the issue.
Global climate change trends influence the extremity of temperatures and weather events in Prairie Village
The football field was swarming with Frisbee players in the 72 degrees Fahrenheit sun on Nov. 10. Three days later, the turf was frosty at 19 degrees with flurries.
A tornado nearly wrecked homes in Prairie Village on June 8, just a few streets away from city limits. The intersection of Mission Road and 68th Street was four feet deep underwater during heavy flooding in May. This past summer was one of the driest in Kansas history, according to the National Weather Service. The Farmers’ Almanac already predicted a colder-than-average winter for eastern Kansas.
As temperatures swing and weather events bounce to extremes in Prairie Village, residents feel the impact of climate change — propelling local groups to combat the issue.
Regional Environmental Protection Agency senior climate advisor Andrew Wynne defines climate change as “the significant changes in average conditions like temperature, precipitation and wind that occur over a long period of time.” In the Midwest, that means increasing temperatures, stronger storms and more flooding events and droughts that affect agriculture.
“In Prairie Village, there’s similar changes that we’re seeing throughout the Midwest,” Wynne said. “Like the really intense flooding that took place along the Missouri River back in the spring of 2019 and the storm in St. Louis just a couple of months ago with six or 10 inches of rain. Then there’s regional temperature changes.”
The past few years have been some of the warmest on record for Kansas, comparable to the extreme heat of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, according to the National Center for Environmental Information. This follows the global trend, as eight of the 10 warmest recorded years on Earth have occurred since 1998, according to the EPA. Wynne reports that this past October was the fourth warmest October globally on record.
“There’s variability,” Wynne said. “It’s not a straight, upward climb since temperatures do go up and down, but the trend is overall increasing over long periods of time.”
Since 1990, Kansas has experienced a below-average number of nights with a maximum temperature of zero degrees Fahrenheit, according to the NCEI. The freeze-free season has lengthened, especially in eastern Kansas — including Prairie Village — averaging about nine days longer than the 20th century average.
“The shifts in the trends and the climate changes that we are seeing have natural causes, but there’s also human causes like the burning of fossil fuels,” Wynne said.
The frequency of extreme storms has also increased since 2015 as the average number of two-inch rainfall days has increased from 1.5 to 2.1 per year. Especially during transition seasons like fall, weather patterns are turning more abnormal, according to Wynne.
Students have noticed. In an Instagram poll of 225 students, 87% are worried about climate change.
“The continuation of trends becoming more extreme is really dependent upon the adaptation and mitigation practices that we’re putting in place in each community, like in Prairie Village,” Wynne said. “We need to be thinking holistically about the solutions to curb that and ultimately bring temperatures back down.”
Local groups like the PV Environmental Committee, Public Works, Building Energy Exchange KC and East’s own Environmental Club are trying to neutralize climate change in Kansas. Wynne cites social and health benefits as well as economic benefits like financial incentives from tax cuts and job creations in new industries addressing climate change.
“We can’t just cut our emissions or just reduce waste or just reduce water or energy use,” Wynne said. “It’s ultimately a multi-pronged approach that requires lots of different folks developing groups and partnerships.”
See how climate change has affected different areas in the US to put Prairie Village in perspective
the reaction.
Various initiatives are attempting to neutralize effects of climate change near East
New Public Works Building: The first LEED platinum-certified public works facility in the state’s climate change initiatives are underway just one mile from East
There’s only one LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — platinum-certified building in Prairie Village: the Public Works facility which opened in September. Facility director Keith Bredehoeft hopes the certification will set an example for future buildings.
“It’s hard to make that jump to platinum level due to extra costs,” Bredehoeft said. “But our city council prioritized and showed how important fighting climate change is, which people can learn from.”
LEED is the most widely used green building rating system nationwide, where a project earns points by addressing carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation and health environmental quality. The facility features solar panels to reduce carbon emissions, a rain garden to conserve water, an efficient heating and cooling system and electric vehicles, which all contributed to the platinum certification — the highest level of points.
SMSD has begun to utilize LEED in its buildings as well, with the Center for Academic Achievement receiving a silver certification, but East is not currently certified by LEED. Local contractor Ashley Sadowski believes that environmental designing under LEED certifications is the future of not only commercial renovations but construction at school too.
The extra building costs for public works were possible with support from the city council and detailed planning in advance to stay under budget, according to Bredehoeft. Details down to bike racks and an electric vehicle charging station are available for public use alongside native vegetation strategically planted around the facility to reduce water usage.
Bredehoeft hopes that the certification and sustainability of the facility will inspire renovating homeowners and businesses in Prairie Village to strive for eco-friendliness as the features of the building are simple to replicate. It’s already impacting the blueprints for city hall.
