Greenersburg

Sent: Sun, 13 May 2007 11:52 AM
Subject: Remaking Greensburg Green

Laura,

Your article in the paper this morning (Sunday 5-13-07) is excellent.

I would be interested in getting the contact information of Lonnie McCollum and Steve Hewitt, to put them in contact with the people below.

Can you help me out?

I was inspired by the April 27th broadcast of Science Friday, which is available at http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/2007/Apr/hour1_042707.html, or through iTunes if you prefer to listen via podcast, like me. The description of the green buildings is a nice vision for Greensburg. Can you see people coming from all around the country to learn about how to build a new green city from Greensburg? They would be a green tech mecca. That would fulfill their desire to generate more tourism and interest in their city. There is a company here in Olathe or Overland Park, that specializes in digestion of sewage to capture the methane and generate energy, as well as lessen the nitrogen impact. I'm not sure if it's easy to apply to a whole city. I thought I would talk to him about it on Monday.

Thank you.

Attached Message:
Sent: Sun, 13 May 2007 11:38 AM
Subject: Remaking Greensburg Green

Ira Flatow, Host of Science Friday
Susan Hockfield, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rob Pratt, Senior Vice-President of Henry P. Kendall Foundation
Susanne Rasmussen, Environmental and Transportation Planning - City of Cambridge
John Spengler, Co-Chair, Harvard Green Campus Initiative

Hello,

After listening to the April 27th program of Science Friday, I wanted to contact all of you with a proposition. I believe your efforts and talents at making greener cities and green buildings should be offered to the town of Greensburg Kansas in their efforts at rebuilding their city.

I just read an article in the Sunday May 13th issue of the Kansas City Star about the young City Manager and Mayor of Greensburg and their determination to remake their city into to something better after the recent tornado that wiped the town out. They will need a lot of help and assistance, both financial and in planning and conception. No doubt, funding will be made available from various state and federal sources, as well as private and public insurance policies. You also mentioned on Science Friday that no-interest loans were being made available for some green building initiatives, and perhaps that would also be a way for them to defer the cost of rebuilding.

Why not make the town a showcase for green technology? Before the tornado, they were looking for ways to increase interest and tourism in the town. What better way to become something worth visiting than to become the first city in the U.S. to go completely green? It's perfect, they've got Green right in their name.

Their previous claim to fame is a huge hand dug water well, so securing a sustainable water source has already been in their past. There is a huge wind turbine project about 45 minutes to the west away from Greenville, between Liberal and Dodge City. I can see how more wind power would make the community a net exporter of energy, and what better advertisement for wind energy than a city that is a symbol of the power of wind? Another issue that could be emphasized is sustainable agri- or aqua-culture, as I understand that food miles are a great carbon concern, as well as the recent work that indicates that nitrogen fertilizer byproducts could be an even more deadly source of greenhouse gasses than carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. How to process the city's waste, could be another project to complete the greening of the new city. If they could harness the methane output to generate heat and electricity, as well as generating a more natural form of fertilizer, they could lessen the emission of methane and the various NOx's that are greenhouse gasses.

Laura Bauer of the Kansas City Star wrote the article about rebuilding Greensburg. I have her number and email. I'm trying to get the Mayor Lonnie McCollum and the City Manager Steve Hewitt contact information from her. Would any of you be interested in trying to see if we can rebuild Greensburg as the first Green City in the U.S.? People love rebuilding and rebirth stories, and if we could wrap it in a green mantle, we may be able to push green technology into the hearts of the average American and really kick start our green revolution.

Sincerely,
etc.