Initiatives

Banking

Overview

The financial crisis and its economic aftershocks have spawned the first serious examination of the structure of our current banking system and the public policies that have fueled consolidation over the last 30 years and untethered financial institutions from their communities.

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Featured Article filed under Banking, The Public Good | Written by David Morris | 5 Comments | Updated on Mar 1, 2011

And The Academy Award for Cowardice Goes To….

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/and-the-academy-award-for-cowardice-goes-to/

After winning an Oscar for Best Documentary for Inside Job, Charles Ferguson injected some much-needed real world relevance amidst the fabulously glitzy proceedings. Continue reading

Featured Article filed under Banking | Written by Stacy Mitchell | 1 Comment | Updated on Sep 15, 2011

How State Banks Bring the Money Home

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/how-state-banks-bring-money-home/

One of the most significant consequences of the consolidation of banking over the last decade is how much it has hindered the economy’s ability to create jobs. There’s no single solution to this problem, but one of the most promising strategies involves creating state-owned banks that can bolster the lending capacity of local banks, helping them grow and multiply. Continue reading

Featured Article, ILSR Press Room filed under Banking | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2012

Banking For the Rest of Us

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/banking-for-the-rest-of-us/

In this cover story for Sojourners Magazine, Stacy Mitchell writes that there is remarkably little evidence to support the idea that bigger banks are superior. They have come to dominate, not because they are more efficient or offer better services, but because they have rigged government policy in their own favor. It’s time for a new set of rules—banking policies for the 99 percent. Continue reading

Biomaterials

Overview

In 1992, ILSR’s work on plant derived plastics and other materials led to our co-hosting the first International Workshop on Biodegradability. The concept of a Carbohydrate Economy – one that uses plant-based chemicals to replace petro-chemicals – was born...

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Featured Article, Resource filed under Biomaterials, Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Oct 11, 2012

Exemptions/Exclusions Added to Atlanta Airport Info Packet

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/atlanta-airport-exemptions-added/

The Sustainable Food Court Initiative (SFCI) Airport Pilot, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, works closely with the SFCI Team to bring sustainable operating practices to their operations, especially regarding food waste. In early 2012 the Atlanta Airport made a bold statement in the new concessionaire contract, the largest foodservice contract executed in North America. Continue reading

Featured Article, Resource filed under Biomaterials, Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on Jul 30, 2012

Atlanta Airport Launches Compostable Foodservice Ware Packet

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/atlanta-airport-launches-compostable-foodservice-ware-packet/

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA) sends more than 19,000 tons of waste to Georgia landfills each year. Food scraps are the single largest component of HJAIA waste, making up about one-third of this tonnage. HJAIA has a goal to divert 50% of its waste from landfill disposal by 2015. Composting food waste is essential to reach this goal, and switching to compostable food packaging will enable successful food residuals recovery. Continue reading

Broadband

Overview

Access to the Internet is an essential infrastructure for any community that cares about economic development, quality of life, and educational opportunities. Unfortunately, most communities are presently dependent on a few unaccountable absentee corporations that act as gatekeepers to...

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Featured Article, Resource filed under Broadband | Written by Christopher | 21 Comments | Updated on Apr 9, 2012

Broadband at the Speed of Light

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

The fastest networks in the nation are built by local governments, a new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Benton Foundation reveals Chattanooga, Tennessee, is well known for being the first community with citywide access to a “gig,” or the fastest residential connections to the Internet available nationally. Less known are Bristol, Virginia,… Continue reading

Featured Article, ILSR Press Room, Resource filed under Broadband | Written by Lisa Gonzalez | No Comments | Updated on Mar 6, 2013

“The Monopoly Magnate”

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/ilsr-launches-new-comic/

ILSR is following HB 282, restrictive legislation moving through the Georgia General Assembly. The bill would effectively end the ability for existing networks to expand. Communities considering investing in their own telecommunications networks would face almost insurmountable financial and practical hurdles. As the bill is heavily lobbied by incumbent telecom giants, local leaders make the… Continue reading

Featured Article, ILSR Press Room, Resource filed under Broadband | Written by Lisa Gonzalez | No Comments | Updated on Apr 3, 2013

Broadband 101 Fact Sheet

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/ilsrreleases-new-broadband-101-fact-sheet-2/

ILSR’s fact sheet is a reliable quick reference guide for policymakers and citizens. As discussion about the telecommunications landscape expands, language about broadband abounds. In order to make informed decisions without stumbling over terminology, ILSR has assembled some basic facts about broadband. This fact sheet is a great reference for anyone who may take up… Continue reading

Energy

Overview

Wind and sun are available everywhere, so renewable energy can be economically harnessed at small scales across the country. This nature of renewable energy, and the exponential increase of renewable energy generation, promises to decentralize the nation’s grid system. ...

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Screen shot of the Greatest Most Interactive U.S. Solar Grid Parity Map from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Featured Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Jan 14, 2013

The Most Amazing, Interactive U.S. Solar Grid Parity Map

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/amazing-interactive-u-s-solar-grid-parity-map/

Within a decade, 300,000 megawatts of unsubsidized local solar power could compete with utility electricity prices in almost every state, enough clean energy to produce 10% of U.S. electricity. Grid parity is building like a relentless wave, but how much solar is at parity today? In 2016? In 2020? On homes or businesses? With incentives… Continue reading

Featured Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | 1 Comment | Updated on Apr 17, 2013

Proposed Solar Standard is Cheap Compared to Minnesota Utilities’ Rate Increases

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/proposed-solar-standard-cheap-compared-minnesota-utilities-rate-increases/

If you’re a state legislator in Minnesota, here are a few grains of salt to season the message you’ve been getting from electric utilities about the proposed solar energy standard. The bill (HF956/SF901) requires most utilities to get 4% of their energy from solar by 2025 and offers a standard, fixed-price contract to distributed solar energy… Continue reading

Featured Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Feb 19, 2013

How a City Can Get More Clean, Local Energy

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/city-clean-local-energy/

Like many cities attempting to solve climate change at a local level, Minneapolis is finding the prospect more challenging that it may have imagined. The lion’s share of emissions (two-thirds in the case of Minneapolis) come from electricity and gas sold by two monopoly, corporate utilities. Minnesota’s state-level policy is helping: a renewable energy standard… Continue reading

Independent Business

Overview

Over the last 25 years, a handful of giant retailers have grown to dominate the U.S. economy. ILSR challenges the wisdom of this market concentration. Through research and analysis, we have built a compelling case that places that are home to...

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Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on May 13, 2013

After 20 Years, Congress May Finally Pass Internet Sales Tax. Is it Too Late?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/20-years-congress-finally-pass-internet-sales-tax-late/

Not having to charge sales tax fueled Amazon’s growth for nearly 20 years. While it’s impossible not to see the company as a horse that’s already out the barn door, there’s still good reason to believe that the Marketplace Fairness Act will slow Amazon’s consolidation of retailing and provide benefit to independent businesses. Continue reading

Featured Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Mar 27, 2013

Why Walmart’s Death Grip on Our Food System Is Intensifying Poverty

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmarts-death-grip-food-system-intensifying-poverty/

When Michelle Obama visited a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, a few weeks ago to praise the company’s efforts to sell healthier food, she did not say why she chose a store in Springfield of all cities. But, in ways that Obama surely did not intend, it was a fitting choice. This Midwestern city provides a chilling look at where Walmart wants to take our food system. Continue reading

The Public Good

Overview

At the founding of the American Republic the word “private” had pejorative connotations. Derived from the Latin word “privare”, private meant to divide or tear apart. A privateer was a pirate. The word “public” was an honorable adjective, often...

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Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on May 11, 2013

Why Won’t Conservatives Let Communities Decide for Themselves?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/conservatives-communities-decide-themselves/

In his 1996 State of the Union Address Democratic President Bill Clinton famously declared, “the era of big government is over.” And during his tenure he did everything he could to make that true–deregulating the telecommunications and the financial industry, enacting a free trade agreement severely restricting the authority of the federal government to protect… Continue reading

Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on May 13, 2013

Can We Save the Commons that is the Post Office?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/save-commons-post-office/

For 225 years the U.S. Post Office has been the most admired and ubiquitous manifestation of government. From 1789 until the 1960s, the Cabinet level agency saw its mission not only to deliver the mail but to aggressively defend the public good. In the late 19th century when oligopolistic mail order delivery companies abused their… Continue reading

Featured Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Dec 19, 2012

Should We Subsidize Giving?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/subsidize-giving/

Robert J. Shiller, Professor of Economics and Finance at Yale recently weighed in with his perspective on subsidizing charity with a New York Times column whose title clearly conveys his message: “Please Don’t Mess With the Charitable Deduction.” There is a case to be made for charitable deductions. Regrettably, this isn’t it. Shiller offers three… Continue reading

Waste to Wealth

Overview

ILSR's Waste to Wealth program helps communities across the country create policies and practices that address citizens' environmental concerns and economic needs. We help citizens fight the incinerators and landfills that pollute their air and water, and drive property...

