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9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule         April 2012  Strategy #6—Protect The Commons How Boulder Freed Its Electric Company by Valerie Schloredt Running their own utility means sun and wind energy instead of coal. The city of Boulder, Colo., has won the right to take its power supply—and carbon emissions—away from corporate control. The change for Boulder came in November when voters passed two ballot measures that allow the city to begin the process of forming its own municipal power utility. The city’s current electricity supplier, Xcel Energy, is a large corporation that sources more than 60 percent of its power from coal. Colorado climate activists tried for years to persuade Xcel to transition from coal to renewables, arguing that the state’s plains, mountains, and 300 days of annual sunshine give it abundant potential for the development of wind and solar power. But they found Xcel’s take-up of renewables was frustratingly slow. Xcel is investing $400 million in its coal-powered plants, and its plans for renewables stops at just 30 percent in 2020, with no further increase until 2028. READ MORE ... A People’s History of Robin Hood by Paul Buhle For hundreds of years, he’s fought tax injustice, tyranny, and the seizure of the commons. Why we still need him today. READ MORE ... :: SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH YOUR FRIENDS    :: THINKING OF SUBSCRIBING? FINAL CALL ON THE CURRENT ISSUE! :: Now is your last chance to subscribe starting with the End Corporate Rule issue. Order by 4/19. :: PEEK INSIDE   Protect our Democracy   4 Ways to Flex Our Electoral Muscles What we can do right now to strengthen our democracy Disclose the money outside groups are spending on politics Establish funds for clean elections Create citizen juries to give voters unbiased information Allow the people to recall elected officials The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United revealed just how thoroughly the American people (people, I should clarify, in the traditional sense) have lost control over our own democracy. But it’s far from the only way that corporations now circumvent true democratic decision-making. There are lots of other problems that need fixing—and that can be fixed now, at the state and local level, without waiting for a constitutional amendment. READ MORE ...   People We Love   Occupy UC Davis: Whose University? How a student sit-in led to a national outcry. Jennifer Real: Protecting Clean Water This PTA mom is leading the fight against toxic waste in her Texas hometown. Juliana Rotich: A Map App for Crises From Kenya, an open-source solution for navigating disasters. James Bell: Real Justice for Youth More than 70 percent of incarcerated kids are minorities. This advocate decided to find out why.   What’s New Online   How to Fix Health Care Without the Mandate by Sarah van Gelder Why truly affordable care means single-payer. How Biking Benefits Everyone by Jay Walljasper Just because someone doesn’t bike, doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from cities and towns making biking a priority. Occupy 2.0: The Great Turning by Michael Nagler On building a movement to build a new reality. The Age of Obama: What Went Wrong (and How to Fix It) by Van Jones Van Jones reflects on his time in—and out of—the White House.   Did you miss…   Highlights from the last newsletter: :: “Social Security is Broke”—and Other Corporate Scare Tactics For years, corporations have been peddling myths to rally us behind their interests. Here are three things everyone “knows,” and why they’re wrong. :: Special Weapons for Fighting Giants Revoke their charters, and other legal tools to hold corporations accountable to our laws. :: Stand Your Ground to Stop the Violence What can be done to stop needless violence like the killing of Trayvon Martin?   How to Get More YES!  GET OUR CURRENT ISSUE FOR FREE Find out what you’re missing. Try us out. :: PEEK INSIDE Order by 4/19 to get the End Corporate Rule issue. Join YES! on June 6 Celebrate people power at Seattle’s Town Hall with Alice Walker, Frances Moore Lappé, and Makana. This evening of conversation, music, and food will support YES! :: BUY TICKETS TODAY!   Featured Event  10th Annual BALLE Business Conference How is Main Street reclaiming real prosperity around the nation? Join YES! staff and board members at the 10th Annual BALLE Business Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., to find out. Meet and mingle with local movement leaders, founders, and visionaries. Be inspired by community-supported food, finance, manufacturing, energy, retail, and more. Get more details and register now!   Book Review  A Dakota Way of Life In her new book, Diane Wilson asks how you raise beloved children and break the cycle of self-destruction in native communities. :: MORE Book Reviews   Web Picks   FILM Cooperatives Put People—and Democracy—to Work How worker-owned businesses from Cleveland to Mondragón, Spain, are nurturing life and jobs outside the corporate framework. YES! is published by the nonprofit Positive Futures Network   ::  www.yesmagazine.org 284 Madrona Way NE, Suite 116, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110-2870, USA  ::  Phone: 206-842-0216

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