History shows that technological change can occur not just in gradual sweeps but in dramatic, accelerating bursts.

Horse-drawn carriages gave way to cars after only about a decade of rapid adoption. Barely 40 years after a wood-framed plane first glided off the ground at Kitty Hawk, pilots broke the sound barrier, and reached the moon just over 20 years after that. And whether wreaking havoc on human and animal health or the ozone layer, harmful chemicals like DDT and chlorofluorocarbons were swiftly banned or replaced by more benign substitutes, after awareness grew about their effects.

Similar, if not greater, change is demanded today, thanks to the rapidly warming, unfamiliar climate that civilization now occupies.

So, what would a revamped electric grid look like if it materialized around St. Louis? What changes are needed if electricity generation in the area, and in the state, were to comply with goals to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — a science-based mark that gives civilization its best chance to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change?

As of yet, clear plans or answers have not been mapped out.