolis, Minn.— (June 4, 2008). One day before the city of Monticello secured funding to build a citywide fiber optic network, TDS Telecom filed a lawsuit challenging Monticello’s right to construct the network.

Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), was not surprised. “Cable and telephone companies routinely file these lawsuits against community owned networks,” says Mitchell. Continue reading

concentratingsolarcoversm.jpg
Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Jun 4, 2008

Report: Concentrating Solar and Decentralized Power: Government Incentives Hinder Local Ownership

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/report-concentrating-solar-and-decentralized-power-government-incentives-hinder-local-ownership/

Can residential rooftop solar compete with new utility-scale concentrating solar electric plants? Only if federal and state incentives are amended to level the playing field. This May 2008 report explores the economics of solar PV and concentrating solar and shows how local ownership is hindered unless government solar incentives change.

Continue reading

Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Broadband | Written by Christopher | No Comments | Updated on May 20, 2008

Muni Broadband Networks: In for the Long Haul

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/muni-broadband-networks-long-haul/

Minneapolis, Minn.—(May 20, 2008).  In a matter of days, MetroFi and Earthlink have announced they are abandoning the municipal wireless market.  Both will shut down their existing Wi-Fi networks in several cities if they cannot find buyers.

The private sector has largely decided municipal Wi-Fi networks are not profitable. But the public sector has come to the opposite conclusion and is continuing to build networks.  Why?

Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Justin Dahlheimer | No Comments | Updated on May 14, 2008

Group Convinces Town to Pass Moratorium on Big-Box Development

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/group-convinces-town-pass-moratorium-bigbox-development/

The grassroots group, New Scotlanders for Sound Economic Development (NS4SED), has convinced the town board in New Scotland, NY, to pass a moratorium on commercial projects, preventing, for now, a 750,000-square-foot retail development that would be the 4th largest mall in the region. Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on May 12, 2008

Cellulosic Biofuels: Another Opportunity for Washington to Marry Agriculture and Energy Goals

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/cellulosic-biofuels-another-opportunity-washington-marry-agriculture-and-energy-goals/

Today, cellulosic ethanol can no longer be ignored. Even as the quantity of ethanol from corn increases, the age of corn ethanol is drawing to a close. Few new corn-to-ethanol plants will be built beyond those currently in the ?nancing and construction pipeline. The opportunity to build on the farmer-owned corn-to-ethanol biore?nery model is over. But the opportunity for local ownership is just beginning for cellulosic biofuels.  This piece by David Morris was originally published in Ethanol Today magazine. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Justin Dahlheimer | No Comments | Updated on May 2, 2008

Groups Stop Super Target in Connecticut

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/groups-stop-super-target-connecticut/

Together, two grassroots groups have thwarted a development proposal that would have paved the way for a 128,000-square-foot Super Target in Simsbury, CT. Continue reading

Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on May 2, 2008

Be suspicious of megamall subsidy

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/be-suspicious-of-megamall-subsidy/

Be suspicious of megamall subsidy Federal tax law discourages individual investment and local ownership of turbines. By David Morris, originally published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 2, 2008 The almost-certainly-soon-to-be-passed $370 million tax subsidy to the Mall of America is the kind of initiative that makes people wonder whose side government is on. Here’s… Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on May 1, 2008

An energy incentive is drifting in the wind

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/an-energy-incentive-is-drifting-in-the-wind/

An energy incentive is drifting in the wind Federal tax law discourages individual investment and local ownership of turbines. By John Farrell, originally published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 1, 2008 A wind turbine can power up to 600 homes, but 600 homeowners can’t get together to own a wind turbine. Why? Because federal… Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on May 1, 2008

Federal Energy Incentives Are Drifting in the Wind

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/federal-energy-incentives-are-drifting-wind/

A wind turbine can power up to 600 homes, but 600 homeowners can’t get together to own a wind turbine. Why? Because federal law makes local ownership virtually impossible. The federal wind-energy incentives — up for renewal this year — discriminate against local ownership and favor absentee ownership. They also severely restrict the number of investors who can finance wind-energy generators.

Continue reading

dm.jpg
Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 28, 2008

Distributed Energy First, Wait On New Transmission Lines

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/distributed-energy-first-wait-new-transmission-lines/

A debate between advocates of distributed and centralized renewable energy systems is just beginning. It is overdue. Consideration of scale in renewable energy systems has been delayed in part because we first had to bring solar energy in all its forms to market, and in part because the distributed nature of renewable energy resources seemed inexorably to lead to their being harnessed in distributed fashion.

Continue reading