July 17, 2018 10:21 AM EDT
If you’ve perused the new UCS 50-State Food System Scorecard, you’ve probably noticed a seeming contradiction. As shown on the map below, the heavily agricultural states in the middle of the country aren’t exactly knocking it out of the park when it comes to the overall health and sustainability of their food and farming systems. On the contrary, most of the leading farm states of the Midwest reside in the basement of our overall ranking.
December 8, 2017 10:44 AM EDT
As we look ahead to our clean energy future, a key piece of the puzzle is building the transmission system that will carry utility-scale renewable energy from where it’s generated to where it’s consumed. A recent study from the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator (MISO) shows that, when done right, transmission projects integrated with renewable energy can pay huge dividends. They decarbonize our electricity supply, improve efficiency, and lower costs to the tune of billions of dollars in benefits to electricity customers.
August 31, 2016 1:26 PM EDT
There seems to have been a significant uptick in the number of utility-scale solar projects announced in the Midwest recently—from Michigan to Minnesota , Indiana to Iowa, and even up in Wisconsin. Is this just a one-off bump in activity, or the start of something bigger? Are we actually starting to see the solar revolution spread to the Midwest where wind power has historically been king of renewables? And if large-scale solar is coming in a big way, are we ready? Read more >
December 9, 2015 3:02 PM EDT
Michigan and Minnesota are catching on and the solar power movement is now gaining a foothold in the Midwest. Read more >
July 8, 2015 10:39 AM EDT
Nowhere is the power and prowess of agricultural science so evident as in the Midwestern Corn Belt. More of this nation’s economic success and global dominance is due to the corn plant than most Americans realize. In fact, the reason most of us can be oblivious to that very fact—as we busily flit about our non-agricultural lives—owes to the crop’s exceptional productivity and its congenial malleability to our purposes. Read more >
