There wasn't much to be happy about on today's media spectrum. So I thought I'd share one heartwarming story about one Kansas town's efforts to pick up the pieces after a devastating tornado:
Townhomes are beginning to rise from the ragged tree trunks, weeds and ruins off Main Street. They mark a radical departure from traditional low-income housing, according to Duncan Trahl, who is from Pennsylvania and on contract with the National Renewable Energy Labs.
The townhomes are "LEED gold certified," Trahl said. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The rating is based on a system which rewards energy savings. Trahl said gold certification means these places will be almost twice as efficient as they used to be.
Building to this standard for working-class families is unusual, Trahl said.
"A lot of what's happening in Greensburg is some of the first in the country," Trahl said.
Leveraging environmentalism to rebuild a community. It's an idea that's helping revive New Orleans and now a small town in the Midwest. To be sure, the disaster that struck Pakistan yesterday morning is one of a very different nature, but I wish them speed and strength in recovery. I also look forward to the day when "stability" in the Middle East is the norm so that things like "sustainability" can be the new goal. At moments like this, that time seems painfully far away.
A $4 billion push to make affordable housing green
For public transportation to survive, we all need to ... drive more?
Weatherization will save us all
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caniscandida Posted 6:10 am
31 Dec 2007
Thanks, Maywa, this report is good news -- or at least the first step toward good news.
In August, we happened to pass through Greensburg, on our way from Taos, NM, to Springfield, MO. We were horrified by what we saw there. The appearance of the trees, as the tornado mangled them, was even more eery than the shattered buildings. There were temporary medical centers in tents still operating, so I am not surprised by the detail in this report that school is being conducted in trailers.
From what I gathered that evening at the motel outside Wichita where we stayed, the embittered, toughened people of Kansas as a whole do not gush with sympathy for the people of Greensburg. It seemed the common opinion that the town is moribund, and all the sensible survivors would move away and relocate.
In fact, as I see it, there is no good reason for utter despair. Greensburg is not a tiny town lost out on some forsaken stretch of the Plains. It is on a highway stretching west from Wichita, the state's largest city, on the way to Dodge City, WNW of it, or else, going WSW, on the way to the OK and TX panhandles, and NE NM. Much of that is pretty bleak country; but there are windfarms there now, and it is not too late to rethink what would make it worth living in or worth visiting.
Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
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anitajgh Posted 9:17 pm
01 Jan 2008
We have many houses rebuilt now, and businesses are starting to rebuild... All are doing at least something to be greener than they were before. For more information on this, go to the Greensburg Greentown website:
http://www.greensburggreentown.org/
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