Links to Online Resources by Sector

• Agriculture
• Energy
• Environment
• Equity
• Finance
• Governance
• Information
• Retail
• Taxation

New Rules Project's General Resources:

• Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Online Store
  For online ordering of ILSR and New Rules Project print resources, including books, journals, and reports.
• Archive of ILSR Press Releases, Columns, Articles and Interviews
• The New Rules - Back Issues
  An archive of the journal of the New Rules Project. No longer being published.
• E-bulletin Archives
  An archive of electronic bulletins prepared by the New Rules Project including the ATM Surcharge/Preemption Monitor Bulletin, Democratic Energy, The Home Town Advantage Bulletin, and New Rules News Bulletin.
• A Globe of Villages
  An interview with David Morris, from Toward A Sustainable World Order, Fall 1993
  
• Defending Place
  A speech by David Morris given at ILSR's Place Matters Conference in November 1998.
• Closer to Home: A Conversation about Local Ownership and Community
  A full report from ILSR's Place Matters Conference in November 1998. 40 pp.
• Reclaiming Community - A speech by David Morris presented at the Sixteenth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, October 26, 1996. ILSR.
• The New Rules of Localism
  A speech by David Morris presented at the International Forum on Globalization in Washington, D.C., in May 1996. ILSR.
• Democracy and Autonomy
  A speech by David Morris presented at The Other Economc Summit in Houston, Texas in July 1990, later published in Annals of Earth (Vol X, No.3, 1992). ILSR.
• Ecology Nurtures Community
  A speech by David Morris originally delivered as a keynote address to the Building With Value conference in Seattle, Washington in November 1993. ILSR.
• Communities: Building Authority, Responsibility, and Capacity
  An article by David Morris, reprinted from the State of the Union 1994. 11pp. ILSR.

Books, Articles and Reports

• Wind and Ethanol: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale
  This August 2007 report finds that there are indeed small cost reductions from very large scale, absentee owned renewable energy facilities. But that these are overshadowed by the significant loss in potential economic benefits from locally owned and more modestly scaled facilities. download the report - read the press release
• Putting the Pieces Together: Commercializing Cellulosic Ethanol - September 2006
  A report examining federal policies supporting cellulosic ethanol production and advocating that the Federal government adopt strategies that support farmer-owned biorefineries. [see also ILSR Press Release]
• Ownership Matters: Three Steps to Ensure a Biofuels Industry That Truly Benefits Rural America
  This February 2006 paper by David Morris was adapted from a speech given at the Minnesota Ag Expo 2006. The paper provides a snapshot of today's biofuels industry and a roadmap to ensure that local farmers see significant benefits from the expanding industry in the future.
• The Carbohydrate Economy, Biofuels and the Net Energy Debate
  This August 2005 report by David Morris addresses the never-ending question "Doesn’t it take more energy to make ethanol than is contained in the ethanol?" In 1980, the short and empirical answer to this question was yes. In 1990, the answer was, probably not. In 2005 the answer is clearly no.
• The Energetics of Ethanol: An Introduction and Link to Studies
  How much energy does it take to make a gallon of ethanol? Make up your own mind by looking at the studies themselves! - ongoing updates
• Back the Dairy Compact - by Stacy Mitchell, published in the Twin Cities Star Tribune, August 27, 2001
• A Food and Agriculture Policy for the 21st Century A vision for a better farm, food and fiber system. Edited by the Organization for Competitive Markets, 2000.
• Structural and Financial Characterisitcs of US Farms, 1995: 20th Annual Family Farm Report to the Congress," ERS/USDA.
• The Multiple Functions and Benefits of Small Farm Agriculture," by Peter M. Rosset, Ph.D., Institute for Food and Development Policy, 1999.
• How Much Energy Does It Take to Make a Gallon of Ethanol? - Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 1995
• Goldschmidt, W. 1978. As You Sow. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun. A reprint of the classic study on the effects of agribusiness on civic life.
• Lyson, T., Torres, R., and Welsh, R. 1999. Scale of Agricultural production, Civic Engagement and Community Welfare. A recently presented paper on the impacts of scale of agricultural production on community welfare. For a copy please email Thomas Lyson.

Organizations

• American Farmland Trust
  Information on the effects of sprawl on farmland
  
• Center for Rural Affairs
  Information on the preservation of family farms and rural communities--includes section on corporate farming.
• Farmers Legal Action Group
  FLAG provides legal support, impact litigation, and legislative technical assistance to family farmers.
• The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.
• The Land Stewardship Project works to establish a new regional food system-by linking farmers and consumers, promoting sustainable farming practices-through education, research and demonstration, and creating a new vision for agriculture.
• The National Family Farm Coalition brings together farmers and others to organize national projects focused on preserving and strengthening family farms.
• National Farmers Union
• Organization for Competitive Markets
  OCM aims to re-establish fair and truly competitve markets for agricultural products and to protect those markets from any abuse of power.
• Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC)
  Information on the concentration in the meat-packing industry and its effect on ranchers.

New Rules Project's Resources

• Scale & Ownership of Renewable Energy - a presentation by John Farrell at the Local Energy Initiatives Forum in Cloquet, MN on September 13, 2007
• Wind and Ethanol: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale
  This August 2007 report finds that there are indeed small cost reductions from very large scale, absentee owned renewable energy facilities. But that these are overshadowed by the significant loss in potential economic benefits from locally owned and more modestly scaled facilities. download the report - read the press release
• 25 by ’25: Getting the Priorities Right - speech by David Morris, presented at the 3rd National Renewable Energy Summit, March 21, 2007
• Lessons from the Pioneers: Tackling Global Warming at the Local Level
  This January 2007 report looks at ten of the most visible and successful cities involved in global warming solutions and finds that reducing GHG emissions below 1990 levels will be a major challenge. Many cities will likely not meet their goals unless complementary state and federal policies are put in place very soon. download the report - view executive summary
• Climate Neutral Bonding: Building Global Warming Solutions at the State And Local Level
  This February 2006 policy brief by John Bailey provides background and analysis to support a state or local policy that would require construction projects funded with tax-exempt bonds to result in no net increases in greenhouse gases within the community.
• Ownership Matters: Three Steps to Ensure a Biofuels Industry That Truly Benefits Rural America
  This February 2006 paper by David Morris was adapted from a speech given at the Minnesota Ag Expo 2006. The paper provides a snapshot of today's biofuels industry and a roadmap to ensure that local farmers see significant benefits from the expanding industry in the future.
• The Carbohydrate Economy, Biofuels and the Net Energy Debate
  This August 2005 report by David Morris addresses the never-ending question "Doesn’t it take more energy to make ethanol than is contained in the ethanol?" In 1980, the short and empirical answer to this question was yes. In 1990, the answer was, probably not. In 2005 the answer is clearly no.
• The Energetics of Ethanol: An Introduction and Link to Studies
  How much energy does it take to make a gallon of ethanol? Make up your own mind by looking at the studies themselves! - ongoing updates
• A Better Way to Get From Here to There: A Commentary on the Hydrogen Economy and a Proposal for an Alternative Strategy - by David Morris, January 2004
• Seeing the Light: Regaining Control of Our Electricity System
  Seeing the Light provides the overarching discussions of the framework for the electricity rules on our web site.
• Our Decentralized Energy Future: On-Site Power Generation Arrives - by David Morris for TomPaine.com, October 30, 2001
• Looking Locally: A Bottom-up Energy Solution - commentary by David Morris, TomPaine.com, August 2, 2001. Available as text or real audio.
• Interview of David Morris on Minnesota Public Radio's Mid Morning show - transcript from July 31, 2001
• Birth Throes of a New Electricity System: The US Experience - article by David Morris, Cogeneration and On-Site Power Production, May-June 2001
• Solutions to Electricity Crisis - column by David Morris and Daniel Kraker, The Oakland Tribune, June 5, 2001
• Analysis: David Morris on Bush Administration's Energy Policy - Twin Cities Public Television's NewsNight MN , May 17, 2001 (real video)
• A Bottom Up Energy Policy - column by David Morris, May 16, 2001
• Bush Energy Policy: A Flashback to 1974 - Press Release, May 8, 2001
• Interview of David Morris on KPFK Radio in Los Angeles - May 2, 2001 (real audio)
• Senate, FERC Decisions Contradict Efforts to Build Local Electricity Systems - Press Release, April 27, 2001
• When it Comes to Power, Smaller is Better - by David Morris and Daniel Kraker, Rocky Mountain News, March 19, 2001
• Democratic and Electric: People are Plugging in to the Production of Power - by David Morris, February 18, 2001
• Bonding With the Next Generation - article by David Morris, The New Rules, Winter 2001 (back issues here)
• The New Power Rules: Marrying Action and Consequence
  A paper given by David Morris to the Environmental Grantmakers Association's 1998 retreat. ILSR.
• Replacing Property Taxes on Utility Generation With Revenues from a Carbon-Based Tax: A Minnesota Tax Shift Opportunity - memo prepared by ILSR for ME3 on possible changes to Minnesota's utility property tax system, November 1998.
• How Much Energy Does It Take to Make a Gallon of Ethanol? - Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 1995
• Be Your Own Power Company
  A book by David Morris, first published 1983. 320 pgs.
• Kilowatt Counter - A Consumers Guide to Energy Concepts, Quantities, and Use, by David Morris and Gil Friend. First published 1975.Published by the Alternative Sources of Power, 1975. Copyright Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
• The Dawning of Solar Cells - by David Morris, ILSR, 1975

