We’ve seen a lot of progressive candidates build policies around free college. But it’s not just a progressive idea. The Republican-led government of the state of Tennessee created the Tennessee Promise, a program that makes certain schools free to attend for Tennessee residents. This is because for every dollar that a state spends on higher education, they get a 3 …
In the post-coal economy, life-skills training helps employ people and restores the land
The Hopeful Work of Turning Appalachia’s Mountaintop Coal Mines Into Farms Fall 2017 THE JUST TRANSITION ISSUE TABLE OF CONTENTS IN DEPTH Alaska’s Small Villages Turn Toward Renewables—And Don’t Look Back 4 Reasons Trump Can’t Stop the Renewables Revolution Climate Justice Is Racial Justice Is Gender Justice The Hopeful Work of Turning Appalachia’s Mountaintop Coal Mines Into Farms How to Feed Ourselves …
79 percent of US coal fleet is uncompetitive compared with renewables and storage already. US could save $10 billion annually with the shift. Reinvestment needed in coal communities too.
How to Retire Early: Making Accelerated Coal Phaseout Feasible and Just June 30, 2020 | By Paul Bodnar, Tamara Grbusic, Sam Mardell, Caroline Ott, and Uday Varadarajan For over a century, growing presence of coal smokestacks worldwide signified economic development and progress. Coal supplied our homes with electricity and our factories with power. At the same time, this workhorse of the industrial …
No shortcuts – redirect power from the 1% and large firms to universal programs and well-being for all, with much determined, selfless work educating, building knowledge, and bringing about change for communities, the country and the world
Reiterated by Matthew Fox, June 28, 2020 In the US the richest 1 percent of the country own substantially more wealth than the bottom 90%; 6 in 10 Americans do not have the resources to come up with $1000 for an emergency such as a medical bill or car repair. World over, 26 billionaires hold personal financial assets greater than …
“We’re running out of time and options, unless we immediately and fundamentally transform our relationship with Nature” to relationship and respect instead of monetization and extraction. Indigenous Principles of Just Transition
From Cultural Survival – May/June 2020 Proven stewards of global biological and cultural heritage, the Indigenous Peoples have sustained respectful and reciprocal relationships with the natural world without undermining its life-sustaining functions for millennia. Despite the unrelenting assault of the “developed” world on the living planet, more than a quarter of the global land area continues to be traditionally owned, managed, or used …
Permanent Work From Home Is Coming: Many employers now say the benefits of remote work outweigh the drawbacks, but Microsoft found 162 million people do not have internet available at broadband speeds
Estimates of workers doing their jobs from home range from about a third to nearly half. And according to Global Workplace Analytics, “a typical employer can save about $11,000 year for every person who works remotely half of the time.” And workers can bank between $2,500 and $4,000 a year working remotely half time. The Global Workplace Analytics survey shows 77% of workers …
Already cost-effective, no-regrets actions to get us to 90 percent zero carbon electricity while reducing wholesale electricity costs 10 percent
The technology-neutral policies laid out in this paper are no-regrets actions to get us to 90 percent zero carbon electricity while reducing wholesale electricity costs 10 percent. The United States could deliver 90% clean electricity nationwide by 2035, without the need for new fossil fuel plants, according to a study released today from the University of California, Berkeley — with the right …
Cities like Los Angeles, Denver, and Atlanta saw more than 70% reduction in VMT. Maintenance of even 10% could make dramatic improvements
Smart Cities Dive, June 12, 2020 If cities can maintain even a small fraction of the 50% or more reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) seen in most major metro-areas during the coronavirus pandemic — with cities like Los Angeles, Denver, and Atlanta seeing a more than 70% reduction in VMT — the climate impacts could be enormous, according to a new StreetLight Data analysis. …
Group hopes to see new economy emerge based on Hawaiian values of ʻāina aloha—a deep and abiding love for our communities and natural environments
By Dan Nakaso, Star Advertiser, May 20, 2020 A new group that wants to reboot Hawaii’s tourist-based economy in the era of the new coronavirus announced a four-step plan Tuesday to come up with ideas by August based on Native Hawaiian cultural values. The ‘Aina Aloha Economic Futures Declaration, which was sent to Gov. David Ige, is the first part of …
Slow streets are the path to a better city: “overnight, transformed our family life and the lives of our neighbors”
Overnight, slow streets transformed our neighborhood. Everyone should have access to the same opportunity. By Courtney E. Martin in Curbed, May 19, 2020 The first time you watch your kid pedal away from you on two wheels, your hand free from her seat, her wobble small and her confidence grand, is one of those high moments that make all the low moments of parenting …