Kansas City has opportunity to fight climate change. A KCI solar farm is just the start

The next six months are critical in Kansas City’s efforts to address the climate crisis, provide more affordable housing and catalyze a robust post-pandemic economy. An unprecedented $550 billion in funding to address climate change is coming soon from Congress. Urgent action in local investments and policies is needed to fully reap the benefits of these dollars in our region.

Since the pandemic, Climate Action KC and Mid-America Regional Council have come out with a regional climate plan. Kansas City is updating its own plan, and the City Council has passed resolutions — setting new carbon targets, recommending new building codes and declaring a climate emergency. Now, it is time to take action. Our region — led by Kansas City — must move forward quickly with the following actions:

▪ Decarbon the electrical grid, including a new high-capacity solar farm at Kansas City International Airport. Our local utility, Evergy, must continue to build on its leadership role in reducing carbon emissions. The expansion of federal tax credits for wind, solar and energy storage will be critical in making that happen. The city can do its part to help with this effort by making public land available to develop large-scale solar, resulting in a large 300 megawatt solar facility near the airport — a visible symbol of our city’s commitment to climate action. The solar farm can and should be developed and financed privately, with support from federal tax credits. The project, or the generated electricity, can then be sold to Evergy. This approach means less financial risk for the city, given that the business of electricity generation, transmission and distribution is a complicated business with many layers of federal, state and regional requirements.

▪ Tighten up leaky buildings. Buildings account for more than 60% of Kansas City’s greenhouse gas emissions. Making them more energy efficient by sealing leaks with insulation and installing efficient windows, water heaters and heating and cooling systems is the least expensive source of clean energy. The city’s role should be to support the creation of an Energy Efficiency Investment Fund in the coming months with forthcoming federal dollars, which supplemented by private sector support can provide immediate and long-term financing to improve building energy performance.

A top priority for building efficiency work should be apartment buildings and single-family homes in lower income areas, where energy burdens are highest. Reducing energy bills in lower income households by sealing up older houses is a powerful way to address historic equity issues. This would make buildings more comfortable in inclement weather, reduce people’s energy bills and address the high cost of meeting peak demand during extreme weather events. The city should also immediately adopt a new building code to help with new buildings, so we do not have to go back and retrofit them a few years later.

▪ Cool the urban heat island effect. We should fund the planting of tens of thousands of trees and preserve our existing ones, as called for in Kansas City’s Urban Forest Master Plan, approved by the City Council in 2020. Trees are an outstanding investment in the future, with many co-benefits: a cooler city, cleaner air, carbon sequestration, stormwater absorption and beautified streets. Trees carefully positioned to shade buildings can cut summer air conditioning bills by up to 50%, while reducing peak demand for utilities. For these reasons, the above-mentioned Energy Efficiency Investment Fund could also include support for trees. Educational campaigns are needed for city governments, businesses and private citizens to help Kansas Citians appreciate the full value of our trees and the need to fund our future urban forests.

▪ Invest in clean transportation. Move quickly to incentivize electrification of public and private vehicles, prioritizing school buses, transit fleets and other heavy-duty vehicles where possible.

At the United Nations’ COP 26 conference, the world is setting new targets that are essential to address the global climate crisis, and that can also improve health and prosperity around the world. Kansas City region is on the cusp of great things, if it seizes this opportunity.