Other Books, Articles and Reports

• Developing Rates for Distributed Generation - National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 2001
• California Energy Commission's Distributed Generation Site
• Consumer Guide to Renewable Energy for Your Home or Business - by DOE Office of Power Technologies
• Summary Table of Public Benefit Programs and Electric Utility Restructuring - American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, March 2001 (ongoing updates)
• The Renewables Portfolio Standard: A Practical Guide - by Nancy Rader and Scott Hempling, February 2001
• Public Financing of Self-Generation: Costs and Benefits of Onsite Photovoltaic, Fuel Cell, and Micro-turbine Systems - Office of Ratepayer Advocates, CA Public Utilities Commission, January 2001
• Accommodating Distributed Resources in Wholesale Markets - by Rick Weston, Regulatory Assistance Project, 2001
• A Guide to Cogeneration - This Guide is designed to explain the principles and applications of cogeneration and to help policymakers and other professionals understand this technology. By the The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Cogeneration, 2001
• Performance Based Regulation for Distribution Utilities - Regulatory Assistance Project, December 2000
• Table of Low Income Provisions in Electric Restructuring Laws in the United States - compiled by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Clearinghouse, December 2000
• Making Connections: Case Studies of Barriers to Interconnection of Distributed Power - EREN, May 2000
• Energy Policy Summaries on Various Issues - Union of Concerned Scientists
• Comprehensive Information on Community Aggregation - by the American Public Power Association
• State-by-State Interconnection Status Table - by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council
• Profits and Progress Through Distributed Resources - by David Moskovitz, February 2000
• Promoting Competitive Electricity Markets Through Community Purchasing: The Role of Municipal Aggregation by Nancy Rader and Scott Hempling, January 2000
• Green Consumerism vs. Green Citizenship - by David Morris, published in Sustainable Minnesota, Spring 1997
• Green Power Networks' State Net Metering Program Descriptions
• Distributed Generation and Local Governments: An Introduction - Clean Power Research, 2000

Organizations

• American Local Power Project Cape & Islands Self-Reliance
• American Public Power Association
• Hometown Connections
• Interstate Renretewable Energy Council
• National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• Touchstone Energy

New Rules Project's Resources

• Ecology Nurtures Community (.pdf)
  A speech by David Morris originally delivered as a keynote address to the Building With Value conference in Seattle, Washington in November 1993. ILSR. Requires Adobe Acrobat to read.

Other Books, Articles and Reports

• Study on the Economic and Environmental Implications of the Use of Environmental Taxes and Charges in the European Union States - European Commission, August 2001

New Rules Project's Resources

• The Canadian Cure - by Daniel Kraker, The New Rules, Winter 2001. This article explores how Canada's provinces established a health care system founded on equity, public administration and decentralized control. Fifty years later, all Canadians are covered and the plan still costs less per capita (and a smaller percentage of the GDP) than U.S. citizens pay.
• Jack and the Giant School - by Stacy Mitchell, The New Rules, Summer 2000. Higher graduation rates, less violence, a sense of belonging instead of alienation: the case for small schools is supported by mountains of evidence and a growing number of innovative models. But many state and local governments persist in consolidation efforts, fueled by a misguided belief in the effectiveness of giant schools.

Organizations

• ACORN
• Good Jobs First
• Jobs with Justice
• National Priorities Project

Small Schools Resources:

