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  • Want to Move to Our Town? Here's $10,000 and a Free Bike.

    April 30, 2021 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Bentonville, Arkansas

    Several American cities are attracting potential residents with stipends for down payments and curated experiences for the new transplants. With remote work on the rise, people have more flexibility in choosing a place to live. New residents that purchase homes and remain long-term have the potential to give smaller cities and towns an economic and social boost.

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  • The climate solution adding millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere

    April 29, 2021 |

    MIT Technology Review |

    Multi-Media |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, California

    A decade after California established its forest offset program as a way to incentivize saving trees to store carbon, a new analysis shows that it might not be working. Loopholes in the program allow for people to claim credits for trees that aren’t delivering the carbon benefits they should and ultimately results in companies emitting more pollution than is being stored. While this program has provided economic benefits for several Indigenous tribes, some argue that “the program creates the false appearance of progress when in fact it makes the climate problem worse.”

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  • Can “democracy dollars” keep real dollars out of politics?

    April 28, 2021 |

    MIT Technology Review |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

    Democracy Vouchers, a tax-payer-funded program that sends four $25 certificates to residents to donate to local candidates, made Seattle the national leader by increasing the percent of the electorate donating to local campaigns to nearly 8%. They also allow more non-establishment candidates, who lack connections to wealthy donors, to run for office. Four of the nine 2019 city council candidates used vouchers to help fund their campaigns and the vouchers are being expanded to the city’s mayoral races. A national pilot program was also approved to try vouchers for congressional candidates in three states.

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  • How mangrove forests helped stall environmental crime

    April 27, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Kenya, Gazi

    A blue carbon credit scheme in Kenya is not only restoring mangrove forests, but it’s also reducing environmental crimes and providing a way for residents to make money. The Mikoko Pamoja carbon project is a partnership that encourages the protection of mangroves in exchange for selling carbon credits. Since the project launched 2013, each year it traps the equivalent carbon emissions of about 650 cars. While it’s not a perfect system, it has inspired other blue carbon programs in other villages.

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  • College Accounts at Birth: State Efforts Raise New Hopes

    April 27, 2021 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oklahoma

    SEED for Oklahoma Kids is a statewide effort to help newer generations climb the educational ladder and build assets. Parents are offered $1,000 in their newborn's name and set aside in a college savings account, destined to be used for pursuing college or trade school education. The concept of the program is not unique to Oklahoma. Other states like Nebraska, Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, and more have implemented similar programs. "Automatic enrollment in a saving program, with the ability to opt out, turns out to have a much higher participation rate than relying on individuals to take the initiative."

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  • Crypto power: Can solar boost cheap, green homes in S.Africa?

    April 22, 2021 |

    Thomson Reuters Foundation |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: South Africa, Cape Town

    Watergate Estate is working on two issues in South Africa: affordable housing and renewable energy. The housing development is installing solar panels for its residents that are being bought by people all over the world using cash or bitcoin as a way to offset their own carbon costs. Not everyone agrees that gated communities like this are helping to fight social inequalities, crime, and unemployment, but about 470 people bought solar cells for the apartment complex and some residents say they feel safer in their community.

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  • Pragmatic Housing Policies Considered

    April 21, 2021 |

    CTNewsJunkie |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Connecticut

    A shortage of affordable housing options in Connecticut may be mitigated if proposals such as those in nearby states are implemented. New York and New Jersey require developers to set aside a certain percentage of new constructions for affordable housing and offer financial incentives that increase the supply of housing in neighborhoods that need them most. Vocational housing, which is income-based housing set aside specifically for public employees, allows teachers and officers to live in the neighborhood they serve. Transit-oriented development increases housing near existing transportation hubs.

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  • The Price Of Affordable Housing In Connecticut

    April 19, 2021 |

    WSHU Public Radio |

    Radio |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Connecticut

    Innovative housing solutions in nearby states may help alleviate the lack of affordable housing in Connecticut. Vocational housing in New Jersey has enabled teachers and police officers to live in the areas they serve. Across the Northeast, housing has been built near transportation hubs in a policy known as transit-oriented development. Financial incentives for developers have also created housing in neighborhoods that need it most and mandatory quotas for every new construction project ensure a steady supply of new affordable housing.

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  • Is Seaweed The Key To Carbon Offsets?

    April 17, 2021 |

    Freethink |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Maine

    Running Tide Technologies, a shellfish hatchery in Maine, is betting on kelp forests as a way to store carbon deep in the ocean and sell that carbon to corporations looking to combat climate change and offset their own emissions. The startup is growing mini-farms of kelp on biodegradable floats and after a few months, they sink to the seafloor. More research is needed to see if it works, but they already have about 1,600 floats adrift in the ocean and the e-commerce company Shopify is the first to buy carbon offsets from them.

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  • With phones and seeds, jobless Kenyans tackle illegal logging

    April 15, 2021 |

    Thomson Reuters Foundation |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Kenya, Kwale

    As a way to combat unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent further deforestation in Kenya, local rangers are using smartphones, satellite feeds, and global mapping to monitor their forests. The project employs more than 250 people and allows them to target vulnerable areas more effectively. Because of their efforts, there have been lower incidences of illegal logging and forest fires from poachers.

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