In rural areas, from 2009 to 2020, one third of solar farms and nearly half of wind turbines were installed on land that was in cropland.

Learn more: ers.usda.gov/publications/p….

We at U-M Graham Sustainability Institute Center for EmPowering Communities are proud to be part of this partnership.

Welcome to the 2024 Catalyst Leadership Circle Fellows and their community mentors in A2 for the program kickoff!

Finally! A country song about land development / farmland preservation. According to my 11 yo it’s been out for a while and I just don’t listen to the radio enough. youtu.be/ZKCwYbPrAGg?si…

The decline of rural grocery stores hits hard: 44 counties had none by 2015, according to Dept. of Agriculture. Nebraska aims to fight back with grants and loans for small grocers. Learn more in #PlanMag : plnn.org/4a4wT5K

Looking forward to this webinar tomorrow! ACCESS Network

Energy development payments to farmers vary by region. Learn more in today's Chart of Note: ers.usda.gov/data-products/….

There's 2 things to know about US agriculture.

1. It’s very hard to make a living as a new farmer.

2. About half our farmland is owned by wealthy families, investment funds, & others who buy it up as an asset- but don’t farm themselves.

There IS a fix to both problems!

With my colleagues Dr. Doug Bessette and Dominic J. Bednar, Ph.D., EIT, I'm excited to share my first, first-author publication 'Locally charged: Energy justice outcomes of a low-income community solar project in Michigan.'
authors.elsevier.com/a/1j2nT7tZ6a33…

New work with the fantastic Karen Maguire! We look at payments to farmers from energy production, examining trends over time, regional differences, and differences in payments by farm operator demographics.

Check out this write-up highlighting the award-winning work of my students. 5 of the 6 are now alums--doing great work NREL, Michigan EGLE, and Washington State Department of Commerce--but will always be my students :-)
michigandaily.com/news/campus-li… via The Michigan Daily

Joe Rand from EMP at Berkeley Lab presenting today at “IRA, BIL, and the Future of Energy: A Summit to Support State Implementation”

For future LSS development, survey respondents vastly prefer disturbed sites (e.g., landfills, industrial sites) over forests and productive farmland. They also prefer hiring local employees, purchasing local materials, and offering local ownership. 12/x

There may be room to improve awareness, participation, and information during the development process. Less than 1/5 of neighbors were aware of their local project prior to its construction. About 1/3 of residents within 3 miles of a built project did not know it existed. 10/x

Positive attitudes decline among people who live closest to the sites (1/4 mile) and for projects that are very large (over 100 MW). 4/x

'And it would give agency back to the 1 in 5 Americans who call rural areas home, not through a lengthy list of policy correctives but through a politics of empathy and shared authorship and civic engagement.'

Hear, hear. And no, it shouldn't be so hard.
politico.com/news/magazine/…

The Home Energy Rebate (HER) Programs will help households save money on energy bills, improve energy efficiency, and reduce indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Share your feedback on implementing these programs in Michigan at a virtual and in-person engagement session.

Congrats to STaR member Rod Arroyo AICP on induction into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners. American Planning Association #NPC24

.@jeff_Bilbros Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed on the unknown hazards of a new landfill being sited in his township is a real-life example of the hazards to a community of having no local news - & how it can turn into a hazard for others too (radioactive streams?) post-gazette.com/opinion/insigh…

Following 2022 updates in Michigan's solid waste management laws, every county must develop a materials management plan, with an emphasis on sustainability. ♻️ Learn how (and why!) townships can be involved in our March Township Focus: michigantownships.org/wp-content/upl…

Michigan EGLE