David Morris
Vice President
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
For more than three decades David Morris has been one of the nation's leading proponents for humanly-scaled, community-based economic and political systems as a prolific writer, speaker and advocate who has provided the basis for an extraordinary array of path-breaking policy initiatives. An economist by training with stellar academic credentials, David is a syndicated columnist and author of more than 200 books and articles on rural communities, energy and sustainability. He co-founded the Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance in 1974 and currently serves as its Vice-President and director of its New Rules Project. The Institute’s mission is to identify public policies that promote strong, locally owned and environmentally sound economies and to assist communities to move in that direction.
Among his areas of expertise is energy in the rural areas of America. David has been an advisor on Energy to four U.S. Presidents and is a nationally known expert on ethanol, wind-generated power, and electric vehicles. He has testified before numerous legislative committees at the state and federal level and currently serves on the Congressionally-created Biomass Advisory Committee to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy.