Community is Central to Building a Post-Neoliberal Future

Date: 22 Dec 2022 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Stacy Mitchell spoke at “Rethinking Globalization, Intermediation, and Efficiency,” on exploring new paradigms for a post-neoliberal world. Community, Stacy argued, is the foundational basis for this paradigm shift.… Read More

Voices of 100%: South Carolina City Tries Green Energy in a Red State – Episode 86 of Local Energy Rules Podcast

Date: 25 Sep 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this episode of our Voices of 100% series from Local Energy Rules, Mayor Stephen Benjamin discusses the importance of local initiative, taking action on climate in the South, and how to ensure that a clean energy transition benefits everyone.… Read More

New Report: 8 Ways Local Energy Policies Can Boost the Economy

Date: 7 Oct 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Press Release | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Minneapolis, MN (October 7, 2013) – The economy has stalled and so has the war on climate change. But a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance describes how dozens of cities are boosting their local economies while dramatically reducing greenhouse gases. City Power Play:  8 Practical Local Energy Policies to Boost the Economy reports … Read More

12 Slides for 8 Practical Local Energy Policies to Boost the Economy

Date: 7 Oct 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A vividly visual summary of our newest report, City Power Play: 8 Practical Local Energy Policies to Boost the Economy, this presentation covers eight powerful policies and practices that cities have employed to reduce energy use, save money, and create local jobs, all without waiting for someone else to act. It provides short case studies of … Read More

And the Winner is….The Public Sector

Date: 18 May 2011 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, The Public Good | 3 Facebooktwitterredditmail

“Unlike the public sector, the private sector is bred for efficiency. Left to its own devices, it will always find the means to provide services faster, cheaper, and more effectively than will governments,” said James Jay Carafano. I suspect the vast majority of Americans would agree with Mr. Carafano. They probably consider the statement self-evident. The facts, however, lead to the opposite conclusion. When not handicapped by regulations designed to subsidize the private sector, the public sector often provides services faster, cheaper and more effectively.… Read More

Energy efficiency has economies of scale

Date: 19 Nov 2009 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The report [Synapse Energy Economics Inc.: Costs and Benefits of Electric Utility Energy Efficiency in Massachusetts] is worth reading in full, but this paragraph is absolutely vital:

Synapse recently undertook an extensive review of numerous utility and third party EE programs from across the United States in order to explore the empirical relationship between the cost of saved energy (CSE) per kWh saved and program scale in terms of first year energy savings as a percentage of annual energy sales. In the analysis, we found that the CSE tends to decrease as energy savings increase relative to annual energy sales. This finding is contrary to the idea of an energy efficiency supply curve that is often constructed to estimate economic potential of energy efficiency measures. These supply curves generally indicate that the CSE increases as energy savings increase, much like a generation supply curve would. In English: Energy efficiency gets cheaper the more you spend on it. [emphasis original]

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Why Does the Much-Touted Climate Bill Look Like It Was Stolen From the Republican Playbook?

Date: 8 Jun 2009 | posted in: Energy, From the Desk of David Morris, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Most environmental leaders and Democratic Party officials argue that we should support the Waxman-Markey carbon cap and trade bill (American Clean Energy Security Act) no matter how imperfect because it represents an important small step forward.  In this commentary by David Morris, he concludes that the bill would be acceptable if it was stripped of its cap and trade provisions. Retaining the cap and trade provisions and he sees it as a giant step backwards that may well hobble further progress in federal efforts to combat climate change for years to come.

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Improving the Efficiency of Minnesota’s Industries

Date: 5 Nov 2007 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This November 2007 report by David Morris and Ann Robertson evaluates the evaluates that issue by analyzing the impact of the proposed $1.5 billion tax shift legislation, the Economic Efficiency and Pollution Reduction Act (EEPRA) on Minnesota’s most energy-intensive business sectors and estimating the potential for those sectors to offset any increased tax burden through cost-effective efficiency improvements.

Under EEPRA, energy-intensive businesses would pay higher net taxes while energy-efficient businesses would pay lower net taxes. While this is an intended outcome of the tax shift, businesses in Minnesota are concerned that the tax shift could impose a competitive burden on certain sectors. 

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Watching minutes, ignoring hours

Date: 1 May 2005 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Watching minutes, ignoring hours by David Morris Originally published in Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 1, 2005 A few years ago the following tongue-in-cheek economics lesson made the rounds of mainstream news journals: Bill Gates would lose money if, on his way to work, he stopped to pick up a $100 bill. Why? Over his business career … Read More

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