Last week I talked with the nonprofit energyNOW! program about tornadoes, climate change, and how tornado-ravaged communities can rebuild green. We also discussed how all of our communities need to become more resilient to extreme weather events, which we'll be seeing a lot more of in a warmer future.

Here's the video:

A little background: a couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece for GOOD asking what tornado-ravaged cities and towns could learn from Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg was leveled in 2007 by a massive mile-and-a-half-wide EF5 tornado. Residents thought that the already-shrinking town might have been dealt a death blow.

But the town committed to rebuilding "green," and Greensburg has since thrived. energyNOW! producer Silvio Marcacci wanted to hear more about the town's success. Inevitably, we also wound up talking about the nature of extreme weather in recent years and about adaptation and resiliency planning for cities and towns.

(A couple of notes on the video: no, I do not live in a treehouse, though I've often been accused of that by colleagues when I make Skype calls and video chats. The home office just happens to be in a particularly woody nook in my very old Vermont home. Second: yes, I need a haircut. The energyNOW! producers caught me shaggy and on short notice.)

Here's a mashup of shorter answers to questions about extreme weather, climate change, and how communities should plan for resiliency:

There's a good reason that my career path took me to writing and not to TV or radio. I've never considered myself much of a talker and much prefer tinkering with sentences to spitting them out off the cuff. Still, in the interest of spreading news that I believe matters, I'll be doing some more of these energyNOW! "Reporters Notebook" sessions. My involvement notwithstanding, energyNOW! has been producing some really interesting and important content, and I'd recommend it without hesitation. Learn more about the show here.