Adam Powers, Green Gentailer, Maryland
Adam Powers, who has been in the industry for 9 years, is the Group Marketing Manager at CleanChoice Energy and lives in Maryland.
Why is clean energy important to you? Clean energy is a portal to another world that is not only possible, but is happening: a better, healthier, feel-good future we get to make happen. For me, clean energy powers me with purpose, through meaningful mission-driven everyday work to make a real difference. As someone who spends a lot of free time giving presentations and organizing on climate science and solutions, I see first-hand that for others clean energy is the most broadly appealing way-in to empower solutionary thinking -- that’s important. It is critical to help people hop past the pit of despair and plug-in to envisioning how their everyday life can be evolved through electricity from healthy new sources. I find it significant that with the many different climate solutions we need to pursue, transitioning from the energy of the past to unlocking distributed new energy for all helps action click.
What’s your proudest accomplishment in clean energy? I’m proud to pioneer new ways to access clean energy options, helping in multiple roles. Specifically, I’ve had the opportunity to launch some of the nation’s first Community Solar product offerings as part of sales operations and marketing strategy teams. CleanChoice’s commitment to renewable additionality and investment in the solar space to expand even more affordable energy solutions such as Community Solar gets me so amped as another way to bring even more people into the movement for clean energy for everyone, everywhere.
What did you do before entering clean energy? I attended college for marketing at the Kogod School of Business at American University, and had the privilege of joining the renewable space right out of college as a Customer Care Phone Sales Rep. I then moved into Utility Transaction Management, Sales Operations, and finally Marketing. I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, in a politically split household, where I learned early on the importance of communicating across cultural divides, knowing your audience, and value-based framing. For example, it was easier coming out of the closet as gay to my dad than it was coming out as a climate activist. I’ve brought this knowledge and continued to hone my skills while working in clean energy.
When were you first introduced to clean energy? While studying abroad during college, I had the incredible privilege to tour the 100% renewable energy island, Samsøe, in Denmark and learn how it all came together. This happened around the same time my grandpa was writing his representatives in Massachusetts to make the business case for investing in his elder living community to transition to renewables. When I came back to the U.S., I made it my mission to help usher in a renewable future where clean, renewable sources of power are distributed to everyday folks everywhere!
What should more people know about your role? One common misconception about clean energy, and climate action generally, is that it either takes heroic individual decisions OR mass collective direct action. However, these two aren’t at odds at all! The opposite, actually -- they’re deeply related. When you take climate action, say you choose clean energy, by sharing that choice with others you will inspire more in your circles of friends, family, and neighbors to make the switch, too. This is the way our lives shine like lighthouses, beaming beacons of hope showing pathways to a brighter, clean-energized future for all.
How does clean energy impact your community? Clean energy is upgrading Maryland by investing in our health, economy, and sustainability. With community solar farms sprouting across areas and cleaner sources of power feeding the grid displacing old polluting fuel sources, I’m proud of the work of leaders across Maryland to champion clean energy climate solutions.
What does clean energy mean to you and your family? A career in clean energy means the world to me, as it’s afforded my family security and builds on a legacy of sustainability. When I was in high school, my grandpa gave me Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” to read, which turned my life around. He worked for a time as the department head for the NY Department of Environment, and did a lot of conservation work, always advocating for the strongest possible environmental and climate action. Working in clean energy lets me honor my family legacy as we fortify the future for younger generations.
Why should Congress invest in clean energy jobs, not fossil fuel jobs? Didn’t your parents ever teach you to clean up after yourself? Do you want to feel proud of what you leave behind? Do you want younger generations to think of you with admiration-- or shame? Help clean up the mess you’re leaving for the future, and invest in the distributed clean energy solutions that will empower us all. Divest from the centralized polluting sources of fuel that have had a stranglehold on the health of nearby communities and that continue to hold back the functions of our very democracy and threaten our future. The world is watching. Congress has the opportunity to supercharge a revitalized, beautiful, renewable world. The only question now is whether you have the courage to use your power and take action.
