Fall 2016: Our Climate Leaders

Left, GRID CEO and co-founder Erica Mackie with California State Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León at GRID's 2016 Interconnection event.

Dear Friends,

Climate change is a global issue, but it is also a hyper-local issue, one that affects individuals, families and communities, and none more so than our most disadvantaged communities. Low-income communities and communities of color have already borne the disproportionate impacts of pollution; now they are bearing the impacts of climate change disproportionately as well. It is also these communities that are giving rise to some of our most inspiring climate leaders, leaders like California State Senator Kevin de León, who grew up in a largely immigrant community in San Diego and has made equity in climate policy a cornerstone of his legislative agenda; and everyday people like GRID client Cathlean Ramsey, a Navy veteran and community organizer who has helped reduce crime rates in her neighborhood and is now using her influence to get her neighbors to switch to solar.

Last week we released a new short film to accompany our Low Income Solar Policy Guide that features some of these climate leaders, and shows how their investments in solar are paying off for their families and their constituencies. They remind us that leadership comes in many forms, and we need all of them working together if we are going to succeed in our clean energy transition.

tim-signatureErica-signature

Tim Sears and Erica Mackie
GRID Alternatives Co-Founders