All You Need is an Angle

Seven Kansas towns were recently featured in the New York Times. It's interesting how in a farming region where climate change could be most devastating, less than half the population believes it actually exists. The questions is: how do you motivate these communities to become more sustainable when climate change isn't a motivating factor?

People at the Climate and Energy Project believe they've found a way, and it's through their "Take Charge" program. The recipe calls for one part foreign oil dependence fear and one part competition. Throw in a handful of non-profit money (around $150,000), and you get a bunch of motivated citizens. They installed new lightbulbs, implemented geothermal energy, weatherized their homes, and made plans for wind turbines. Two communities ended up reducing their overall energy use by 5% over the course of one year, which is actually quite impressive.

Weatherization, efficiency education, and citizen-led energy planning

The Climate and Energy Project just earned themselves a grant from the Kansas Energy Office to sponsor a competition in 2011 for 16 communities. Hopefully, they get similar results.