... a far-reaching plan to create new neighborhoods that will generate their own power through solar photovoltaic panels, biomass and biogas from material, food

... a far-reaching plan to create new neighborhoods that will generate their own power through solar photovoltaic panels, biomass and biogas from material, food and animal waste, and geothermal sources, to name but a few. The communities will also grow their own food largely from aquaponic farms, which essentially combine plants with fish cultivation in water. OK, so far, so good... At the outset, the communities that ReGen hopes to build will be within an hour’s travel from major cities to attract those who must commute to work. Fail. Expensive land within commuting range, but remote workers don’t need to commute. Expensive land near supermarkets, so what’s the incentive to “farm”? Kids need to be driven to baseball, but your car is a 10-minute schlep from your house, and it’s raining. Here’s a better idea: Bring a few key urban amenities to any thousands of actual existing but fading exurban and rural villages: produce market, bakery, well-equipped playground, car charger, decent fiber line, bookstore cafe/co-work space, weekend evening bus into town and back so you can have a couple of glasses of wine. It’s funny to call a project that prominently features waste biomass and swimming pool aquaponics “glam” but that’s what it is and why it won’t change the world. ReGen could make an actual meaningful difference if it spent a fraction of the investment it hopes to raise on actually learning how people live and making strategic improvements to their existing environments. This takes time and is gradual work with an unglamorous mix of success and failure, uninteresting to investors and unlikely to get you featured as a “visionary” in the NYT. People and their bullshit, SMH.