THE GREENING OF OZ

Fraga presents a comprehensive account of how a small town in the Bible Belt became a model of ecological sustainability.

The town of Greensburg, Kan., population 1400, was decimated by a tornado in May 2007. From the rubble left in the storm’s wake, Greensburg’s leaders and citizens decided to rebuild and revitalize their home as the greenest town in America. They encountered numerous challenges, suffered many defeats and celebrated a hundred small victories along the way. The town’s endeavors attracted the support of Planet Green television, which filmed a documentary on the long road to recovery and rebirth. The town garnered the praise of two presidents and its mayor received invitations to speak at international conferences on sustainability. Five years after the devastating tornado, Greensburg proudly boasts the U.S.’s greatest concentration of buildings that meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification, the highest degree of sustainability. Once reliant upon coal, most of Greensburg’s power supply is now derived from solar panels and wind turbines. The revitalized community thrives economically and spiritually as well as ecologically. Fraga’s lesson on how this town set an absolutely achievable example may be timely and important, but his writing lacks excitement. Fraga spends the beginning of the book detailing the general history of Greensburg rather than drawing in readers by opening with an account of the fateful tornado. Instead of concentrating on a touchstone assortment of well developed individuals, the book describes the entire lives of more characters than a casual reader is likely to retain. The book relies on snippets of journal entries, news stories and interviews, but the author does not recreate scenes or dialogues. Ultimately, this title reads more like an academic textbook than artful nonfiction. A meticulously researched, detailed and informative account on a fascinating topic hampered by its dry, scholarly tone.