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Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Nov 28, 2004

Who gets fruits of public R&D?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/who-gets-fruits-of-public-rd/

Who gets fruits of public R&D? by David Morris Originally published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 28, 2004 In 1980, Congress allowed universities to own federally supported research and grant exclusive licenses to businesses to commercialize that research. Since then, the landscape of America’s research universities has changed dramatically. Before 1980, U.S. universities applied… Continue reading

Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Nov 28, 2004

Ethanol production makes sense, when you consider the facts

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/ethanol-production-makes-sense-when-you-consider-the-facts/

Ethanol production makes sense, when you consider the facts by David Morris Originally published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 28, 2004 A recent column by Craig Westover claimed it takes more energy to make ethanol than is contained in ethanol (“Let’s have both sides of ethanol debate,” Nov. 17). The only evidence he… Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 23, 2004

Shoppers Urged to Break Free of Chains

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/shoppers-urged-break-free-chains/

Independent businesses in two dozen cites joined forces to urge residents to "unchain" themselves on Saturday, November 20, by patronizing only locally owned stores and restaurants that day. The event, dubbed America Unchained, was organized by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). The goal, according to AMIBA’s director Jennifer Rockne, was to broaden awareness of the local economic benefit of choosing to shop at locally owned businesses instead of chains. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 9, 2004

California Lawmakers Seek to Drop Wal-Mart Stock from State Pension Fund

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/california-lawmakers-seek-drop-walmart-stock-state-pension-fund/

A group of California state lawmakers, led by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, are calling for the legislature to require that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) sell its 18.8 million shares of Wal-Mart stock, valued at about $1 billion. "The Legislature needs to take a close look at how we put our money behind our values," Lieber told the Associated Press. "Wal-Mart is making a big push to expand in many areas of our state. Continue reading

Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 9, 2004

Big-Box Ballot Initiatives: Wins & Losses

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/bigbox-ballot-initiatives-wins-losses/

Voters in Hudson, Ohio—a community of 23,000 people thirty miles southeast of Cleveland—overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative that would have opened the way for big-box stores and allowed developers to skirt the town’s development review process. "We are ecstatic," said Liz Murphy, owner of the Learned Owl bookstore and member of Smart Growth Hudson, a citizens group that formed to defeat the initiative. Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 4, 2004

Colorado Voters Approve Renewable Energy Ballot Initiative

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/colorado-voters-approve-renewable-energy-ballot-initiative/

Colorado voters have become the first in the nation to vote on and pass a renewable energy standard on as part of a statewide ballot question. By a 53%-47% margin, a majority of voters approved Amendment 37 on the November 2nd ballot; which requires an increasing amount of the electricity in Colorado to come from renewables energy sources such as wind and solar.

Colorado now joins 17 states with minimum clean energy standards as part of a growing trend of states taking the lead to fill the void of federal energy policy.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 29, 2004

Wal-Mart Hinders Poverty Reduction, Study Finds

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmart-hinders-poverty-reduction-study-finds/

Counties that gained Wal-Mart stores during the 1990s fared worse in terms of family poverty rates than those that did not, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State’s Center for Economic and Community Development. Wal-Mart often characterizes its stores as beneficial to the working poor. Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 26, 2004

Federal Legislation Supports Distributed Energy Technologies

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/federal-legislation-supports-distributed-energy-technologies/

Two pieces of legislation have been passed recently by the U.S. Congress contain some provisions that will provide financial incentives for distributed energy technologies including biomass, wind, solar and geothermal. The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 [H.R. 1380] and the 2004 American Jobs Creation Act [H.R. 4520] have been signed into law by President Bush. Some of these incentives are new, some are extensions of incentives that have lapsed with the inability of Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill in the past two years.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 21, 2004

Independent Businesses Produce Bigger Economic Benefits, Study Concludes

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/independent-businesses-produce-bigger-economic-benefits-study-concludes/

Chicago’s locally owned businesses generate 70 percent more local economic impact per square foot than chain stores, according to a new study. The study, conducted by the firm Civic Economics, analyzed ten locally owned restaurants, retail stores, and service providers in the Andersonville neighborhood on Chicago’s north side and compared them with ten national chains competing in the same categories. Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 15, 2004

Internet Over Powerlines Takes Step Forward

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/internet-over-powerlines-takes-step-forward/

On October 14, 2004 the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a joint statement related to new FCC rules to facilitate the widespread adoption of broadband internet access over electric power lines, known as Access BPL [Action by the Commission, October 14, 2004 by Report and Order (FCC 04-245)]. The BPL ruling will not only provide households with another option in broadband internet service but it is expected to lead utilties to provide more efficient management of their power supply system, and ensure increased operational reliability. Continue reading