Newsletter January 13, 2006
Historic
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Prelim
This week introduces the second KnowledgeFarm photographic archive. The images have appeared in the KF Newsletter over the past year. The following links provide access to archives
Web Link - View KF Landscape Archive II
Historic Renewable Energy Credit Purchase to Offset 100% of Company's Electricity Use
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan 10, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Whole Foods Market (WFMI), the world's
leading natural and organic foods supermarket, has made a landmark purchase of renewable energy credits
from wind farms to offset 100% of the electricity used in all of its stores, facilities, bake houses,
distribution centers, regional offices and national headquarters in the United States and Canada. This
is the largest wind energy credit purchase in the history of the United States and Canada and makes Whole
Foods Market the only Fortune 500 Company purchasing wind energy credits to offset 100% of its electricity use.
As of December 9, 2005, Whole Foods Market is purchasing more than 458,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable
energy credits from wind farms. This purchase will avoid more than 700 million pounds of carbon dioxide
pollution this year. To have the same environmental impact, more than 60,000 cars would have to be taken
off the road or more than 90,000 acres of trees would have to be planted.
To help evaluate options and facilitate the purchasing process, Whole Foods Market involved the Washington,
DC-based nonprofit environmental think tank World Resources Institute (WRI).
News from the Center for Rural Affairs
INITIATIVE 300 STRUCK DOWN IN FEDERAL COURT
"In 1982, by a vote of the people, the constitution of Nebraska was amended to include a provision that
prohibited corporate farming.
"Article XII of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska...Sec. 8. (1) No corporation or syndicate shall
acquire, or otherwise obtain an interest, whether legal, beneficial, or otherwise, in any title to real
estate used for farming or ranching in this state, or engage in farming or ranching...
"But on December 15, 2005, a federal judge declared that Initiative 300
interferes with interstate commerce and violates the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act and enjoined the state of Nebraska from enforcing the law.
Attorney General Jon Bruning promised to appeal the decision. Initiative
300 will remain in effect while the case is appealed.
"Initiative 300 has been part of an agricultural climate in Nebraska that
has helped the state retain more family farmers and ranchers than many
other states while also retaining agricultural production. And Initiative
300 has helped rural Nebraska communities weather many economic challenges,
by considering the good of the many over the wealth of a few.
"Dr. Rick Welsh and Dr. Thomas Lyson found in a 2002 report that anti-corporate
farming laws are beneficial to the economies and people of rural communities when compared
to states without such laws. Rural communities in states with anti-corporate farm laws have
lower poverty levels, lower unemployment, and a higher percentage of farms reporting cash gains."
From the CFRA web site.
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Whole Foods Market
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Motley Fool news report about the Whole Foods Market energy credit purchase
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About Renewable Choice Energy
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About World Resources Institute
"Initiative 300, Nebraska's Ban on Corporate Farming, Struck Down in Federal Court
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Center for Rural Affairs Newsletter
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Center for Rural Affairs Home Page
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Subscribe to CFRA
"We live in an era of profound change - when institutions, policy, and life are being
fundamentally reshaped. It is a critical time for people of conscience to work together
in guiding change to reflect our highest values. To that we commit the Center for Rural Affairs."
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