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One of the best things about the Common Sense Colloquy is the opportunity it affords us to expand the conversation about energy and environment communications. This month we’re doing that with a Q&A with Roxanne Brown , International Vice President at Large for the United Steelworkers . We asked Roxanne to share her thoughts about communications, public affairs, climate and industrial emissions reductions along with our standard questions on the best common sense communicati

In this our 18th Q&A, we’re happy to welcome Gregory Wetstone, the President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy ( ACORE ). For this Common Sense Colloquy, we asked Greg to share his insight on communications challenges and lessons learned along with our standard questions about the best communications advice he’s received and the best communications advice he gives to others. Greg joined ACORE as President and CEO in January 2016, building on an already-impr

This month’s Common Sense Colloquy is with Abby Hopper, the President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) . We talked with Abby about the role of communications in supporting public policy advocacy, lessons learned from the growth of the renewable energy industry and the emerging interest in diversity in the solar industry. And of course, we asked Abby about the best common sense communications advice she’s received and the best common sense communicati

Our latest Common Sense Colloquy is a Q&A on energy finance, climate change and the power of communications with Jigar Shah of Generate Capital . Jigar is the president and co-founder of Generate Capital and one of three co-hosts of The Energy Gang podcast . Earlier, he was founder and CEO of SunEdison, where he popularized the idea of “no money down solar” and built the largest solar services company in the world in the process. Later, Jigar was the founding CEO of the Carb

Welcome back to the continuation of Year Two of the Common Sense Colloquy . This month, we’re featuring a new Q&A on commercializing technology and lessons learned from business partners with Dr. Jennifer Holmgren , Chief Executive Officer of LanzaTech . Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector including a proven track record in the development and commercialization of fuels and chemicals technologies. Prior to joining LanzaTech, she was Vice President an

We’re continuing Year Two of the Common Sense Colloquy with a new Q&A about communicating on challenging subjects, advising world leaders and the importance of knowing your audience with Roger Ballentine of Green Strategies . Roger is a former White House staffer in the Clinton administration and an acknowledged expert on energy and environmental policy and technology. He served as Chairman of President Clinton’s White House Climate Change Task Force and Deputy Assistant to

We’re excited to kick off Year Two of the Common Sense Colloquy  series with an amazing Q&A about climate, science and communications with Katharine Hayhoe . If you are not already following her on Twitter , go do that now – we’ll wait… If you are following her on Twitter, you know that Katharine is a transformational and inspirational leader on science, climate and communications. When she is not educating and engaging others on Twitter or sharing her insights through an agg

As I conclude the celebration of the first anniversary of the Common Sense Colloquy Q&A series , I’m sharing my favorite quote from each of the twelve brilliant people who participated in our first year. Although I asked each person a different set of questions, the responses aren’t just all wonderful examples of common sense, but they are timely, relevant and insightful about the current state of energy and environment communications and indeed, about communications in gener

Today, I’m continuing the celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Common Sense Colloquy , my monthly Q&A series in which I pose questions about communications to influential energy and environmental leaders from diverse backgrounds and experiences from finance to policy and business to advocacy. I’ve had the good fortune to work with many of our participants and I was thrilled to benefit again from the advice, perspective and experience they shared in this series. In

One year ago, I launched a new series called the Common Sense Colloquy . The idea was to ask notable energy and environmental leaders from a variety of different fields for their insight on communications based on their own experience and expertise. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but I knew that if I asked smart people to share their wisdom I’d at least get some interesting insight. By grounding the series in “common sense,” I wanted to identify simple, sensible feedback

Welcome to our twelfth Common Sense Colloquy , a Q&A with Jason Grumet , president of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) . We’ve been fortunate to work with Jason and his team on multiple occasions including in support of the launch of the American Energy Innovation Council in 2010 and, more recently, with the launch of the Carbon Capture Coalition in 2018. As President of BPC, Jason works with a team of policy experts on topics as varied as energy, education, health, econ

Time flies when you’re having fun. It’s been four years since I launched RENEW PR on January 23, 2015. Since then, I’ve celebrated each business anniversary by highlighting the people and issues I’ve been fortunate enough to work with and on over the years. In the first two years , I celebrated our business anniversary with an evening reception ( and I even posted my playlist from the second anniversary party ). In the third year, I focused on giving back (with financial co

Welcome to our eleventh Common Sense Colloquy, a Q&A with Katherine Hamilton , Chair of 38 North Solutions . We’re fortunate to call Katherine Hamilton both friend and colleague. In fact, Katherine and her firm are part of our Collaborations team and we’ve worked together on multiple client projects. Katherine works with noted cleantech and other firms and organizations providing business development and public policy consulting. She has been listed on the #Solar100 board b

Hello and welcome back to our Fearless Fridays predictions. Before we offer a new prediction, let’s check in on Volume 3 from March 2018. We predicted: Prediction 5: Instead of a comprehensive infrastructure package addressing a broad range of transportation, manufacturing, energy, environmental and related concerns, we’ll just see one single-issue bill enacted this year (e.g. limited transportation infrastructure language in the FAA reauthorization bill or a bill on transp

Welcome to our tenth Common Sense Colloquy , a Q&A with Dr. Julio Friedmann , Senior Scholar at Columbia University and President of Carbon Wrangler. We’ve had the good fortune to work with Julio as part of our work with the Carbon Capture Coalition . As the former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, Julio has a wealth of experience and expertise. As the CEO of Carbon Wrangler, he now has a new platform from which to adv

Election 2018 was billed as many things, and it delivered in many ways. It was both surprising and expected and dramatic and simple. Its impact on federal energy and environmental policy will be similarly interesting. Here’s a snapshot of our thinking on the impact of the midterm election on the key national topics at the core of our communications consulting business . For each topic, we’ve provided our take on “likely opportunities” and “likely challenges” to share a sense

Welcome to our ninth Common Sense Colloquy, a Q&A with Shelley Fidler , Principal, Governmental Affairs, Energy and Environmental Policy at Van Ness Feldman in Washington, D.C. In addition to being a former Hill colleague and later client partner, Shelley is also a friend of RENEW PR President Ben Finzel. Shelley is that rare combination of smart, focused, friendly and kind. As a result, she is one of the most connected people in the Washington energy and environment publi

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to submit an entry in the first-ever Cleanie Awards. I entered the Public Affairs Campaign of the Year category on behalf of our client the Carbon Capture Coalition . And today I am proud to announce that we won! I’ve won several industry awards in my career – a PRSA Silver Anvil, several Bulldog Reporter awards, etc. – but this is the first award I’ve won at RENEW PR . I’m thrilled. Awards aren’t necessary, of course, but they are

Welcome to our eighth Common Sense Colloquy , a Q&A with John Di Stasio , president of Large Public Power Council . John was formerly the General Manager and CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) from June of 2008 through April of 2014. He has an extensive background in the energy industry, but is also the owner of Di Stasio Vineyards in Amador County, California. In short, he’s a man of diverse – and fascinating - interests. He’s also smart, direct and wi

Welcome to our seventh Common Sense Colloquy , a Q&A with Melanie Kenderdine , a principal at Energy Futures Initiative . RENEW PR President Ben Finzel has worked with Melanie as both a colleague and client over the past two decades. Melanie has held senior-level positions at the U.S. Department of Energy under two administrations. Most recently, she served as the energy counselor to Secretary Ernest J. Moniz and director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis.