The third edition of this report asks yet again: if each U.S. state took full advantage of its own renewable energy resources, would it be sufficient to satisfy that state’s electricity consumption? The answer for most states is yes, easily.… Read More
In our latest Local Energy Rules podcast, John Farrell joins leaders from Farmers Electric Cooperative in Iowa and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in New Mexico, to discuss how rural areas can source their power locally and renewably. Rural electric co-op leaders Warren McKenna and Luis Reyes share from experience how local renewable energy provides win-wins for co-ops, member-owners, and their local economy.… Read More
David Morris talks with Christopher Mitchell, Director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks initiative about why the message of local self-reliance is as relevant today as it was when ILSR opened its doors in 1974. This wide-ranging conversation examines the rising concentration of economic power and cities’ responses. … Read More
Nestled in the gently rolling hills of southeastern Iowa, it’s at first difficult to tell what sets Kalona apart from countless similar places on the Midwestern landscape. Small towns like these form the backbone of a region whose economy depends on a rich farming tradition, even well into the 21st century.
But Kalona’s charm doesn’t obscure the innovation that makes it a national leader in clean power generation. In this small community, where many Amish and Mennonite families shun electricity and cars, solar power has proliferated. In fact, the Kalona area is a surprising national leader in solar power generation.… Read More
Since our founding in 1974, we have worked to rewrite the rules and empower communities to choose their own future. Across several vital economic sectors, we help break the corporate stranglehold that extracts wealth from local economies and undermines democracy. We give communities the tools to build a strong local economy themselves. From banking to energy, healthy soils … Read More
On March 25th, 2010, David Morris delivered the keynote presentation to Wisconsin’s Sustainable Communities Public Policy Forum. He talks about local self-reliance as both a means and an end, a strategy and a goal. A clean environment and a health economy depend on communities extracting the maximum value from local human, capital and natural resources. And … Read More
An interview with David Morris, by Sarah van Gelder published by Context Institute in 1993… Read More
A speech by David Morris presented at The Other Economc Summit in Houston, Texas in July 1990, later published in Annals of Earth (Vol X, No.3, 1992).… Read More
The first half of this book discusses the century-long struggle by cities to gain autonomy and authority from state governments and create their own planning and service delivery capacities. The second part describes the first urban-based localization movements. Given the relevance of the book to current localist efforts, we’ve written a new foreword that traces the local energy initiatives after the 75 percent plunge in oil prices after 1982 and the coming to power of a new administration hostile to renewable energy.… Read More
