It may be darkest just before the dawn, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much of any light shining out of the US Department of Energy’s Energy Policy Act loan guarantee program. First solar energy manufacturer Solyndra went lights out in September. The end of October, now, brought us news that energy storage (back-up power supply) firm Beacon […]
The Junk Science of Ethanol-Food Price Pressure
With harvest wrapping up here in the Upper Midwest, I wanted to share this Op-Ed from Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Republican Bill Northey. It came out last spring, but is still timely this fall. Rising Food Prices: Don’t Blame Ethanol By Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Food prices are rising here in the United […]
Post-Solyndra Solar Looking Up
Fast Company magazine offered an upbeat rejoinder this to the post-Solyndra solar funk that I should have included in that post: The solar industry has been in the post-Solyndra dumps. But here comes a timely ray of light: news that solar companies are adding jobs faster than the rest of the economy, and now employ more than […]
The Hobo Way: At least the Trains ran on time
Lest you think I’m getting all political on you here, let’s poke a stick in the eye of my Conservative friends today. Many folks who think of themselves as fiscal conservatives (perhaps even social conservatives) like to poke fun at fixed rail transportation. “It’s a boondogle!” they tweet. Well, I think they bite off their […]
Solyndra’s Broken Windows
In the spirit of broken windows posing as “economic development,” lets take a peek at the recent disaster named Solyndra. Solyndra was a California company founded in 2005, that designed, manufactured and sold rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. The company’s solar panels featured a unique design with racks of cylindrical tubes and a mounting system […]
Put a Fork in this Turkey—a New Stadium is a Luxury We Cannot Afford
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has called for a Special Session of the Legislature the week of Thanksgiving to pass legislation for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. The Minnesota Vikings have bandied ideas about for years for a new NFL football stadium to replace the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Their current $1.1 billion proposal would site a […]
I Stole This Internet Idea, and Why You Should Pay Me To Steal Yours
I stole this post. Yes, there you go, guilty as charged. In the Internet economy, with 2 billion people and $8 trillion exchanged annually online, it’s really easy to copy-n-paste and pawn off a product as your own. I have been meaning to read the latest McKinsey surveys for weeks. I think the rain brought […]
The Laborer’s Ends: Not a Hardship but a Pastime
Henry David Thoreau, comments in Walden, on the laborer’s ends: As I preferred some things to others, and especially valued my freedom, as I could fare hard and yet succeed well, I did not wish to spend my time in earning rich carpets or other fine furniture, or delicate cookery, or a house in the […]
What Women Want (When Thinking About Moving To A Small Town)
Proving the adage that great minds think alike, in a post at Blandin on Broadband blog today Ann Treacy follows-up on Ben Winchester’s work on the Rural Brain Gain, which I mentioned earlier this week. The BoB blog is, of course, focused on the broadband angle, but this entry speaks more generally to how communities prepare (or […]
Two Faces of Rural America
They publish some good maps over at the Daily Yonder. This week editor Bill Bishop updated the national map of unemployment for non-metropolitan counties. “Fascinating,” I’m sure you’re thinking. Yes, i know we’ve all heard enough about the potential double-dip recession (The Ghost of the Great Reset?) to make us all nauseous, even before Wall Street […]
