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

Very much worth a listen. Don't get discouraged by the first half which is all Negative Nancy on rooftop solar; second half talks about value of DG and also unquantified value of 'land sparing'. Eagerly awaiting a future episode on why US rooftop solar is $$$ than elsewhere.

Use ‘non-prime’ farmland for renewable energy, says Vilsack

Bring along your favorite riding buddy and join us for a Books and Bikes Party with Lucy Knisley and Booksweet as we celebrate the release of Ride Beside Me, a picture book all about joy, community, and of course, BICYCLES!

TOMORROW at 4 pm Downtown.

aadl.org/node/623317

Paging @umich #pubpol750 alums. Cool opportunity alert

Join us Tuesday for our monthly #RuralRapport . We’ll be joined by Mitchell Schlegelmilch and Tom Mulholland to discuss the importance of locally owned #grocerystores and efforts by #Nebraska and #Iowa lawmakers to pass legislation to provide grant and/or loans to assist them.

To PIs. Your legacy won’t be your pubs or awards, people will forget those. Even many Nobel prize winners are forgotten eventually. Your legacy will be the people you trained. Mentor, support and treat them with respect, so they can continue to be good leaders to future trainees.

“Rentierism” in forestland management has brought millions of dollars to investors while circumventing local communities. Carbon offsets in Appalachia appear to follow the same blueprint, deepening rural communities’ mistrust. Via The Conversation U.S.

dailyyonder.com/carbon-offsets…

Looking forward to sharing our research on the role of community benefits in offshore and land-based wind development! Join us and some great speakers discussing their on-the-ground experiences at 11 am MT on Wednesday 2/28