Communities around the country are celebrating the second annual Independents Week, which draws on the July 4th holiday to remind people of the value of locally owned businesses. Continue reading
The Vancouver City Council voted 8-3 to deny approval for a 130,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore along Marine Drive in the southeastern part of the city. Continue reading
A lawsuit filed this month alleges that Visa and MasterCard illegally fix the price of fees that small retailers pay for credit card transactions. Continue reading
Since Massachusetts established their interconnection standards for distributed generation projects in February 2004, 105 projects have been approved and about 40 others are under review.
PORTLAND, ME [June 28, 2005]—Hundreds of Maine workers employed by Wal-Mart are enrolled in the state’s public assistance programs, including Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to data released by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Continue reading
A new analysis from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance concludes that the Minnesota 1994 biomass mandate, rather than jump-starting a new industry using new energy crops, has become little more than a very costly waste-to-energy program.
Under a new law, utilities in Nevada will now be able to count electricity savings from energy conservation programs as meeting the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS).
More than 40 percent of the towns surveyed for a new report by the London-based New Economics Foundation are so overrun by chain stores that they have lost their local identity and become little more than "clone towns." Continue reading
Preferring the term “gas-optional” vehicles rather than plug-in electric hybrids, Austin Energy has adopted a strategy to diversify and grow its electric utility operations and hopes to convince cities nationwide to follow their lead.
Roger Duncan at Austin Energy is traveling the country promoting the idea that the time is ripe for a convergence of municipally owned electrical operations with the transportation sector. The fit becomes natural through the increased use of gas-optional vehicles (GOVs).
Grassroots groups that form to fight big-box development proposals often dissolve after winning or losing on that particular project. But a citizens group in Charlevoix, Michigan, called This is Our Town, kept on working. Now, one year after successfully pressuring Wal-Mart to drop plans for a supercenter, the group is celebrating new zoning rules that will limit future big-box development. Continue reading
Your download has begun in a separate window. Please take a minute to help us better understand who is viewing our work by filling out the form below.