Progressive/Activist Groups in the Renewable Energy Space

I haven’t spent too much time covering the many progressive/activist groups in the renewable energy space. But it’s worth noting that Power Shift 2011 was successful in organizing more than 10,000 people who converged in Washington, DC, this past week. As reporter Amy Goodman noted, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben told his audience in a rallying speech:

“This city is as polluted as Beijing. But instead of coal smoke, it’s polluted by money. Money warps our political life, it obscures our vision […] We know now what we need to do, and the first thing we need to do is build a movement. We will never have as much money as the oil companies, so we need a different currency to work in, we need bodies, we need creativity, we need spirit.”

We tend to look at folks who are bold enough to take to the streets like this as the “fringe,” and discount their effect. But I’m reminded of what Henry Kissinger said recently (which I paraphrase):

“We got to the point that the protesters had convinced the common American that the Vietnam war was wrong. And that is what ended the war. If that hadn’t happened, we’d still be there.”