Grid modernization is a useful tool for monopoly utilities to justify massive spending on stranded assets that ratepayers will have to pay for. For this piece for Midwest Energy News reporter Frank Jossi quotes ILSR’s research on energy.… Read More
This week in Building Local Power, we’re discussing independent businesses and the communities that support them. Host Christopher Mitchell and ILSR co-director and Community-Scaled Economies initiative director Stacy Mitchell interview Katrina Scotto di Carlo from Portland, Oregon. di Carlo is the co-founder of Supportland (now called Placemaker), which work to bolster independent businesses by offering new marketing and technological solutions. … Read More
In this article for Baltimore Brew chief editor Fern Shen interviewed ILSR co-founder and Waste to Wealth researcher Neil Seldman on the change in the city of Baltimore’s solid waste plan to incorporate more recycling into the community’s economy.… Read More
ILSR is featured in this story on Amazon from the New Hampshire Business Journal.… Read More
This week in Energy Democracy news: This week we are featured in a number of great articles that range from inclusive financing policies by utilities, the appeal of energy democracy for cooperatives, and how states are rolling back environmental laws in the Trump era. Check them all out, below! Featured Stories: State move to roll back … Read More
Check out this story from Maryland’s Frederick News Post: “Frederick County isn’t wasting time waiting to talk about trash. A group of concerned citizens have set up an event to gather local leaders, farmers and residents in one room to discuss better ways to deal with food waste in the county’s waste stream.”… Read More
In The Nation, cooperative model researcher Nathan Schneider details the economic development potential of cooperatives for furthering issues like renewable energy and broadband Internet access. In his piece he quotes our research at Institute for Local Self-Reliance.… Read More
In the wake of scores of legislative action in Maryland, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s composting team saw a big victory with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s signature on two pieces of legislation that would enable a better infrastructure for organics recycling. Read the report from Cole Rosengren in Waste Dive.… Read More
On Thursday, May 4th, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed two bills to advance composting in Maryland. One will bolster recovery of food waste and other organic materials by expanding infrastructure in the state. The other will reduce contamination at compost sites by preventing the false labeling of plastics as compostable or biodegradable. In signing the bills, which were among dozens of environmental bills passed by the Maryland legislature in 2017, Governor Hogan thanked the state’s elected officials for the real bipartisan effort in passing laws to “protect our soil, our air, and our water… and grow the investment in jobs in our state.”
HB171/SB99, the “Yard Waste and Food Residuals Diversion and Infrastructure Act,” requires the Maryland Department of the Environment to study and report on existing compost manufacturing infrastructure in Maryland, as well as laws in other states that divert food scraps and organics, and to then recommend how to improve infrastructure and funding opportunities to expand composting in the Maryland. The bill requires the Department to consult with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, along with a number of ILSR’s allies including the MD-DC Compost Council, the American Biogas Council, the Maryland Horse Council, the Chesapeake Foodshed Network, the Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Council.… Read More
