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Democratic Energy
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ILSR provides technical assistance and information on environmentally sound economic development strategies. Since 1974, ILSR has worked with citizen groups, governments and private businesses in developing policies that extract the maximum value from local resources.
Washington Office
927 15th St. NW, 4th Fl.
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202-898-1610
Minnesota Office
1313 5th St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Tel: 612-379-3815
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Notably New Resources at ILSR
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 New Rules Podcast, Audio and Video Archives
An Energy Incentive is Drifting in the Wind - published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 1, 2008
Distributed Energy First, Wait On New Transmission Lines - published in Renewable Energy World, April 28, 2008
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ILSR's new Sustainable Plastics web site describes problems with conventional fossil-fuel-based plastics and provides information on a new generation of biobased plastics that could take their place. Please take a look at our newest online resource, we'd like to get your feedback.
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Broadening Wind Energy Ownership by Changing Federal Incentives
This April 2008 policy brief shows how current federal law discriminates against people owning their own power plants and highlights how the removal of two barriers at the federal level could dramatically enhance local ownership and investment in renewable energy projects. View Press Release and Download the full report |
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Driving Our Way to Energy Independence
This April 2008 report describes how commercially available technologies today could transform our petroleum powered transportation system into one powered by electricity and biofuels. Provisions in the recently passed Energy Act could accelerate that transformation. With the adoption of complementary policies, the revolution in our transportation sector can generate an equally profound revolution in our electricity sector. Hundreds of thousands of locally owned wind turbines and solar electric arrays supplying flexible fueled, plug-in hybrid vehicles can allow tens of millions of Americans to become energy producers not just energy consumers.
View Executive Summary and Download the full report |
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Ethanol and Land Use Changes
This February 2008 policy brief criticizes the authors of two recent studies published in Science for advancing a conclusion not supported by their own studies. The paper notes that the vast majority of today’s ethanol production comes from corn cultivated on land that has been in corn production for generations. Since little new land has come into production, either directly or indirectly, the current use of ethanol clearly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
View Press Release and Download the full report |
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Carbon Caps With Universal Dividends: Equitable, Ethical & Politically Effective Climate Policy
This January 2008 policy brief concludes that universal dividends are a critically important tool to create the political will and public acceptance for a carbon cap. Universal dividends have the potential to hold harmless a large segment of consumers while we move to a low-carbon economy. Moreover, the universal dividend honors the principle that the sky belongs to all of us equally. Private investment in clean and efficient technologies will be driven by a carbon cap that leads to steady reductions over time of GHG emissions and carbon-based fuels. View Executive Summary and Download the full report |
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Municipal Broadband: Demystifying Wireless and Fiber-Optic Options
This January 2008 policy brief examines how the United States, creator of the Internet, increasingly lags in high-speed access to it. In the absence of a national broadband strategy, hundreds of communities have invested in broadband infrastructure to solve their problem locally. This report highlights how communities are continuing to invest in broadband networks - both wired and wireless - and digs deeper into these technologies and the tradeoffs of each. The solution: wireless solves the mobility problem; fiber solves the speed and capacity problems; and public ownership offers a network built to benefit the community. View Executive Summary and Download the full report
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Minnesota Feed-In Tariff Could Lower Cost, Boost Renewables and Expand Local Ownership
This January 2008 policy brief highlights how several European countries, and more recently the Canadian province of Ontario, have adopted a simple yet powerful strategy to expand renewable energy and benefit local economies. It is called a feed-in tariff: a mandated, long-term premium price for renewable energy paid by the local electric utility to energy producers. Evidence shows that a feed-in tariff achieves greater results at a lower cost than do other strategies like tax incentives or renewable electricity standards. View Executive Summary and Download Full Report
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CAPX2020 Transmission Line - Background and Minnesota Regulatory Information
Based on concerns from the public, we've set up a section of our web site to allow for easy access to information about the CAPX2020 transmission lines proposal in Minnesota and the regulatory review process that's underway. |
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Burlington Telecom Case Study
This case study by Christopher Mitchell examines how one community in Vermont solved its broadband problems and created a new revenue source by building a city wide fiber optic network.
[download the report or read the summary] |
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BigBoxToolKit.com Helps Grassroots Groups Counter Big-Box Stores - Big Box Tool Kit has the resources you'll need to both beat the big box and to chart a new course for economic development in your community. |
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Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses
In this deft and revealing book, Stacy Mitchell illustrates how mega-retailers are fueling many of our most pressing problems, from the shrinking middle class to rising pollution and diminished civic engagement. She then shows how communities and independent businesses are effectively fighting back. Buy Big Box Swindle Today! [published by Beacon Press]
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The Hometown Advantage - April 2008
The latest e-bulletin to learn about land use policies and other tools that can protect the character and vitality of your home town. Get Hometown Advantage by e-mail or Get the Hometown Advantage Feed
Democratic Energy - April 2008
The latest e-bulletin reporting on how individuals, communities and governments are working towards a clean, decentralized energy system. Syndicate DE
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© Copyright Institute for Local Self-Reliance
927 15th St. NW, 4th Fl., Washington, DC 20005 Tel: 202-898-1610
1313 5th St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414 Tel: 612-379-3815
www.ilsr.org |
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