The New Republic, April 17, 2012 Located halfway between the state capital of Columbia and the port city of Charleston, Orangeburg County, South Carolina is among the more geographically blessed areas of the country. It’s also one of its poorest. Over a quarter of its population lives below the poverty line, with a per capita income … Read More
Policy Mic, April 16, 2012 A new report by the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has accused Walmart of greenwashing. In recent years, the retail giant has won praise from everyone from Al Gore to Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp for its efforts to green its global supply chain. But the ILSR says, “Walmart’s … Read More
Zero Waste Zone, April 14, 2012 In perfect timing with Earth month, The City of Chattanooga is exploring how to bring zero waste practices to the residential and corporate community. The main ingredients for success are in place: 1) solid local government support, 2) corporate community enthusiasm, and 3) strong local markets for recyclable material. Chattanooga Director of Sustainability David … Read More
Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2012 Bringing together strangers, often through social media, the events aim to support locally owned merchants. The upshot: stores get a windfall, and ‘mobsters’ learn more about their city and meet new friends. The crowd stood at the corner of San Pedro and Boyd streets, a bustling shopping area near L.A.’s … Read More
New York Times, April 13, 2012 An environmentalist in Bentonville sounds like the premise for a low-budget reality show, but Wal-Mart has been courting environmental groups and seeking their input on its policies in the seven years since it first announced a sustainability program. The company, the nation’s biggest retailer, has met some environmental goals and … Read More
Star Tribune, April 9, 2012 In this piece in the Star Tribune David Morris speaks out on the need to stop the tidal wave of post office closings that will occur when the Post Office’s self-imposed moratorium ends in mid May. Last year, 3,600 communities, about 90 in Minnesota, were notified that they’ll probably lose their … Read More
Neighborhood Notes, April 2, 2012 Are multi-million dollar public investments to woo corporations to our city in the best interest of our local economy? Who is responsible for job creation? The president, local government, entrepreneurial business people? As we expressed last month in the first installment in our Thinking Local series, you don’t have to look … Read More
We have combined the NewRules.org and ILSR.org websites to better coordinate and publicize our work. All of the New Rules Project activity, research, and information continues here, on Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s new web site. The New Rules Project had an extensive collection of rules — policies, bills, regulations, and ordinances — has also been transferred … Read More
In this cover story for Sojourners Magazine, Stacy Mitchell writes that there is remarkably little evidence to support the idea that bigger banks are superior. They have come to dominate, not because they are more efficient or offer better services, but because they have rigged government policy in their own favor. It’s time for a new set of rules—banking policies for the 99 percent.… Read More
