Sustainable Community 

The JOBS Act has stirred up controversy within the economic reform community. Matt Taibbi spares no invectives explaining what’s wrong with it, while Michael Schuman sings its praises.

John Fullerton describes how the Chicago Center for Labor and Community Research advanced a agenda to advance local manufacturing into the city’s economy plans.

If Mayor Emanuel needs ideas about how to fund Chicago’s manufacturing renaissance, Gar Alperovitz explains how cities can harness the purchasing power of local anchor institutions to spur democratic economic development.

The Board of Supervisors of San Francisco passed an ordinance that would give preference to Benefit Corporations bidding on contracts with the city.

Global Greengrants explains why they apply a gender lens to their support of grassroots environmental organizing in the global south.

We wish the best to Cliff Rosenthal, long time CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, as he heads to his new position heading up the Office of Financial Empowerment at the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Green America Launches its new “Break up With your Mega Bank” web site and The Backbone Campaign shares some of the creative tactics they used to support a new Credit Union on Vashon Island.

Environment

Mother Jones Magazine celebrates the victories of activists around the country who have imposed a de facto moratorium on new coal fired power plants.

A new film Ill Wind  describes the efforts of  the Paiute tribe to shut down the Reid Gardener Power plant outside of Las Vegas.

An NCRP report by Sarah Hansen contends that environment and climate funders can be more effective by investing more in grassroots communities impacted by environment and climate harms

The US House of Representatives passed a Transportation Bill which includes authorization for the long contested Keystone Pipeline: Obama threatens Veto…and the beat goes on.

Thomas Friedman takes some components of new economic thinking to the mainstream in his NY Times article “Take The Subway”

Bill McKibben proposes five simple rules for determining when government subsidies are appropriate, and guess what, dirty energy doesn’t pass any of them.

This video shows Jim Harkness, from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, talking to the European Green Party on land grabbing. Or if prefer you can read his views about agicultural policy and land-grabbing.

Democracy and Corporate Accountability

A coalition of good government groups, backed by major donors and Governor Cuomo, have launched a campaign in New York State for Public Financing of state elections.

Bill Moyers calls out the plutocracy and recommends reading Too Much, a newsletter from inequality.org and the Institute for Policy Studies.

New Mexico was second state in the nation to call for the U.S. Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission.

A thousand-plus people representing the diversity of the 99 percent will converge in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 9 to protest Bank of America policies that are bankrupting our economy and destroying our environment at the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

Coca Cola, Pepsi and Kraft have left ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, after public outrage of “model legislation” that promotes vigilante legislation like “Stand Your Ground”.

Macroeconomic Policy

As part of the complex and laborious process of preparing for Rio+20 the United Nations Hosted a conference on the Global spread of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index.

Gus Speth makes a patriotic case for the transformation of today’s American capitalism into something truly sustaining for people and planet in “America the Possible”

Naomi Klein reasons that if we are serious about addressing climate change we must rethink capitalism in an interview with Solutions Journal.

Margaret Atwood’s novel, “Payback: Debt and The Shadow Side of Wealth” about  personal, moral and cosmic debt, has been made into a film by Jennifer Baichwal.

Peter Barnes proposed a guaranteed income based on dividends from commonly owned resources in On the Commons.

Social Justice

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers organizes a fast at the Publix Supermarket headquarters demanding one more penny per pound of tomatoes.

Rebuild the Dream and New Bottom Line launch a new campaign, America Underwater, a campaign devoted to pressure big banks and government officials to commit to widespread principal reduction on millions of underwater mortgages.

The Brennan Center for Justice has produced a series of eloquent video testimonials from foreclosed homeowners.

Chuck Collins has published a new book about wealth inequality, 99 to 1, and is touring the country to speak at local events. Here’s how to invite him to your town.

99 % Spring, US UnCut, local Occupy’s and union groups organized games of “tax dodger” dodge ball in many American cities.

Van Jones’ new book, Rebuild the Dream, was promoted to the NY Times best Seller list through an orchestrated book-buying campaign. How many did you buy?

Bill Moyers covers 99 % Spring leader George Goehl,and then talks to Ai-jen Poo and Sarita Gupta talk  about Workers Rights and the Caring Across Generations Campaign.