A growing number of communities are fighting back against the rising power of large retail stores like Wal-Mart. But real change won’t come until we stop thinking of ourselves as consumers and start thinking of ourselves as engaged citizens. Continue reading
One of the first orders of business for the new Congress should be to eliminate a single sentence in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The language was added in the waning hours of the conference committee negotiations. According to ILSR, if it does not, the commercialization of ethanol made from cellulose could be delayed.
The article below by David Morris provides and overview of the mess.
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A three-year-old campaign to encourage people in northwest Washington state to "Think Local First" is having a dramatic effect on spending behavior, according to a recent survey. Continue reading
Our program continued its tradition of solving problems in ways that reinforce economic and environmental security. Our work continues to help community development organizations, small businesses and government agencies increase productive employment, recover increasing amounts of valuable recycled materials and products, save environmental resources, and lower operating costs. Read Waste to Wealth 2006 Report (PDF) Continue reading
The San Diego City Council voted 5-3 to prohibit supercenters — stores that are larger then 90,000 square feet and devote more than 10 percent of their floor area to groceries. The measure will prevent Wal-Mart and Target from opening large supercenters in the city. Wal-Mart supercenters average 187,000 square feet in size. Continue reading
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that 610 projects have been given the authority to issue Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) to help finance renewable energy development across the country. State and local governments and municipal and cooperative utilities were eligible to apply.
In September 2006, the Whatcom County Council (Washington) voted to use $62,000 out of $85,000 in projected energy efficiency savings for purchasing a block of renewable energy for a $0.01 per kWh premium. The renewable energy credits from Puget Sound Energy will cover 100 percent of the electricity used in county operations in 2007.
In this Q&A with Bookselling This Week, Stacy Mitchell talks about how big chains benefit from government favoritism and misperceptions about price and value. Continue reading
Tuesday’s elections demonstrated that limiting the ability of corporations to bankroll local ballot initiatives is a crucial step in stopping the proliferation of big-box stores.
Target and Wal-Mart poured money into two campaigns to overturn store size cap laws in communities in California and Montana. They won by very narrow margins in both cases, despite having outspent grassroots groups that supported the caps by as much as 10-to-1.
But money doesn’t always win. Lowe’s lost a bid to build in another California town.
Last night, across the county, citizens’ cast their votes on ballot initiatives ranging from renewable energy portfolio requirements to increasing taxes to fund global warming programs. The results were mixed. Note: Most of the vote totals below are those that I found on the morning after the election on the respective Secretary of State web sites. The vote totals could change but the results are not expected to change.
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