“The success of the new public works building is going to influence what we’re [going to do] with city hall as the city council begins the process to redesign or potentially rebuild,” Environmental Committee and city councilman Greg Shelton said.
Prairie Village Environmental Committee: A group associated with the city council spearheads a variety of green city programs
The Prairie Village Environmental Committee, led by city councilwoman Piper Reimer, plans local climate change initiatives by taking into account resident feedback and climate reports from business and infrastructure media sources like Bloomberg and S&P Global.
“What makes our city unique is that we are really being proactive and progressive in trying to address climate change,” Reimer said. “Twenty-five years ago, Prairie Village put a curbside recycling program in place as one of the first cities in the state to do something like that. Since then, we’ve been committed to sustainability.”
Their current programs include a new $16,000 mattress recycling program to reduce city waste launched this April and planting native plants in traffic islands that require less water and are habitats for monarch butterflies.
“Reducing water usage and keeping waste out of landfills lessens the production of methane, a greenhouse gas that significantly worsens climate change,” Wynne said.
The committee also hosted a Go Green 2022 Fair in September where residents could speak to representatives from Kansas climate action organizations about sustainability related products and programs. Plus, it created a city website listing the quantity and type of chemicals being used on city property that is updated monthly to inform residents about potential toxins that are vaporizing and easier to inhale due to higher temperatures.
“We want to provide chemical information to residents so that they can make choices about which parks they’re visiting at which time while knowing the potential of what chemicals they might be exposed to,” Reimer said.
The committee was a key advocate for the installation of the four electric vehicle charging stations in Prairie Village and the entrance into Evergy’s multi-year agreement between midwestern cities to construct a new wind farm to provide clean energy for the region — the first city in Kansas to commit. The wind farm began services in 2021.
“Four years ago, local interest in energy technology like wind power was pretty thin,” Shelton said. “In the last two years, we’ve seen much more community interest in clean energy with more institutional investors like JP Morgan and BlackRock helping out.”
City building codes are also influenced by the committee, which advocates for the use of more permeable materials for driveways, patios and sidewalks — reducing the risk of flooding due to temperature changes — and the construction of rain gardens to conserve water.
A few projects have already been approved for next year. The committee is funding a project at Mission Road and 68th Street to address an increase in flooding issues this spring. They also worked with the mayor and city council to allocate $50,000 of the 2023 city budget to hire a part-time sustainable program management contractor and are searching for a recruit now.
“Overland Park has a full-time sustainability manager, but their city is five times larger than ours,” Reimer said. “It is incredibly unique that a city our size is investing in a sustainability coordinator. I hope that we inspire other small cities to get involved as well.”
The agenda also includes funding Public Works’ flooding project on Mission Road and starting a curbside composting program.
“In 2020, we did a composting pilot program, and people really liked it,” Reimer said. “Unfortunately it ended right when COVID started and we didn’t feel that it would be a fiscally responsible decision to be investing more money in a new program. But we’re looking to bring composting back soon.”
Though 89% of students in an Instagram poll of 202 have never heard of the Prairie Village Environmental Committee, Reimer hopes to spread awareness about the committee and climate change to all ages in Prairie Village by continuing to implement new programs. Especially since entering the Race to Zero agreement between cities internationally to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 or sooner.
“As a resident before becoming a city council member, I was oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes,” Reimer said. “I just knew that my trash was getting picked up, the snow was being removed and my street was in great shape — which is fine for normal affairs. But climate change calls for residents to engage with the city and change their behaviors in a way that positively impacts our community.”
Building Energy Exchange KC: Using architecture to combat excessive heat, Building Energy Exchange KC is a local nonprofit fighting climate change
Building Energy Exchange KC aims to help Kansas City achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Executive director Ashley Sadowski uses architecture to solve the most pressing climate change threat to northeastern Kansas in her opinion — heat.
“Extreme weather days where folks living particularly in urban areas without green space are going to just heat up extensively, which can lead to negative health effects,” Sadowski said. “Architecture seems like a far removed solution to climate change, but 63% of our regional greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. So architecture and design makes a huge difference.”
The organization focuses on installing windows with more airtight sealing, higher-grade insulation and solar panels in buildings around Kansas City. Since opening this spring, they have worked with one cohort of contractors that will “graduate” from the eight-month sustainability training program in December. Sadowski believes that most private contractors lack adequate training to install green technologies, so her goal is to train more environmentally-conscious contractors in the area. Two additional cohorts are set to graduate next year.
“We’re not trying to build whole new buildings from scratch,” Sadowski said. “It’s making small changes in existing buildings to move towards higher energy efficiency, which is a specialized field that not a lot of people are in. The technologies have already been invented, we just need more people to implement them.”
Inflation Reduction Act, courtesy of congress.gov
Recognizing the potential job opportunities in the contractor field, the organization strives to provide training and provide local mentors to diverse businesses in the construction industry.