• Jack and the Giant School - by Stacy Mitchell, The New Rules, Summer 2000. Higher graduation rates, less violence, a sense of belonging instead of alienation: the case for small schools is supported by mountains of evidence and a growing number of innovative models. But many state and local governments persist in consolidation efforts, fueled by a misguided belief in the effectiveness of giant schools.
• Land for Granted: The Effect of Acreage Policies on Rural Schools and Communities - by Barbara Kent Lawrence, Rural School and Community Trust, December 2003
• Historic Schools: Renovation vs. Replacement
  Guidance from the National Trust for Historic Preservation on how feasibility studies affect decisions on whether to replace or renovate historic schools.
• Historic Schools: A Roadmap for Saving Your School
  From the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this publication shows parents, teachers, and others how to save historic neighborhood schools.
• Dollars and Sense: The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools - The Rural School and Community Trust, September 2002
• Research: Smaller Is Better - Education Week
• Small Schools: Great Strides - A study of new small schools in Chicago from Bank Street College.
• Small Schools Directory - A directory of groups that provide funding, technical assistance, research, and advocacy for small schools.
• Small Works in Arkansas: How Poverty and the Size of Schools and School Districts Affect School Performance in Arkansas - March 2002 report from the Rural School and Community Trust
• Better Schools Come on Smaller Campuses - by Stacy Mitchell, San Francisco Chronicle, September 8, 2000
• Successful Schools: Smaller, Safer, Saner - by Joe Nathan and Karen Fabey, co-published by the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities and the Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute of the University of Minnesota
• Small Schools Follow-Up Report - VT State Board of Education, January 1999
• Small Schools Study - VT State Board of Education, January 1998
• Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools
• Bay Area Coalition of Essential Schools
• Center for Rural Affairs
• Coalition of Essential Schools
• Rural School and Community Trust
• Small Schools Workshop
• What Kids Can Do, Inc.
• Why Johnny Can't Walk to School - a report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Universal Health Care Resources

• White Paper: "Physicians' Working Group on Single - Payer National Health Insurance - by the Universal Health Care Working Group, May 2001
• Universal Health Care Action Network

Other Topics

• Earned Income Tax Credit Outreach Kit - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, January 2003
• The Policy Shift To Good Jobs: Cities, States and Counties Attaching Job Quality Standards to Development Subsidies - by Good Jobs First, 2003

New Rules Project's Resources

• A New Cooperative Commonwealth
  A speech by David Morris to the National Cooperative Business Association's Cooperative Development Forum in June,1997.
• Restructuring the Financial System as if Community Matters
  A speech by David Morris to a conference entitled Growing Equity: Assets and Opportunities for Communities Left Behind in December 1997. ILSR.
• The Mondragon System: Cooperation at Work
  A review of the Mondragon Cooperative in Spain. Examines cooperative structure, management, education, finance, and banking. 1992. 80pp. ILSR.
• ATM Surcharge e-Bulletin
  Periodic electronic newsletter covering the ATM surcharge battles around the country.
• ATM Surcharge Testimony
  Testimony submitted by Stacy Mitchell to the Committees on Finance and Consumer Affairs, New York City Council, December 2000.

Additional ATM Surcharges Resources:

• Fees and Services of Depository Institutions - Federal Reserve Board, July 2002
  Among the data in this annual report to Congress by the Fed is how much various financial institutions charge for ATM usage. [Previous years are on-line here]
• Competition in ATM Markets: Are ATMs Money Machines? - July 1998 Congressional Budget Office report.
• San Francisco City Attorney's legal brief (November 15, 1999) on the case filed against the city by the California Bankers Association, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
• State PIRG's Campaign to End Extra ATM Fees
• • Always Taking Money - US PIRG's fourth annual national survey on ATM surcharging (April 1999)

• The ICA Group Employee Ownership Page
  Background information on employee ownership
• University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
• U.S. Public Interest Group
• The Working Opportunity Fund
  British Columbia's Labor-Sponsored Venture Capital Fund

• State PIRG's Political Reform Update - PIRG's Democracy Program, November 2002
  A nice summary of state action on campaign finance and election reform ballot measures during the 2002 election.
• Issues and Legal Precedent in State Campaign Finance Reform - Reclaim Democracy, November 2002
  This is a great primer and tool for groups that are seriously considering local or state-level election financing reforms.
• Rent-a-Bank Payday Lending: How Banks Help Payday Lenders Evade State Consumer Protections - 2001 report from US Public Interest Research Group and the Consumer Federation of America.
• Campaign Financing - Congressional Research Service, June 2000
• Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money - Congressional Research Service, May 2000
• Updates on Legislation and Ballot Measures Covering Proportional Representation and Instant Runoff - Center for Voting and Democracy
• What is Proportional Representation and Why Do We Need This Reform? - by Douglas J. Amy, Mount Holyoke College
• Anything left to Legislate About? - an overview of federal-state preemption on a variety of issues from the states' point of view, State Legislatures magazine, September 1999
• The Other Side of Devolution: Shifting Relationships Between State and Local Governments - by Keith Watson and Steven D. Gold, Urban Institute, August 1997 This report describes some of the state legislation proposed or enacted in 1995 and 1996 designed to shift program funding or administrative responsibilities from states to localities.
• The Devil in Devolution - by John Donahue, American Prospect, May 1, 1997
• Come the Devolution - by Lenny Goldberg, American Prospect, December 1, 1996