Making the red states irrelevant
OK, not really, but what with all the talk of Urban Archipelagos of progressive values, the idea of vertical farming caught my attention, and imagination. The proposal is simple: turn cities into ag-friendly lands by growing food within and around tall buildings. As the Vertical Farm website says, "By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. ... An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20 percent more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them."
By producing food in the very cities that consume so much of it, not only will we be able to reduce the massive waste and pollution (not to mention oil addiction) that our current system creates, but we'll be able to spread those progressive values far into the future. (via World Changing.)