Woodard, B. C. (2016, November 17). America’s First All-Renewable-Energy City. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/burlington- what-works-green-energy-214463

Recently, Burlington Vermont (population 42,000) has become the first city to be run on entirely renewable energy sources: Power from hydroelectric dams, solar panels, wind farms, and local, sustainably harvested timber. This was a brainchild of former Bernie Sanders and other legislators who wanted to reinforce local economic and environmental sustainability. In addition a number of organizations have worked to reestablish the local, non-industrial farm by reclaiming agricultural land and working with local farmers.

With an expanding population of the US and increasing demand for energy generation, Burlington can serve as a template for how cities can become sustainable and self sufficient. The success of Burlington could indicate future successes elsewhere through the country. Though some communities’ economies are based on dirty energy industries (see post about article by Lambert,) optimistically, these jobs can shift to create and improve sustainable energy infrastructure like the dams, wind turbines, and wood-chip based McNail power plant in Burlington Vt.