Tribal Solar Projects Provide More Than Climate Solutions

credit: Wikimedia Commons

"We are disrupting the broken fossil fuel-based energy system," says Cheri Smith, a co-founder of Covenant Solar, a nonprofit that has installed solar panels on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana and the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

"This is economic development with really high human impact."

The Billings Gazette reports more than 175,000 acres of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in central Montana were burned by two wildfires in August, forcing the evacuation of Lame Deer, the largest town on the reservation.

Smith and her husband, Cody Two Bears, helped organize a fundraiser to get 300 kilowatts of solar power installed on the reservation.

"The majority of solar being done on reservations don't address core issues of poverty and lack of self-determination," Smith tells the Gazette.

But solar isn't just for tribes.

Robert Blake, founder of replacement fossil fuel replacement company Solar Power Development, is working with the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota, where he's also a member, to develop solar energy on reservations.

"We are disrupting the broken fossil fuel-based energy system," Smith says.

"This is economic development with really high human impact."

But solar isn't just for tribes.

In places like Montana, climate change-driven warmer temperatures, drier...

Read the Entire Article

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

Spring Acquires Future Capital to Create an Inclusive Investment Ecosystem Across Canada

"We are now able to connect more diverse, impact-driven founders and funders and we see an increasing need in the market to do so." So says Keith Ippel, a co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based...more

Spring Acquires Future Capital to Create an Inclusive Investment Ecosystem ...

"The future of capital looks different than it did yesterday," Caroline von Hirschberg, co-founder and co-CEO of Spring, says in a press release announcing the company's acquisition of Future...more

Allergy &Amp; Asthma Network Names Lynda Mitchell, Cae as Chief Executive Officer

The new CEO of Allergy & Asthma Network says she wants to make sure people suffering from allergies and asthma know they're not alone. Lynda Mitchell, a certified executive executive with more...more

Cryptocurrencies And The Future Of Philanthropy

Bitcoin may be the currency of the future, but there's still a lot of work to be done before it can be used for charitable purposes. That's according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal...more

Mural Arts Philadelphia: Public Art as A Conduit for Urban Transformation, Political ...

Philadelphia is known for its cheesesteaks, its sports teams, and its status as "the unofficial 'Mural Capital of the World,'" writes Makenna Walko in the Huffington Post. But it's also home to...more

Mediacom Business Joins Effingham County Chamber

A small-town Illinois company is getting national attention for its unusual way of giving back to the community. Mediacom Business has partnered with the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce to...more

Lilly Endowment Inc. Reduces Stake in Eli Lilly and Co.
Foundation: Lilly Endowment

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has a big stake in Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY), and it's about to shrink. The company said in a regulatory filing that Buffett's company, Berkshire...more

Ashley Brister on Community Farming: 'This Food Is Going to Families Who Really Need It'

When Ashley Brister started Sharing the Harvest Community Farm in Dartmouth, Mass., a few years ago, she had "no real awareness" of where her food came from. "I had no real awareness and didn't...more

Asl Tulsa Museum Tours Funded by Typros Grant Recipient

"It's a really great start and I want to see what happens in the future." Those are the words of Alex Gauger, a museum educator in Tulsa, Okla., who came up with the idea for a series of American...more

Lakeshore Advantage Turns 20: A Look Back at Initiatives That Grew the Economy
Foundation: Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area

West Michigan's lakeshore is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, with the area's economy growing at about twice the rate of the state as a whole since the turn of the century,...more