A Hero for Our Times: Meet Clean Energy Girl

This blog was written by Jennifer Rennicks, former Senior Director of Policy & Communications at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Guest Blog | December 22, 2014 | Climate Change, Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Utilities

You’ve certainly heard of the Man of Steel (Superman), the Caped Crusader (Batman) and the Amazing Amazon (Wonder Woman) – super heroes possessing extraordinary talents and superhuman powers, dedicated to protecting the public and saving the day. While bridges still occasionally do collapse, people in today’s society are more likely to need saving from the ‘invisible’ dangers posed by global pandemics, the impacts of climate change, or the actions of all-powerful corporations (and those who do their bidding).

Enter Clean Energy Girl – a Green-Caped Crusader whose mission is to knock down unnecessary barriers to help bring clean energy to all. And like most superheroes, “Clean Energy Girl” is an alias for a real-life crusader, Susan Glickman, the Florida Director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Over the years, Susan’s worked with nearly a dozen environmental and energy organizations throughout the Sunshine State including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ceres, Advanced Energy Economy, Union of Concerned Scientists, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Vote Solar, Clean Energy Group, Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Task Force and The Florida Business Network for a Clean Energy Economy.

Like her superhero counterparts, Clean Energy Girl must sometimes do battle with opponents in the fight for right. For example, in July, Susan Glickman and Eric Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light, presented opposing viewpoints in one of Florida’s major newspapers on the benefits of energy efficiency for Floridians. While Silagy and other monopoly electric utility executives claim that they’ve simply “exhausted the potential” that energy efficiency can bring Florida’s ratepayers, Glickman highlights how saving more energy will save all ratepayers from the cripplingly-high energy bills that follow the construction of new, unnecessary power plants. Her efforts won’t be rewarded with millions in salary and stock bonuses, but she and her fellow Floridians will all benefit from a cleaner environment and lower bills when we change the way we produce and consume energy.

Over the years, Clean Energy Girl’s versatile skills and passion for sustainability have enabled her to:

While she doesn’t have access to an invisible jet, Clean Energy Girl did recently travel to Norway and blog about her efforts to help plan an Arctic expedition to better educate the public and policymakers about the need for immediate action to reduce carbon pollution, which is causing climate change. You can read about her recent adventures near the Arctic Circle here.

If Clean Energy Girl’s actions inspire you, join her by taking action! You can

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Clean Energy Girl including her plans to speak at the University of Florida’s Public Interest Environmental Conference in February!

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