ARE Steering Committee
Mike Antheil is the Executive Director of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE), a group dedicated to achieving rapid, widespread deployment of renewable energy for the State of Florida. His efforts include educating and engaging Floridians including legislators and policy makers, businesses both large and small, coalition partners, and individual residents all across Florida. In addition to his role with FARE, Mike is a managing partner at Green Asset Finance, LLC specializing in commercial finance in the renewable energy industry. Mike earned two Bachelor Degrees from Jacksonville University in Sociology and Geography, while playing 4 years of football. Mike started in the financial industry at a small boutique advisory firm in 2002 and quickly worked his way to running a highly regarded Business Consultancy practice at a Fortune 500 Advisory Firm. During his career he has specialized in commercial lending, structured finance, and capital raise efforts for some of the fasting growing companies in the efficient and renewable energy space. Mike is currently involved in several charitable organizations, with his primary goal being to help create and stimulate a renewable energy market in Florida.
Laura Arnold is the owner of The Arnold Group, a governmental affairs consulting business started in 1984. She served as the organizer for SUN DAY activities in 1978 in metropolitan St. Louis. She was instrumental in the passage of Indiana's solar tax credits in 1980. Her first renewable energy project was while working for the city of Fort Wayne. She obtained DOE funding in 1980 for a solar energy retrofit of a fire station. She was a founder of the Indiana Solar Energy Coalition and the Solar Collective, as well as serving as the Executive Director of the former Indiana Solar Energy Industries Association in the mid 1980's. A Purdue graduate she currently specializes in energy, utility and telecommunications public policy at the local, state and federal level. She is a founding member of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.She is also the Founder of Indiana Distributed Energy Advocates which lobbies on renewable energy issues at the Indiana General Assembly.
William (Bill) Ball is President of Natural Environments, inc, and owner of the renewable energy business, Stellar Sun, in Little Rock. Mr. Ball established his company in 1976 and has been designing and marketing renewable energy systems for over 30 years. In 1992, he founded the Arkansas Renewable Energy Association, a non-profit organization that educates Arkansans about renewable energy. In the pursuit of promoting and expanding the use of renewable energy, Mr. Ball authored the Arkansas Renewable Energy Act of 2001 and led the effort to get the legislation passed in the 2001 session. He has intervened as a Party in a number dockets before the Arkansas Public Service Commission on behalf of the renewable energy industry dating back to 1993. William Ball has designed and installed or consulted on numerous solar thermal and solar electric systems (both off-grid and grid connected) over the last thirty three years. In addition to his company's involvement in solar projects, Mr. Ball has an extensive background in construction, completing projects in excess of $4,900,000,000.
Lois Barber is Co-creator and Executive Director of EarthAction, an international network of over 2,500 citizen’s groups in 163 countries. EarthAction has organized 83 global campaigns on the world’s most serious environment, development, peace and human rights issues. Lois played an active role in helping to create the World Future Council, a global council of 50 highly respected leaders that are a voice for future generations. Lois serves as Co-chair of the Alliance for Renewable Energy Steering Committee. She is also the Founder and President Emerita of 2020 Vision, a US peace and environment organization with over 30,000 members.
Lisa M. Daniels is Executive Director and founder of Windustry, a non-profit that provides outreach, education and advocacy to broaden local benefits and remove barriers to community ownership of wind energy. Currently, Lisa leads Windustry in contracts with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and as a partner on the Wind Powering America initiative with the U.S. Department of Energy. Lisa serves on the Minnesota Legislative Electric Energy Advisory Task Force on Community Based Energy Development; the Advisory Board for the Renewable Energy Center at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania; and the National Wind Coordinating Committee's Steering Committee. She was recognized in 2004 by the U.S. DOE Wind Powering America program, with the Chicago Regional Office Wind Advocacy Award for regional leadership, creativity, and commitment to wind energy development, and honored again in 2005 for her work with Wind Powering America’s Agriculture Outreach Team. Lisa received a B.S. in Business Management from Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Peter A. DeNapoli has been actively involved in the photovoltaic industry for over 28 years. After graduating from Michigan State University’s Business School, Pete started his PV career, owning ENCON Corporation; one of the first PV integrators in the US. Pete has worked for ARCO Solar, Siemens Solar and Shell Solar. At each of these companies Pete successfully increased market share and sales of solar modules and systems. Today he focuses his attention to the North American grid-connect PV marketplace. Located in Boca Raton, Florida, Pete DeNapoli manages SolarWorld California’s Eastern Region business. For much of his career, Pete has been at the forefront for the uses of PV in both off-grid and grid-connected applications. Pete is a current Board of Director member and past President of the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association and is an Advisory Board member for the Florida Solar Energy Center.
Richard Deutschmann is a Professional Mechanical Engineer with nearly 25 years of experience in renewable energy and institutional facilities engineering. Richard co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer for Chesapeake Solar, until the company joined the groSolar family in 2008. He currently serves as VP of Policy & Market Development for groSolar, and oversees the mid-atlantic region as well. Richard has been active in environmental and clean energy advocacy for many years and is a regular testifier in clean energy cases before state and local legislatures. His participation and leadership in local government and industry organizations is driven by his strong commitment to a clean energy future and socially responsible business. Richard serves on the board of directors for the Maryland chapter of SEIA, and the policy committee for mid-Atlantic SEIA. In his previous professional life, Richard was a project engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Deborah Doncaster is currently the Executive Director of the Community Power Fund and has held this position for 1 year since the founding of the organization in March 2007. Before the Community Power Fund, Deborah was the founding Executive Director of the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) which was founded in 1999. Prior to OSEA, Deborah was a Project Manager at the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative who built Canada's first community-based, co-operatively owned wind turbine on the Toronto Waterfront. Deborah has recently assumed a new role as Campaign Director of the Green Energy Act Campaign for Ontario. Deborah holds Master's degrees in Law from Carleton University and an Environmental Planning degree from York University. Deborah lives in Toronto with her husband Ben and four year old son Devon.
José Etcheverry is a member of the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University and also a research and policy analyst for the David Suzuki Foundation, where he has published research on renewable energy (Smart Generation: Powering Ontario with Renewable Energy) and on energy efficiency (Bright Future: Avoiding Blackouts in Ontario). He also has represented the David Suzuki Foundation in the Alternative Energy Task Force organized by BC Premier Gordon Campbell and in the Climate negotiations held in Montreal (2005) and Bonn (2006). In 2005 and 2006 José also represented Dr. Suzuki in the Advisory Committee of Hon. Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s Minister of Energy. In 2006 José was appointed by Dr. Hermann Scheer to become one of the chairs of the World Council for Renewable Energy. In 2008 José was elected president of the Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance. Prior to joining the foundation José worked for the climate change team of the Global Environment Facility in Washington DC and also was an intern for the Mexican Electricity Research Institute. His current research is focused on renewable energy technology transfer, training and education, climate change and energy policy.
Paul Gipe has written extensively about wind energy for both the popular and trade press. He has also lectured widely on wind energy and how to minimize its impact on the environment and the communities of which it is a part. For his efforts, the World Renewable Energy Congress honored Gipe as a "pioneer" in 1998, and the American Wind Energy Association named him as the industry's "person of the year" in 1988. Gipe’s Wind Energy Comes of Age was selected by the (American) Association of College and Research Libraries for its list of outstanding academic books in 1995. His most recent book, Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, & Business is available in both hardback and paperback and is published in French as Le Grand Livre de l'Eolien. In 2004, Gipe served as the acting executive director of the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association where he created, managed, and implemented a provincial campaign for Advanced Renewable Tariffs. The campaign sought to adapt electricity feed laws to the North American market and was instrumental in placing the European concept on the political agenda in Canada and the United States. Ontario’s feed law is being hailed as the most progressive renewable energy policy in North America in two decades. Paul serves as Co-chair of the Alliance for Renewable Energy Steering Committee.
Jennifer Gleason manages the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide(ELAW)’s Legal Assistance Program and collaborates with lawyers around the world to strengthen and enforce laws that protect the environment and human rights. Jennifer leads ELAW’s climate program. She helps lawyers halt global warming by promoting laws that encourage the production of electricity from renewable sources, and challenging projects that produce harmful greenhouse gases. Jennifer and lawyers from the Climate Justice Programme worked with the World Future Council to analyze feed-in tariff policies from around the world to ensure such policies are effective, providing a fundamental role in creating the PACT website. She teaches Energy Law at the University of Oregon School of Law.
Pegeen Hanrahan - A native and lifelong resident of Gainesville, Florida, Pegeen Hanrahan recently completed her twelfth year of elective service, and her second term as Gainesville's Mayor (term limited in May, 2010). She is a registered Professional Engineer, and a consultant to the Trust for Public Land's Conservation Finance Program. In this capacity, she helps other local governments develop and fund land conservation and recreational programs in Florida. With the support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, she assists communities considering adoption of feed-in-tariffs, as Gainesville is the first city in the U.S. to implement a European-style solar FIT.
Randy Hayes, working from the US, is a Climate Policy Officer at the World Future Council. Randy Hayes is also the founder of Rainforest Action Network. Hayes, a filmmaker in the ‘80s, is a veteran of many high-visibility corporate accountability campaigns, has advocated for the rights of Indigenous peoples. He also worked as the President to the City of San Francisco Commission on the Environment (5 years) and Director of Sustainability in the office of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown (2 ½ years). He worked at the International Forum on Globalization (4 years), a think-tank on the global economy is based in San Francisco. Hayes has a Master’s degree in Environmental Planning from San Francisco State University.
David Jacobs is independent energy policy consultant and researcher at the Environmental Policy Research Centre in Berlin (FFU, Freie Universität Berlin). His research focuses on support mechanisms for renewable electricity. For his PhD project he analysed the historic development of European feed-in tariff schemes in comparison (Germany, France and Spain). Besides, he is co-author of “The Feed-in Tariff Handbook” (Powering the Green Economy, Earthscan) and a large number of other publications on support instruments for renewable electricity. He was engaged as a consultant for feed-in tariffs in a large number of countries, including Israel, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, the UK, India, Malaysia, Ghana and Kenya. Previously, he worked project-based for the OSCE, the German Bundestag, the German wind energy association BWE, the World Future Council and a number of research institutes. He has an academic background in International Business and Cultural Studies
Douglas Jester is a senior consultant for 5 Lakes Energy, a strategy and policy consulting firm offering services to public and private sectors respecting clean energy, environment and economic development. Throughout his career, he has consistently focused on applications of management sciences to natural resources, environment, and energy systems. Prior to joining 5 Lakes Energy, Douglas served as Senior Energy Policy Advisor to the Director of the State of Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth. In that capacity, he worked on use of social media to build a community of energy practitioners and to provide multidisciplinary bases for energy policy formulation and adoption - applying scientific, engineering, economics and social sciences principles. He has served as an executive of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, MCI, and Automated License Systems and was Mayor of East Lansing, Michigan in 1995 to 1999. He was recognized by the Smithsonian Museum and ComputerWorld Magazine in 1994 as a pioneer of electronic commerce. By Governor’s appointment, he currently serves on the Michigan Council for Labor and Economic Growth. Douglas was educated at New Mexico State University, Virginia Tech, the University of British Columbia, and Michigan State University with major fields of study including Mathematics and Computer Science, Biology, Fine Arts, Fisheries and Wildlife Management, Statistics and Operations Research, Animal Resource Ecology, and Environmental Economics. He has been an adjunct member of the Michigan State University faculty since 1984, and is a member of professional societies in several disciplines.
State Representative Kathleen Law has brought her extensive experience in local government and her background in science and research to make her mark as one of Michigan's most authoritative voices on protecting the state's land, air and water. She is leading the fight against out-of-state trash, sponsoring legislation that attacks the economics of the trash trade. She is a lead sponsor of legislation that will boost the use of renewable energy in Michigan through allowing citizens and businesses to produce renewable energy and feed it in to the power grid. She is also a tireless fighter for working class families and seniors supporting legislation to: extend unemployment benefits, raise the minimum wage and create programs to bulk purchase prescription drugs. Rep. Law is a former research scientist, retired in 1988; and former mayor pro tem for the city of Gibraltar.
Craig Lewis is the Founding Principal of RightCycle, a consultancy that achieves desirable renewable energy outcomes via legislation, regulation, and public funding (grants, loan guarantees, and siting incentives). RightCycle also assists clients with the critical renewable energy project development activities of evaluating project site viability and securing off-take agreements via RFO proposals and PPA negotiations. Mr. Lewis focuses his efforts in California and at the Federal level. He has over 20 years of experience working in high growth industries, including renewables, wireless, and semiconductors. Mr. Lewis transitioned from the wireless industry to the Smart Energy industry in 2005 by spearheading energy policy development for Steve Westly’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign in California. Until early-2009, Mr. Lewis was VP of Government Relations for GreenVolts, a solar technology company, where he served for two years securing successful legislative, regulatory, and public funding outcomes; and in supporting the first solar project that successfully navigated California’s RPS RFO process.
Norman Lutkefedder is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Net Zero, LLC, which operates primarily as a commercial and industrial solar integrator to install, service, finance and warrant solar systems throughout the U.S. In 1974 Norman initiated and directed the U.S. Federal Energy Administration’s solar/renewable (including wind) program. He formulated the policies & legislation for the government’s “accelerated commercialization” of solar/renewable energy, and testified before Congress for an aggressive government-wide solar/renewable program. He developed the business plans for, and subsequently directed, the U.S. DOE programs which installed PV systems on thousands of DOD remote facilities in the U.S. and overseas, and solar thermal systems on hundreds of government buildings. While at DOE Norman also directed the International Renewable Energy Program to assist industry in accelerating exports of U.S. manufactured products, and assist developing countries in assessing their energy needs. After leaving DOE he developed numerous commercial and residential building projects and subdivisions, and for several years was Senior Vice President with a “top 5” national homebuilding corporation. Norman received a BSME degree from Penn State University, a Master of Science in Engineering and a Master of Engineering Administration from George Washington University, and is a Licensed Professional Engineer.
Miguel Mendonca is Research Manager for the World Future Council, a global forum working to implement ethical policies to protect the rights of future generations. His background is in horticulture, geography, history, journalism, social science and environmental ethics. He is a writer and advocate, focussing on renewable energy. He has worked globally, campaigning, coalition-building and speaking, and is a steering committee member of the Alliance for Renewable Energy, promoting feed-in tariffs in North America. He writes books, articles, papers, comment pieces and reviews on sustainability issues, and is author of ‘Feed-in Tariffs: accelerating the deployment of renewable energy’. He is co-writing a new book on decarbonising the global economy entitled A Renewable World – policies, practices, technologies (with Herbert Girardet), and another book on renewable energy policy entitled Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook (with David Jacobs and Benjamin K Sovacool).
Ted Middleton is President of SunWire Energy; a solar integrator and energy efficiency company serving commercial, industrial, and residential customer based in the eastern US. He has been a strong advocate for the implementation of feed-in tariff policies to launch the rapid deployment of renewable technologies in North America with the purpose of advancing energy independence and supporting job creation in the manufacturing, service and finance industries. His previous work experience includes a position as Director of Solar Sales for the largest commercial roofing company in the US; COO of a solar consulting and development company; and various management, business development and project management positions in the technology sector for companies such as Motorola, Usi, and Keybridge Corporation. He holds a BS degree in business from Towson University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Born in New Orleans, Craig Morris is the author of "Energy Switch" (2006), which presents the logic of Germany's energy policy to North American readers. As the director of Petite Planète Translations, he regularly handles studies and reports on energy published by German governmental agencies and research institutes; Petite Planète also translates product documents and financial reports for energy companies. As a writer covering energy issues and policies of the EU and US, Mr Morris' work has been published in neue energie / New Energy, Refocus, Solar Today, Development and Cooperation, the San Francisco Chronicle, Worldwatch Magazine, and Photon. He is currently an editor at Berlin's PV Magazine.
Mike Nelson, Photovoltaic Projects Specialist & Manager at the Northwest Solar Center, has over 20 years experience in PV installation technologies. System development and implementation. Instrumental in legislation of state net metering law, solar sales tax exemption, legislation defining customer-side renewables as conservation and establishing Washington State production incentive. Works closely with PV advocacy community, local installers. manufacturers, utility community, state and local governments.
Roger Peters has 30 years experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy in Canada as a consultant, researcher, writer, policy advisor, and advocate. In 2005, Roger helped to create the Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance, a joint initiative of Canadian NGOs who support a global transition to renewable energy. The Alliance published a model Canadian Renewable Energy Strategy in 2006 and is actively engaged in prompting more Canadian support for renewable energy, including the use of renewable energy tariffs. Roger has significant international experience in Asia, Latin America and Africa on energy efficiency and rural energy projects, and has authored reports on energy efficiency strategy, innovative financing, feed-in tariffs, and power storage.
Daniel Poore is the VP Sales & Business Development with Clean Power Finance and has a highly successful 25 year career in high technology, renewable energy, and finance markets, both nationally and internationally, where he has driven sales of nearly $1 billion in hardware, software and services. He began his career in technical sales at Hewlett Packard and has worked for innovative industry leaders such as Sun Microsystems, Netscape Communications, AVCOM Technologies, WorldScape Inc., Solar Power Partners and Noveda Technologies where he steadily increased his roles from Sales, Sales Management, Executive Management to CEO. Dan has extensive experience with channel & partner development and founded a computer business in South America where he became fluent in Portuguese and proficient in Spanish. He is an early stage angel investor and holds Advisory Board positions with Solar Power Partners and WorldScape. He earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Rutgers University.
Lily Riahi is currently finishing her Masters thesis on Shaping Discourse and Policy to Challenge Socio-Cultural Barriers to Renewable Energy Adoption at York University in Toronto, Ontario. She is currently conducting a sustainability assessment of Ontario's proposed Integrated Power System Plan. She is also a contributing writer for Renewable Energy World, has interned for the office of Hermann Scheer, and worked as a researcher for ICLEI- governments for local sustainability. After obtaining her BA in Political Science, Psychology, and Economics from the University of Toronto, Lily went on to gain experience in sales and marketing, creating experiential event-marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies and charities. She now applies much of her experience to champion renewable energy and demand management. Lily is also the co-founder of LiMe – a consulting company focused on bringing a broader market appeal to renewable energy and green living. Currently LiMe is assisting in the production of Fashion Cares, an annual charity event for the Aids Committee of Toronto in November 2008.
Janet Sawin works on energy and climate change issues at the Worldwatch Institute, where she focuses primarily on global renewable energy trends and policies. She joined Worldwatch in 2002, shortly after earning Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her doctoral thesis examined the impact of government policy--including the early German and Danish feed-in tariffs--on the development and diffusion of renewable energy technologies.
Bob Tregilus is a community organizer who lobbies and consults in the fields of renewable energy and electric drive transportation, and since 2008, Bob has been working in the state of Nevada to raise awareness about the policy tool commonly known as a renewable energy feed-in tariff (FIT). In early 2010, his efforts lead to the creation of the Feed-in Tariff for Nevada (FIT4NV) Initiative, which is actively building of a broad-spectrum coalition to support the adoption of a FIT law in Nevada's 2011 biennial legislative session. Bob also co-founded (2006) and chairs the Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada (EAANN) which is actively involved in the community on a number of projects including the installation of a functioning "smart-garage" electric vehicle and distributed renewable energy display at the National Auto Museum (The Harrah Collection) in his home town of Reno. In late 2009, Bob co-founded and co-hosts, with Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield of Bristol, UK, the This Week in Energy (TWiEpodcast), a weekly international show that explores the past, present, and future of energy and its impacts on our environment, cultures, and societies around the globe.