The organization’s biggest obstacle is building owners’ hesitance to make hefty investments in green renovations, according to Sadowski. However, she is confident that any eco-friendly updates will easily pay for themselves in 10 years and believes that investment markets are changing dramatically for the better this year, citing the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Inflation Reduction Act was signed by President Joe Biden on August 16. Clean energy provisions in the bill are intended to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies, reduce global emissions, lower energy prices, help export American innovation, strengthen our economy and build a reliable and affordable energy sector, according to congress.gov.
“The exciting thing is that banks and investors are starting to look at environmentally conscious investing,” Sadowski said. “They’re more likely to give businesses very low-cost money at the beginning to do these improvements, knowing that you can pay those off over time in a very reliable way.”
Another reason for building owners to be cautious of climate change is the “brown discount” — where properties are considered not as valuable if they haven’t achieved new levels of energy efficiency or access to solar power.
In the coming months, Building Energy Exchange KC is starting an additional program to teach homeowners about energy audits to help them become more aware of their carbon footprint — potentially motivating them to renovate. In April, they are hosting a climate summit for local students to discuss more possible solutions to climate change.
“I practiced architecture for a number of years in the private sector, but this work is more fulfilling,” Sadowski said. “I’d recommend for students who want to be on the forefront of fighting climate change to look into it for sure.”
Environmental Club: Started this year by two freshmen, a club that meets weekly to discuss climate change solutions at East
Environmental Club brings the fight against climate change to East. Started this fall by freshmen Ishaan Home and Shubra Durgavathi, the club’s goal is to decrease the school’s environmental footprint.
“At East, everyone is aware of climate change,” Home said. “We’re blessed to be economically advantaged which shields some effects of climate change, so there can be a lack of urgency and care for the environment.”
Home and Durgavathi are working to reactivate dormant solar panels by contacting administration and decrease food waste at school by running awareness campaigns inspired by seeing trash cans overflowing in the cafeteria each day — both things that would reduce net emissions, according to Wynne.
“There’s an overabundance of waste and consuming a high concentration of products,” Home said. “People buy too much, people spend too much and people get too much and end up throwing some of it away.”
On top of reducing waste, they’d also like to see the district transition to all electric vehicles, including school buses.
Before starting the club, Home and Durgavathi created a petition at Indian Hills Middle School with 86 signatures to pressure administration to reduce paper waste within the school — and are still emailing administrators to follow up on the issue today.
“Looking at how many people are at IHMS, 86 isn’t that big of a number,” Durgavathi said. “But we were just a handful of eighth graders who managed to get a lot of people to think about the environment again and try to help it, even if it was just in a little way.”
The club meets after school in Room 301 or 300A on Wednesdays and invites students to come to learn more about sustainability at school. There are currently 20 members — mostly freshmen and seniors.
“Some of my friends and family don’t care about climate change as much as I do, so I think it’s important to get involved with the club and spread awareness about the issue,” club member freshman Charlie Grey said.
In the coming weeks, Home and Durgavathi plan on producing club T-shirts in a sustainable way — asking members to bring in old shirts to be repurposed and decorated.
Club sponsor and environmental education teacher Rusty DeBey promotes climate awareness through his work with the club along with teaching about the science of climate change in his classes.
“We’re not here to tell people how to live their lives,” DeBey said. “Our job is to make people aware of what’s happening with the environment so that they can make educated decisions themselves.”
the future.
Some upcoming strategies to fight climate change
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced more than $80 million of grants, the first of a $500 million promised investment, to make clean energy improvements in public schools. Funds will be awarded to school districts to make upgrades to lower energy costs and improve student learning environments on an application basis.
“It’s important to have people like students, staff and parents telling their school that climate change action is a priority and that they want to see their school move to net zero,” Sadowski said. “Talk to schools about taking advantage of these federal grant opportunities.”
Though Building Energy Exchange KC hasn’t worked with schools specifically yet, Sadowski believes that students should advocate for the Shawnee Mission School District to apply for a grant by the application deadline on March 6 to reduce emissions at East similarly to how the nonprofit would. Wynne recommends that East takes advantage of the environmental grants as well, though associate principal Dr. Susan Leonard hasn’t heard of any plans at the school level.
“Sometimes the district needs ideas, and I know grants are stronger when they have community support,” Leonard said. “If we have a group of students saying, ‘We heard about this and think our district should invest in this,’ then I think it’s something that’d be a potential for sure. Our building is old and not necessarily the most efficient.”
Students wanting to get involved against climate change in other ways can join the Environmental Club or contact the organizations mentioned. Wynne’s advice about mitigating and adapting to climate change in Prairie Village is to be holistic.
“It takes efforts from many different groups and people to fight climate change, and us highschoolers have an important role to play,” Durgavathi said.