diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index caa3d7177..030d739c4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,3 +19,6 @@
 /log/*
 !/log/.keep
 /tmp
+
+my.env
+
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index f53d742a5..dc17220c6 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ gem 'pg'
 gem 'rails_12factor'
 gem 'rails_admin'
 gem 'validates_formatting_of'
+gem 'forecast_io'
 
 platforms :ruby_18 do
   gem 'fastercsv'
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ end
 
 group :development, :test do
   gem 'pry'
+  gem 'dotenv-rails'
 end
 
 group :production do
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index f78d66046..ae6b95b8f 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -67,17 +67,27 @@ GEM
       thread_safe (~> 0.1)
       warden (~> 1.2.3)
     docile (1.1.5)
+    dotenv (1.0.2)
+    dotenv-rails (1.0.2)
+      dotenv (= 1.0.2)
     erubis (2.7.0)
     execjs (2.2.2)
+    faraday (0.9.1)
+      multipart-post (>= 1.2, < 3)
     fastercsv (1.5.5)
     font-awesome-rails (4.3.0.0)
       railties (>= 3.2, < 5.0)
+    forecast_io (2.0.0)
+      faraday
+      hashie
+      multi_json
     geokit (1.9.0)
       multi_json (>= 1.3.2)
     globalid (0.3.0)
       activesupport (>= 4.1.0)
     haml (4.0.6)
       tilt
+    hashie (3.3.2)
     hike (1.2.3)
     http_accept_language (2.0.5)
     i18n (0.7.0)
@@ -100,6 +110,7 @@ GEM
     mini_portile (0.6.2)
     minitest (5.5.1)
     multi_json (1.10.1)
+    multipart-post (2.0.0)
     nested_form (0.3.2)
     netrc (0.10.2)
     nokogiri (1.6.6.2)
@@ -232,7 +243,9 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   arel
   coveralls
   devise
+  dotenv-rails
   fastercsv
+  forecast_io
   geokit
   haml
   http_accept_language
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index adb15319d..1c7f8216e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ You can see a running version of the application at
 This application requires [Postgres](http://www.postgresql.org/) to be installed
 
     git clone git://github.com/codeforamerica/adopt-a-hydrant.git
+
+_Note: if Git appears to hang or outright fails, try:_
+    
+    git clone git@github.com:codeforamerica/adopt-a-hydrant.git
+
     cd adopt-a-hydrant
     bundle install
 
diff --git a/config/environments/development.rb b/config/environments/development.rb
index e0e0ea829..ecd4edd2e 100644
--- a/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+require 'dotenv'
+Dotenv.load '.env', 'my.env'
+
 Rails.application.configure do
   # Settings specified here will take precedence over those in config/application.rb.
 
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index 5c6dadfee..039935a5e 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+require 'dotenv'
+Dotenv.load '.env', 'my.env'
+
 Rails.application.configure do
   # Settings specified here will take precedence over those in config/application.rb.
 
diff --git a/config/initializers/forecast_io.rb b/config/initializers/forecast_io.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c798a709
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/forecast_io.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+ForecastIO.configure do |configuration|
+  configuration.api_key = ENV['FORECAST_IO_API_KEY']
+end
diff --git a/my-template.env b/my-template.env
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41a5f5e03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/my-template.env
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Template for my.env file
+
+# Rename this file to .env, and set the envirionment variables to your specific values.
+# This file will be ignored by Git, once renamed.
+
+
+FORECAST_IO_API_KEY="Get a key from https://developer.forecast.io/"
\ No newline at end of file