The following is shared with us by our friend and ally Dan Knapp of Urban Ore in Berkeley, California. For more from Dan Knapp and his partner Mary Lou Van Deventer, please listen to our Building Local Power podcast where we interviewed both of them:Rescuing Materials and Building Community in Berkeley Thanks to “Waste” (Episode 43).… Read More
New York Times tech reporter Cecilia Kang delved into the issue of rural connectivity to the Internet and reached out to our Community Broadband Networks initiative director, Christopher Mitchell, for his insight on the role electric cooperatives play in this connectivity.… Read More
Exempt from state regulation in 33 states because they purportedly offer democratic and local control, new data on the nation’s rural electric cooperatives suggests that skin color is still a major barrier to their democratic representation.… Read More
This week in democratic energy, media reports discussed the recent ruling for utilities in Wisconsin, the continued growth of solar in several states, and more. John Farrell, Director of ILSR’s Democratic Energy initiative, recently presented on a panel about the City of Minneapolis’ partnership with Xcel. His talk was covered on PVSolarReport. ILSR’s report on the Walton … Read More
This week in democratic energy, ILSR received considerable coverage in several publications. Media reports also discussed the future of utilities, the Energy Department’s significant investment in solar, and a new study examining how peer influence affects who installs solar. John Farrell, Director of ILSR’s Democratic Energy initiative, was cited in multiple articles. In Yes! Magazine, Kayla … Read More
In a recent New York Times article, reporter Kate Murphy shined a light on fiber’s increasing role in economic development. Murphy discussed several of the same networks we have followed: Wilson, NC; Chattanooga, TN; Lafayette, LA; and Mount Vernon, WA. Murphy acknowledged that successful companies are moving from major metropolitan areas to less populated communities out … Read More
We continue to oppose the federal government’s foray into creating a high tech surveillance state where the National Security Agency effectively has unlimited power to spy on Americans. The New York Times has released an op-doc embedded below that offers good reasons all Americans should be concerned, even if most are not doing anything they believe … Read More
Having just read the New York Times story “Most of U.S. is Wired, but Millions Aren’t Plugged In,” I was reminded that even the top mainstream telecom journalists really have little understanding of what they write. This is a bit ranty but comes back together constructively at the end. I just read that “nearly 98 percent … Read More
Our response to the destructive force of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart ought to involve much more than adopting regulations that "soften the blows" and "slow the pace of change," as Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under Clinton, argued in a recent New York Times op-ed entitled Don’t Blame Wal-Mart. Yes, we most certainly should raise the minimum wage and require companies to offer employees affordable health insurance, as Reich suggests. … Read More
