Waste to Wealth Internships (DC Office) The Institute for Local Self-Reliance seeks qualified college and university students or graduates for summer and academic year internships to work on its Waste to Wealth Program. Course credit may be available with approval from an academic department. We are seeking interns for three projects: Recycling Means Business: ILSR is … Read More
Being from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, I’m often asked, “You want everyone off-grid and independent with their own solar array and a battery, right?” In a word, no. But our mission of economic and energy self-reliance has several similarities to the kind of (economic) independence being sought by England’s American colonists in the 1770s and celebrated … Read More
It’s one thing to own your utility and have a commitment to renewable energy, but it’s another thing to deliver. The municipal utility in Palo Alto, CA, set an ambitious target of 33% renewable energy by 2015 and to ultimately deliver a carbon neutral electricity supply. They will reach 48% renewable power in 2017 and met … Read More
For years, the only effective way to go solar was to have tens of thousands of dollars and a sunny roof. Investing in solar was nearly impossible. But a couple years ago, a new notion called crowdfunding got its start, and California-Based Mosaic was on the forefront. Its crowdfunding program allows people to pool their resources, large or small, to build community-based solar installations. It’s not about charity, either. Mosaic’s pioneering crowdfunding effort is letting people across the country earn a modest return on their solar investment and putting clean local power on rooftops everywhere.
We spoke with Mosaic president Billy Parish via Skype in mid-February about the potential for crowdfunding to give most Americans a chance to invest in renewable energy.… Read More
KCET, June 24, 2013 As we’ve reported here before, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is embarking on a program in which it will buy solar energy from smaller-scale installations within city limits. The program has taken some heat for setting its sights too low, but one distributed generation expert with impeccable credentials has … Read More
When I wrote two weeks ago that Master Limited Partnerships are a Lousy Policy for Solar, Wind, and Taxpayers, I was aware that it wasn’t a widely held view. The piece has done more than provide another viewpoint on the complicated corporate structure, it has ignited a significant debate across the renewable energy community about the … Read More
A friend at Fresh Energy generously called me the “architect” of Minnesota’s new solar energy standard (signed last week), and although that may be a bit generous, I’d like to provide a detailed description of the nation’s newest solar energy standard. The topline: 1.5% solar standard for the state’s investor-owned utilities (with some exemptions) for a … Read More
Globe Net, May 27, 2013 The U.S.-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance has published an informative review of Ontario’s buy local” Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program. Launched in 2009, the Ontario program “promised to deliver hundreds of megawatts of new renewable energy and create 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2012. The Institute states the program has … Read More
Launched in 2009, Ontario’s “buy local” Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program promised to deliver hundreds of megawatts of new renewable energy and create 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2012. The program has had some notable achievements, and the province has worked hard to remedy some of the remaining roadblocks to success. The bottom line is … Read More
Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and similar chain dollar stores are targeting vulnerable communities across the US. Our new report details these companies’ rapid expansion, the growing resistance, and the pressing need for federal policy interventions.
Read the report, and find all of our resources and reporting on chain dollar stores here.
