Can Permitting Barriers Be Overcome to Accelerate Clean Energy?

The Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies provides a "blueprint" for peaceful and democratic revolution, busting myths about the process of nonviolent revolt and helping dissidents in countries around the world to accomplish political goals, such as fighting corruption or protecting the environment.

A new solar array called North Star in the Twin Cities will soon produce enough energy to power more than 20,000 homes. The project allows landowners to evolve beyond a deteriorating farming industry while maintaining native prairie plants under and around the panels for bees and other pollinators. The project is part of the state's 15-year energy plan to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent and generate a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

To the two social entrepreneurs who founded nonprofit Feedback, the massive amounts of food waste being tossed into landfills in the UK and USA each year was a mounting challenge that required a creative solution. So they founded Toast Ale, a craft brewing company that not only reduced food waste by using unwanted bread from bakeries to brew their ales, but helps bring awareness to the issue through the brand, which is growing in popularity.

The teenage girls of Thennamadevi are leaders in their community. They’re actively fighting against gender discrimination by organizing. They successfully lobbied politicians and brought streetlights, and sanitary napkins to their village. Across the country, similar girls clubs are being implemented, reflecting an international girls power movement.

American cows are not typically made to withstand the warmer summers occurring across the United States. To combat the negative side effect of a decrease in milk production, farmers are trying solutions such as using fans and misting water and even going so far as to create a new breed of cow.

As cities grapple with higher temperatures, state and local governments are looking for ways to play a larger role in combatting the impacts. Throughout the United States, some of the entities are turning their attention towards solutions that make road more heat-resistant.

Aiming to improve road conditions and cut down on plastic waste, a Scottish engineer found a way to blend the two. After testing a series of different recipes, he found the perfect recipe that is now being used across United Kingdom and the Gulf, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In Maine, one of only two states where people in prison retain their right to vote, the Maine State Prison branch of the NAACP engages incarcerated voters through flyers, posters, guest speakers, and group discussions about political issues. Over the past two decades, the organization has helped more than 1,000 people register to vote in Maine prisons.

Localscapes is a program in Utah promoting more water-efficient landscaping. The program includes state-based horticulturists, landscape professionals, and water experts who help interested people make the most sustainable use of their yards and lawns. "The program focuses on five techniques: a central open space, gathering areas, activity zones, paths and planting beds."

Drawing on family social science around marriage, relationships, and connection-building across divides, Braver Angels' Red/Blue workshops bring Republicans and Democrats together for nuanced, candid conversations aimed at reducing political polarization. The discussions ask participants to speak not only about the reasons for their views, but also the potential negative aspects of their own "side," which helps create a foundation of openness to disagreement.