TOPIC 'Renewable Energy' on Jan 16, 2009 (CET)
The Town Of Greensburg Is Making All The Right Decisions
Greensburg, the tiny Kansas town that was all but destroyed by a May 2007 tornado, has hopes of green jobs to help rebuild its community and economic base. The near-obliteration of the town has brought new possibilities for the economy of the town. Because the town was almost completely leveled, it has to be re-built from scratch. The residents of Greensburg are doing just exactly that – in a terrifically green fashion.
When beginning the long road to rebuilding, Greensburg decided to do it the “all natural” way and power the city with 100 percent renewable energy sources. All the new buildings constructed in Greensburg are setting the standard of complying with LEED platinum regulations, which is the highest certification level able to be achieved when building “green.”
A nonprofit organization, Greensburg Green Town, has been founded to provide support, information, and resources to rebuild Greensburg into a model “green” village. By the time Greensburg is rebuilt, it will live up to its name and be a model for every community across the country. That is how you make something successful from something so tragic – by having the determination and resiliency to move forward and by choosing the path that makes the most sense.
The Mayors Climate Protection Center has forecast that green jobs will be responsible for 10 percent of all new jobs during the next 20 years. Statistics also predict that by 2038, more than 1.2 million jobs will be created by renewable energy production and 1.5 million jobs will be created through alternative fuel sources for transportation. In addition, 1.4 million jobs are anticipated to be generated in the legal, consulting, research, and engineering sectors to provide a foundation for the new green jobs. These numbers can have a tremendous impact on the economy – and the same is true for the rest of the globe.
Greensburg already has two businesses that are interested in basing in the town. Torsten Energy is planning a project to build a biodiesel plant in Greensburg and Extreme Homes, a sustainable home building company based in California, is negotiating to add an operation there. More power to the residents of Greensburg – alternative, renewable power, that is!
Sherry Irvin
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany
