Helen Fairman, Energy Efficiency and Solar, New Hampshire

Helen Fairman is self-employed, and she focuses on energy efficiency, solar, and clean energy sector development. She lives in New Hampshire and has been in the industry for 17 years.

Why is clean energy important to you? Fossil fuels are damaging the climate that supports all life on earth. Reducing and eventually eliminating their use will be far less costly than attempting to save our planet once the damage is done. But the change to clean energy has to happen NOW to save our economy and our climate.

What’s your proudest accomplishment in clean energy? Being part of teams growing businesses that created hundreds of jobs. Oh, and meeting President Obama!

What did you do before entering clean energy? I was a retail store designer and a product designer.

How did you first get introduced to clean energy? I have always loved the outdoors and my initial interest was sparked by fear of the devastating effects of climate change. Later, I came to see what a great opportunity clean energy presented, both ecologically and economically.

How does clean energy impact your community? New Hampshire is beautiful and has hundreds of thousands of gorgeous natural acres to protect. However, state is not as supportive of clean energy as it should be. Having lived in Massachusetts, it's very clear to me that there is much more that New Hampshire could be doing to protect our state and to bring great jobs here.

What is something you wish more people knew about your job? It feels to get to work when you have a mission as important as saving the planet.

Why should Congress invest in clean energy jobs, not fossil fuel jobs? Fossil fuel jobs represent just what they sound like: the past. We don't want to be fossils. We want to protect life on earth with jobs that represent current and future opportunity: clean energy jobs.