Sierra Club Southeast Michigan Group presents: 

 Making It Real: Effective Promotion of the Clean Energy Transition through Persistent Organized Policy Advocacy, and Public Education via Direct Experience with Actual Technology

 Speaker:

Ben Luce, PHD, physicist, and longtime renewable energy advocate

 Thursday, March 2, 2023, 7:00 pm

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https://sierraclub.zoom.us/j/9256510501

 The Clean Energy Transition is now in fact well underway: The levels of renewable energy being installed worldwide are astounding and are now giving the fossil fuel industry a real run for its money (quite literally). It has also become clear that a full transition to renewables is not only feasible, but economically as well as environmentally attractive. There is still much to do however: The public is still woefully uneducated about clean energy opportunities and benefits; some approaches such as passive solar and other sustainable technologies are still grossly lacking implementation; the fossil fuel industry is still fighting back strongly and has made progress in weakening renewable energy incentives in some states; and finally, there is a strong need for non-industry players to help guide and optimize the clean energy transition, as there are myriad choices to be made and a strong need to avoid suboptimal implementation. In fact, one can argue we are just now finally at the real beginning, and that now is time to truly get to work.

 In this talk I will draw on my own experience as a renewable energy advocate and educator to explore 1) what it really takes in terms of policy advocacy efforts to bring about changes in policy - much more than an occasional event at the statehouse for example - and 2) how effective public can be accomplished by bringing the public into direct interaction with actual clean energy technology through various mechanisms such as sidewalk displays, solar tours, etc. And finally, I will also highlight how fulfilling it can be to be directly involved with these activities and the people who pursue them. 

 About the Speaker:

Dr. Ben Luce is a physicist and longtime renewable energy advocate. He is presently serving as chair of the American Solar Energy Society (www.ases.org). He is also a lifetime member and past president of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association, and is a co-founder and former director of the New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy. Since 2008 he has chaired the Sustainability Studies program at Northern Vermont University, where he teaches physics, renewable energy, and other courses. Shortly before becoming chair of ASES, he founded Renewable Energy Now! (www.renewableenergynow.org) as a new vehicle for providing education and advocacy services for the clean energy transition to a wider audience.

 Meeting ID: 925 651 0501

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