Greensburg took another step toward being the most environmentally-friendly city in the state on Tuesday.

Scholfield Honda of Wichita donated a natural gas-powered Honda Civic to the GreenTown project at Greensburg City Hall.

The Honda Civic GX certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as having "the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world". Scholfield Honda's Alternative Fuels Manager Lee Lindquist describes natural gas as "the cleanest burning transportation fuel available today". Another advantageous feature about natural gas, according to Lindquist, is that 95% of our supply is produced in the U.S., with the other 5% coming from Canada and Mexico.

The natural gas Honda, built in Marysville, Ohio, has been in production for eleven years, and has been most popular in California and New York State. There are some 300 public natural gas fueling stations in California, which has had stricter air pollution controls than the rest of the country for quite some time. Kansas currently is home to two public stations, in Topeka and Overland Park. Greensburg is looking to lead the rural areas of the state in energy conservation by showcasing this technology.

The car will be fueled by the same gas that heats and fuels a home, thanks to a kit that was also donated to GreenTown.

Greensburg GreenTown is a nonprofit organization formed in the days immediately after the tornado, whose mission is to bring programs, services, and resources to town that will help Greensburg realize its dream of becoming a model of energy efficiency and sustainability.

GreenTown is planning to establish a vehicle rental center that will feature a wide array of state-of-the-art alternative fuel vehicles. The organization is deeply grateful to Scholfield Honda, Fahnestock, and Kansas Gas Service for their generous contributions and for having the vision to be a part of history in the making.