Town Owner Pushes For "Sustainable Wonderland."

The Los Angeles Times (5/4, Hsu) profiles the town of Nipton, California, which when Gerald Freeman stumbled upon it in 1984 had become a virtual ghost town, but after buying the town for $200,000, Freeman thinks he has discovered what to do with the Mojave Desert outpost. "He put up rows of gleaming solar panels, and recently began selling hats emblazoned with the hamlet's new motto: 'Nipton, powered by the sun.' It's part of a major push to make Nipton a sustainable wonderland, a green hospitality center for nature lovers headed into the neighboring Mojave National Preserve." He also has plans for energy-efficient buildings, electric vehicle charging stations and more solar installations. But "Nipton isn't the only US town hopping on the environmental bandwagon," as the Times cites other towns, including Greensburg, Kansas which has adopted a green push since the town was nearly destroyed by a tornado in 2007.