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Our Projects

Featured Article, Resource filed under Composting, Waste to Wealth | Written by Brenda Platt | No Comments | Updated on May 8, 2013

Composting Supports Jobs and Healthy Watersheds, Say New ILSR Reports

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

Two new reports from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Composting Makes $en$e Project document the importance of expanded composting and compost use to enhance soils, protect watersheds, reduce waste, and create green jobs and a new made-in-America industrial sector. For press release, click here. With compostable material making up almost one-half of municipal solid waste, there… Continue reading

Featured Article filed under Stop Incineration, Waste to Wealth | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Apr 10, 2013

VICTORY against Maryland’s “Waste Portfolio Standard” — the Latest Creative Way to Prop Up Incinerators

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/victory-against-maryland-incinerator-bill/

What does an incinerator industry do when they can’t compete? Change the rules. Biomass and trash incinerators are the most expensive way to make energy, and trash incineration costs more than directly landfilling the waste. These industries survive to the extent that they can change the rules to get monopoly waste contracts, become ‘renewable’ energy in state mandates, or as we’re seeing in Maryland: worse. Continue reading

About the Energy Self-Reliant States Initiative

Overview

Launched in October 2010, Energy Self-Reliant States tries to de-mystify the data that shows how electricity generation can be distributed and electricity generators can be locally owned.

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 30, 2006

California Solar Initiative Adds Performance Based Incentive in 2007

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/california-solar-initiative-adds-performance-based-incentive-2007/

Beginning January 1, 2007, a ruling by the California PUC establishes performance-based incentives (PBI) of up to 50 cents/kilowatt-hour over five years for solar energy systems greater than 100 kilowatts in size installed in businesses and other large facilities. For systems smaller than 100 kilowatts, incentives will be based on each system’s estimated future performance although projects can opt-in for PBI payments.

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 22, 2006

SF Development Project Aims to use 100 Percent Green Power

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/sf-development-project-aims-use-100-percent-green-power/

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has announced a plan to create San Francisco’s first neighborhood powered entirely by clean, renewable energy. The community would be on a 93-acre parcel at a site of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, where Lennar/BVHP is about to begin construction of more than 1,600 new residential units and 300,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 17, 2006

New York Seeks Proposals to Convert Fleet Vehicles to Plug-in Hybrids

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/new-york-seeks-proposals-convert-fleet-vehicles-plugin-hybrids/

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has issued guidelines for vendors to obtain funding under the New York State Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Technology Initiative. The goal of the program is to accelerate the conversion of the state’s hybrid vehicle fleet (500-600 vehicles) into plug-in hybrids.

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Aug 3, 2006

Moving London Toward Climate Neutral Development

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/moving-london-toward-climate-neutral-development/

London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, wants there to be at least one carbon neutral development project in each of the city’s 32 boroughs by 2010. Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Jul 28, 2006

Six Iowa Communities Move Forward in Taking Control of their Electric Systems

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/six-iowa-communities-move-forward-taking-control-their-electric-systems/

After passing referendums, six small communities in Iowa have filed regulatory petitions with the Iowa Utilities Board to drop their current electric supplier and form municipally-owned electric utilities.

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Jul 27, 2006

Ford Encouraged to Develop Flex-Fueled Plug-in Vehicles

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/ford-encouraged-develop-flexfueled-plugin-vehicles/

Ford Motor Company has recently launched a web site to reach out to potential customers for feedback. David Morris inaugurates a point/counterpoint section of their site with a column titled, “Ford Should Build Flexible Fueled, Plug in Hybrids.”

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Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Jul 21, 2006

City of Portland Enacts Local Renewable Fuels Standard

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/city-portland-enacts-local-renewable-fuels-standard/

The city of Portland, OR, has established a mandate that requires minimum blends of biodiesel and ethanol in petroleum-based fuels sold within the city and requires city-owned vehicles to maximize use of renewable fuels.

Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 18, 2006

David Morris on WCCO’s Project Energy – What is Ethanol?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/david-morris-wccos-project-energy-what-ethanol/

ILSR’s Vice President, David Morris, was interviewed on WCCO’s "Project Energy" segment that answered questions about ethanol. Segment aired July 18, 2006 Continue reading

Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Jul 7, 2006

David Morris Discusses Ethanol on Almanac

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/david-morris-discusses-ethanol-almanac/

Analysis: David Morris on Ethanol Issues in the Midwest – Twin Cities Public Television’s Almanac Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Jul 7, 2006

Podcast: Discussion of State Policy Supporting Biofueled PHEVs

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/podcast-discussion-state-policy-supporting-biofueled-phevs/

Hear ILSR vice president David Morris talking to Inside Renewable Energy on the successful campaign for a new law in Minnesota that requires the state to give priority to plug-in hybrid vehicles and to take steps toward establishing a flexible fuel vehicle industry.

Click to Listen or Download to the Full Podcast

About the Energy Self-Reliant States Initiative

Energy: Energy Self-Reliant States

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