Heidi VanGenderen is the Director of National and Regional Outreach for the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) where she is part of the policy team, is organizing a network of Regional Councils for ACORE member engagement across the country, and is building strategic partnerships with allies in the private, public, NGO and college and university sectors. A Colorado native, Heidi previously served as Colorado’s first gubernatorial climate advisor where she oversaw creation of the state’s first Climate Action Plan. She was a core team member in passage of Amendment 37, Colorado’s citizen initiated renewable energy standard. She has worked on energy and climate issues in the non-profit, public, academic and private sectors as an organizer, writer, researcher, and public speaker for the whole of her professional career. She completed a Chevening Fellowship on Finance and Investment in a Low-Carbon Economy in Edinburgh and London in 2009 and is a graduate of Carleton College.
Tim Weis is a professional engineer and the Director of Renewable Energy and Efficiency Policy at the Pembina Institute. Tim coordinates the Institute’s research and government engagement efforts on sustainable energy policy at both Federal and Provincial levels across Canada. Tim has assisted more than 20 communities at various stages of development of renewable energy projects. He has written on technical, policy and development issues for renewable energy and energy efficiency at national, provincial and municipal levels as well as issues specific to First Nations’ and northern contexts. Tim has a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta where he studied ice adhesion to wind turbine blades.
Dr. Jim White is the senior energy services engineer at Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) in Washington State where he manages their industrial and commercial energy efficiency programs. He created Chelan County PUD’s Sustainable Natural Alternative Power program called SNAP. SNAP is an award-winning program that uses production incentives based on free-market principles to make solar and small wind power projects cost effective in a conservative community with some of the lowest rates in the country. He is a board member of the Solar Electric Power Association and is a steering committee member of the American Council on Renewable Energy’s (ACORE) utility committee. He earned a Doctor of Engineering degree from Texas A&M University and a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. For fun and to educate youth about solar energy he created and organizes the world’s only solar drag race that is held each summer solstice in Wenatchee, Washington.
Robert Youngberg has extensive experience in professional consulting in the renewable energy, environmental and information technology industries serving national and international clients for over 25 years. Robert studied undergraduate and graduate school in Architecture and Business Administration at the University of Nebraska where, after working several years in environmental and energy consulting, he founded and served for 8 years as Director of the Renewable Energy Research and Policy Office at the University of Nebraska. Robert is President of Sustainable Development / International in Denver, Colorado consulting on national and international renewable energy and environmental development projects for a variety of clients including the University of Denver. Robert has served in many volunteer positions. In addition to serving on the Steering Committee for the Alliance for Renewable Energy, Robert’s current activities include serving as the President of the Trailblazer Foundation Board of Directors; he also serves as the Secretary - Board of Trustees Village Earth - International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) at Colorado State University. He is on the Program Committee for CORE - Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy Sustainable and also on the Planning Committee for the Colorado Renewable Energy Society Annual Conference 2010.
ARE Advisory Committee
Michael Eckhart is founding President and member of the Board of Directors of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization with over 500 organizational members, 18 Advisory Board members, 17 Board of Directors members, a staff of 15, and an internship program. ACORE has programs in public policy and communications, produces or co-produces four national conferences per year on markets, finance and policy, and manages membership committees to address key issues in the marketplace. Mr. Eckhart also is U.S. co-chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), a member of the governing Bureau and Steering Committee of the REN 21 global policy network, and co-head of the North American Secretariat of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
Former California Commissioner John Geesman served as Presiding Member of the Energy Commission's Renewables Committee and the Facility Siting Committee, and as Associate Member on the Research, Development and Demonstration Committee, the Electricity Committee, and the Integrated Energy Policy Report Committee. Geesman rejoined the Commission after originally serving as its Executive Director from 1979 to 1983. From 1983 to 2002, he was an investment banker specializing in the debt markets. During this time, he served as Chairman of California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the California Power Exchange and as a member of the Board of Governors of the California Independent System Operator. In November 2006, he was elected co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), having served previously on it's Advisory Board. Geesman earned a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University, and a juris doctorate degree from Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley.
