2/29/2012 – Government Technology named Christopher Mitchell one of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers In Public Sector Innovation: In 2011, the battle for the right of local governments to build their own broadband networks raged on, and at the heart of the firestorm was Christopher Mitchell, director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative of … Read More
Grist, March 14, 2012 Get a load of this: Nearly 100 million Americans could install over 60,000 megawatts of solar at less than grid prices – without subsidies – by 2021. That’s from a new report by John Farrell at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance called “Rooftop Revolution: Changing Everything with Cost-Effective Local Solar.” It’s about … Read More
Ars Technica, March 13, 2012 One of the benefits of living next to a municipal Internet Service Provider came into focus this month. Residents of Monticello, Minnesota found a hastily composed flyer in their mailboxes. The missive listed Charter Cable’s basic and digital tier offerings, with an extra enticement scribbled in hand on the right side … Read More
The financial crisis and its economic aftershocks have spawned the first serious examination of the structure of our current banking system and the public policies that have fueled consolidation over the last 30 years and untethered financial institutions from their communities. From the 1930s through the 1970s, state and federal policies nurtured a strong network of … Read More
Treehugger.com, March 12, 2012 Perhaps no other corporation elicits such strong reactions in the environmental community as Walmart—thanks largely to the impact the mega-retailer has on communities’ small businesses and development patterns, contrasted with pledges to green up their act and potential market impact if the reality ever meets the rhetoric. The latest independent assessment of … Read More
The Young Activist Club started as an after-school PTA-sponsored club at Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park, Maryland. In fall 2008, student members decided to focus on their school’s disposable styrofoam lunch trays and work toward implementing an alternative solution. The students researched problems with polystyrene and found that their lunch trays are burned in … Read More
Triple Pundit, March 12, 2012 A report by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) entitled “Walmart’s Greenwash” examines the retail giant’s environmental impact and finds that the results are falling far short of the promises. According to senior researcher and author Stacy Mitchell, “Walmart’s sustainability campaign has done more to improve the company’s image than … Read More
At BoingBoing.net, ILSR paints a vivid picture, shoot-out style, of their new infographic. Cory Doctorow spoke with Christopher Mitchell about what those “special offers” in Monticello mean.… Read More
