Mayor Dixson of Greensburg excited to be coming to Solar and Wind Expo to tell how his city went from devastation to green

Yesterday afternoon, we spoke with Bob Dixson, mayor of Greensburg, Kansas, who will be the keynote speaker at The Solar and Wind Expo. After telling him how honored we are to have him as our keynote, he told us how honored he was to be invited East to be part of the Expo and to have a chance to tell his town’s remarkable story.

As many of you know, Greensburg was devastated by a tornado in 2007 with the tragic loss of 11 lives. Dixon plans to start his presentation by telling how Greensburg was virtually destroyed by the twister but decided to use this terrible blow as an opportunity to rebuild as an all-green city.

Next, he’ll relate how Greensburg then planned for rebuilding, basically from the ground up, with sustainability as a guiding force. Based on the idea that “we’re all stewards of our environment,” the town determined to use a mix of conservation, wind, solar and geothermal energy to provide virtually all of its power. All of Greensburg’s electricity, for example, is supplied by a community wind farm built by Suzlon, Dixson said. In addition, all new or rebuilt structures must be LEED-certified.

Improving the environment is “about what each individual can do to make the world more sustainable,” and then companies and larger groups will take up the sustainability banner, too, Dixson said. He noted that Greensburg is a small town in America’s rural heartland, not a city on the East or West coast which might be thought a more “natural” place to go all-green. A Greensburg Website proudly states, “We daresay that there is nowhere else in rural America where one can overhear conversations peppered with talk of ‘LEED Platinum’, ‘ground source heat pumps’, and ‘low-flush toilets’ – sometimes all in the same breath.”

Mayor Dixson plans to stick around after his talk (at noon on Saturday, May 7) to answer questions and be available to talk to attendees as well as the media. We very much look forward to hearing about his town’s inspirational transformation to a model of sustainability, and hope you can be there, too.

make green a reality!

www.thesolarandwindexpo.com