The first large-scale wind farm in Kansas was built in 2001, and since then the state has become one of the top five producers of wind energy in the United States. Last year, the state’s largest wind farm to date, High Banks Wind, came online. Located in the counties of Republic and Washington, in the north-central part of the state, High Banks is one of the most controversial projects either county has ever seen — and the focus of nearly two years of reporting by Michael Holtz. The history of the project offers a compelling case study in how America’s clean-energy transition is playing out at the most local of levels. In his talk, Holtz will share stories from his reporting and discuss what the fight over High Banks reveals about the fight against climate change.

Michael Holtz, Winds of Change: Rural Kansas and the Clean-Energy Transition