Very sadly, our friend and Advisor Dr. Hermann Scheer died suddenly on October 14, 2010. His words and actions will continue to guide our work to bring Feed-in Tariffs to North America. We are grateful for all his contributions toward creating a renewable energy future. Dr. Hermann Scheer was a member of the German Parliament since 1980, President of EUROSOLAR, General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE); Author, policy innovator and global leader in the field of renewable energy. Dr Scheer's work is dedicated to a broad shift in the energy basis of modern civilization: from fossil and nuclear resources to renewable energies. In 1988 Dr Scheer founded the non-profit European Renewable Energy Association EUROSOLAR, and in 2001 the non-profit World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), serving as President and General Chairman, respectively, of the two non-governmental organizations on a honorary basis. Through these institutions Dr Scheer elaborated his original policy concepts for renewable energy disseminations, and initiated legal frameworks in Germany and the European Union. He has done so both in his capacity as a Member of Parliament, and by advising governments and parliamentarians in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. As a result of his exemplary work, Dr. Scheer has also received numerous awards among which are: the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award) Stockholm 1999, Hero for the Green Century TIME Magazine 2002, Global Renewable Energy Leadership Award awarded by the American Council for Renewable Energies (ACORE), New York in 2004.
Special thanks to Paul Gipe, Co-chair of ARE, for his many years of work on building awareness of and support for feed-in tariff type legislation, and for all his work on renewable energy. We are grateful for his help in developing ARE's website and for providing us with many links, resources, endorsements, etc. from his website: Wind-Works.org.
Founding Partner Organizations
The World Future Council is a new and unique voice for future generations in the global political arena.
The council consists of 50 personalities from around the globe, who have already contributed to or achieved outstanding measures in the interest of future generations.These range from advocating human rights and sustaining the environment to supporting political, scientific, cultural and economic justice. The founding congress took place in Hamburg, Germany, in May 2007 resulting from the initiative of Alternative Nobel Prize founder Jakob von Uexkull.
The key mission is to inform and educate policy makers and opinion leaders about the challenges facing future generations while providing them with practical solutions. The WFC identifies and promotes successful policies that can be implemented into legislation and policy measures. To achieve this, the WFC uses networks that include over 25,000 parliamentarians and more than 8,000 civil society organizations around the globe.
EarthAction's mission is to inform and inspire people everywhere to turn their concern, passion and outrage into meaningful action for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. EarthAction is the world’s largest action network with over 2,600 organizations in 165 countries and thousands of policymakers, journalists and citizens. We have carried out 84 campaigns since we began at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
EarthAction International, a US non-profit advocacy organization with 501c4 tax status, is the parent organization of the Alliance for Renewable Energy. EarthAction Alerts Network, a US educational organization founded in 1992, serves as the parent organization for the Alliance for Renewable Energy Education Fund.
Staff
Ginger Burn is Program Coordinator of EarthAction’s North American Renewable Energy campaign. She received a BA degree from the University of New Hampshire and studied public health at the University of North Carolina. She has worked in international community health projects and is currently coordinating an eye care program in Nevis, West Indies. She lives in Pelham, Massachusetts.
Ananda Valenzuela is a fourth year student at Hampshire College, where she studies social entrepreneurship and organizational theory. Born in Boulder, Colorado, Ananda spent her formative years in San Juan, Puerto Rico, until she moved to Golden, Colorado for high school, where she stayed, other than a year-long sting as an exchange student in Nagano, Japan. Ananda devotes her time to improving the Hampshire educational system, strengthening student governance, encouraging the use of open source technology, studying business concepts and organizational structures, and the Alliance for Renewable Energy, where she fills the role of webmaster and technology consultant. If you have any questions about the website or desire to submit articles or other FIT-related information, please contact her at webmaster(at)earthaction.org.
