Jigar Shah on Clean Energy Jobs

I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Jigar Shah, the founder of SunEdison, author of Creating Climate Wealth, and former CEO of Carbon War Room, the global organization founded by Richard Branson and Virgin United. And apparently, he thinks that I’ve made at least some contribution for the forwarding of good ideas in cleantech as well; the endorsement that this clean energy icon wrote for my most recent book (Bullish on Renewable Energy) reads as follows:

I like Craig’s effortless command of the written language, but, more importantly, I appreciate his multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable energy.

In an effort to achieve his goal, i.e., to help the world achieve a rich, comprehensive understanding of clean energy and its challenges, it is impressive how he weaves in a variety of perspectives: the physical sciences, economics, ethics, behavioral psychology, political science, mathematics, anthropology, philanthropy, and current events.

Speaking of an effortless command of the language, check out Jigar’s article here, in which he analyzes the strange phenomenon in which our media deliberately misrepresents the value of cleantech to our economy.  On top of noting the problem, he goes on to prescribe a remedy, which I would summarize: we need to discard the “us versus them” narrative that the media presents on the subject.  Clean energy is a huge and inevitable business opportunity.  Driven by trillions of dollars of investment capital, and the millions of new well-paying jobs it offers, it’s simply where the world is going in the 21st Century as the economics of energy continue to shift.

I’ve been a fan of Jigar’s since I interviewed him seven years ago for my first book (Renewable Energy–Facts and Fantasies), as I needed a chapter on capitalism as a driver of clean energy innovation.  I believed at the time that there is no person more qualified to speak on this topic on the planet, and I believe that today as well.  I’m proud to count him among my friends.