It’s time to reclaim the narrative on clean energy.

I’ve written a lot lately about the disconnect I see between what our ongoing consumer survey data tells us, and what’s happening in political discourse. For example, we see the highest level of agreement ever among people in America that climate change is real and caused by human activity (68%) at the same time that the U.S. administration is dismantling climate science research plus clawing back funding and actively blocking renewable energy projects that are key to mitigating climate change. 

Today, let’s dig a little deeper into that renewables piece: 

According to Shelton’s 2023 Energy Pulse^® data: 

• When we asked, “What is your level of comfort with having part or all of your electric energy generated by the following types of power?” Solar won, with 63% of people in America saying they feel very comfortable with it, vs. 58% saying the same for natural gas and 33% for coal. 
• When we ask, “Who is most responsible for stopping climate change?” the answer far and away is the federal government. 

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) United States Energy & Employment Report 2024: 

• In 2023, the U.S. Energy Sector employed approximately 8.35 million people, 3.5 million of whom (42%) had clean energy jobs. 
• “Since 2020, jobs in clean energy have grown by 400,000, showing a growth rate of 12.8%. This is faster than the rest of the energy sector, which added more than 427,000 net jobs for a growth rate of 9.7% over the same period.” 
• In 2023 alone, clean energy added 142,000 new jobs, outpacing fossil fuels and the broader U.S. job market. 

And, according to the DOE’s website, “The United States is a resource-rich country with enough renewable energy resources to generate more than 100 times the amount of electricity Americans use each year.” 

All of that data points to a terrific alignment — the America First ideology in power today is all about energy independence and job creation. Connecting the dots between job creation from infinite fuel sources — sources we own all the rights to, and that we’ll never run out of — to the comfort folks feel with renewables, seems like a home run. 

But that’s not what the talk track has been in the sustainability space. We don’t talk about how many millions of barrels of clean energy we have floating above us, ours for the taking. And we don’t push out emotionally compelling stories about the families thriving as a result of careers in clean energy (at least we don’t trot out these stories in non-election years). 

Instead, we talk about the dire circumstances hurtling our way if we don’t act, and subtly (or not so subtly) imply that folks who can’t see that aren’t nearly as smart as we are. 

Just like we need to tie corporate sustainability efforts to bottom-line business benefits, we need to make the story about renewables be about our God-given right to harness the power of the sun and wind to fuel our energy needs and the tens of thousands of jobs created by doing so.  

We are living in a giant communications challenge of our own making. I’ve been doing nothing but sustainability communications for the last 20 years, and I can tell you that there have been times when I’ve fallen prey to the moral high horse, and I’ve been part of the communications problem. It’s time we all leaned into communications people in America care most about — which is access to reliable, infinite, inexpensive energy and access to reliable, steady jobs.