Cleaning Up Tax Increment Financing:Rethinking Chicago's Troubled Redevelopment ProgramTax increment financing (TIF) is a tool intended to provide cities with funds to redevelop economically troubled or declining areas. Unfortunately, it can also be used to spend public funds without proper accountability, transparency, or democratic oversight. Chicago's TIF program, between the late 1980s and late 2000s, grew into a "shadow budget" from which hundreds of millions of dollars of development subsidies were disbursed at the mayor's discretion. "Cleaning Up Task Increment Financing" lays out the problems with Chicago's TIF program, and describes how local leaders can bring the program back in line with its original purpose. (January 2012) |
California's Solar Cities 2012:Leaders in the Race Toward a Clean Energy FutureCalifornia’s solar market is thriving. Ten years ago, solar panels atop roofs were a rarity. Today, solar is taking hold in cities across the state, from coastal metropolises to agricultural and industrial hubs in the Central Valley. This report provides a snapshot of the development of California’s solar market partway through the year 2011, quantifying the amount of solar power installed by city and recommending further steps toward a clean energy future. (January 2012) |
Too Close to Home:Nuclear Power and the Threat to Drinking WaterNuclear power plants can threaten drinking water supplies through leaks or accidents. The Fukushima disaster, for instance, led to public health warnings about drinking water sources as much as 130 miles away. "Too Close to Home" examines the proximity of nuclear power plants and drinking water in the United States, where 49 million people receive their drinking water from systems with intakes within 50 miles of a nuclear plant. (January 2012) |
An Unsustainable Path:Why Maryland's Manure Pollution Rules Are Failing to Protect the Chesapeake BayIntensive chicken production on Maryland’s Eastern Shore generates large volumes of phosphorus-laden manure. Growers and farmers spread this manure on their fields as fertilizer, but when applied in excess, the nutrients that make manure useful for fertilizing crops also contribute to dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. An Unsustainable Path explains how Maryland’s current approach to protecting the bay from phosphorus pollution is inadequate and how the state must end the practice of spreading chicken manure on farmland that is likely to pollute the bay. (December 2011) |
America's Emerging Clean Energy Capital:How Houston Can Lead the Nation to a New Energy FutureIn recent years, Houston has emerged as a nationwide leader in expanding its production and use of clean energy. The City of Houston has adopted strong, energy-saving building codes, ramped up purchases of renewable energy, and begun laying the groundwork for widespread adoption of electric cars – all steps that have jump-started the area’s transition toward a clean energy economy. However, Houston still has a great deal of untapped potential to save energy and avoid pollution. This report illustrates how Houston can build on its current momentum through a number of clean energy technologies, including net-zero energy home construction, rooftop solar installations and electric vehicles (EVs). |
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