Time To Think Big by David Morris Originally published on TomPaine.com, March 4, 2004 For advocates of renewable energy, these are the best of times and the worst of times. The good news is that renewable energy is growing in spectacular fashion. Wind electric production in the United States alone is up more than 200 percent … Read More
Energy Doldrums by David Morris Originally published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 9, 2003 We’re coming up on the 10th anniversary of a Minnesota legislative session described by two veteran political reporters in this newspaper at the time as “one of the most divisive and emotionally draining in memory.” The key issue was the expansion … Read More
Second Thoughts on a Hydrogen Economy By David Morris Originally Published on Alternet, February 24, 2003 When George Bush proposed a $1.7 billion program to promote hydrogen-fueled cars in the State of the Union Address, both sides of the aisle applauded. Almost everyone supports a hydrogen economy – conservatives and liberals, tree huggers and oil drillers. … Read More
Sometimes doing the right thing is almost too simple. Requiring publicly funded construction projects to produce no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions is one example: it’s hard to find the down side. By David Morris… Read More
Use Construction Bonds to Fight Global Warming By David Morris March 26, 2000 What can Minnesotans do to curtail global warming? The problem seems immense, but the solution is straightforward: Use energy more efficiently and shift to renewable fuels. An effective and easy first step toward redressing our share of global pollution would be to adopt … Read More
State Should Seize Chance to Exploit an Asset – its Wind by David Morris Institute for Local Self-Reliance January 12, 1999 – published in St. Paul Pioneer Press Dear Jesse, In the next few days a decision will be made by the executive branch in your name, or more precisely in the name of the people … Read More
Thisspeech by David Morris was originally presented at a conference of the Environmental Grantmakers Association 1998 Retreat in Houston, Texas, on October 28, 1998. Letme begin with what I hope is a relatively uncontroversial proposition. Rules Matter. Some of you may have a visceral reaction to the word"rules", for it conjures up notions of meddling and government bureaucracies. But the reality is that human societies always have and always will make rules that channel scientific genius, and investment capital and entrepreneurial energy in certain directions. We make the rules, and to a large extent, the rules make us.… Read More
Here Comes the Sun by David Morris November 18, 1997 – published in St. Paul Pioneer Press When President Clinton announced his Million Solar Roofs Initiative on June 26th, the farsighted people at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District(SMUD) probably wondered what had taken him so long. Back in 1993, SMUD announced its own solar roof initiative. … Read More
Download Report: Taxing Wind Energy in Minnesota In 1991, to spur the development of a wind-energy industry in Minnesota the state legislature exempt- ed wind-energy equipment from property taxes. In 1994 the Minnesota legislature enacted a wind mandate, ordering Northern States Power Company (NSP) to build or purchase a minimum of 425 megawatts (MW) of wind … Read More
