Marketing Matters

Green Energy Conferences are springing up across the country. Everywhere there is talk of shifting to green energy jobs. This quantum shift couldn't have come soon enough. When it comes to saving jobs and saving the planet, there is no paradox. Business and nature can indeed not only co-exist, they can—and should, thrive.

During my career in social change communication, wellness promotion and wellness marketing, I have had the honor to be among the voices that have fueled this movement. During the 1990s as one of the lead creatives on the Green Mountain Energy brand, our team flooded the east and west coasts with messaging about the power of consumer choice. I shot TV spots featuring our spokesperson Kenny Loggins in the redwoods. And Kenny and I recorded dozens more provocative and powerful radio spots that spoke to the reality of climate change and what each of us could do to fight it.

At the time, few energy companies had the guts to be part of the solution—but Green Mountain Energy, then a funky little Vermont-based company, had the passion and the guts to take on one of the most polluting businesses on the planet. The founder of the company, Kevin Hartley, called our team a ragtag band of eco-warriors. Amazing what a small group of social and environmental change agents can do.