Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Americana
How Rural America Is Blending Clean Energy, Agriculture, and Ecological Resilience This is the third installment in JCShepard.com’s October energy series, examining how the clean energy transition is transforming rural communities. In Week 1, we explored global energy trends and the rising strain on rural grids. Last week, we focused on wind energy and how […]
Clean energy is driving a quiet revolution in rural America—not just through wind farms and solar panels, but through a rediscovery of local power, community resilience, and land-based innovation. Is the future of rural America to be found in our past? Author L. Michelle Moore thinks there are lessons there, especially for small towns and […]
The rural energy landscape is entering a new era—fueled by data, defined by decarbonization, and embedded in a fast-changing energy economy. For small towns and rural communities, the stakes are high. But so is the potential for resilience and prosperity. This October, JCShepard.com explores how the rapidly evolving energy economy is reshaping the future of […]
Policy and Governance is our April theme this year. What better way to kick off the topic than the American Planning Association (APA) National Planning Conference (NPC25) which took place in Denver, Colorado, this year. Good Planning Practice Good planning practice is key to good public policy and governance, which is essential to building resilient […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Wind, solar, fuel cells and other renewable energy at 6th Annual Biosciences Conference, Worthington, MN
