13,000-member group forming new organisation to harness political power of the clean energy workforce beyond the 2020 election.

Clean Energy for Biden (CE4B) announced today that it will launch a new nonprofit organisation called Clean Energy for America (CE4A) that will mobilise the millions in today’s green workforce to advance clean energy through electoral engagement and public education. The new organisation, including an affiliated educational group, will build on the strategy and tools from the 2020 election to support candidates and policies across the nation driving the deployment of low-carbon technologies.

Since its launch during an Earth Day 2020 event — with then-candidate Joe Biden — CE4B grew to more than 13,000 members, including clean energy workers and policy advocates, located in all 50 states, and with 40 regional, state, and affinity groups. It also formed high-level executive and finance councils.

CE4B raised $3.2M through more than 100 fundraisers nationwide and held hundreds of phone banks to get out the vote to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. After the presidential election, CE4B then quickly turned to raising funds and mobilising voters to elect Georgia Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

“CE4B brought together the most impressive and diverse group of clean energy professionals we’ve ever seen,” said CE4B co-chair and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy Dan Reicher. “The size and engagement of this group reflects how excited people in the sector are about leaders who understand the potential of this fast-growing industry. CE4A will ensure we keep this momentum going beyond the 2020 elections. My CE4B co-chairs and I are excited to help launch this important new group.”

Today, the clean energy sector employs over 3 million Americans in every state, encompassing renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity storage, carbon capture, clean mobility, low-carbon industry and more. Annual U.S. clean energy investments exceed $50 billion and are poised to grow dramatically under President Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan over his first term.

Since the November election, a group of CE4B volunteers conducted more than 50 stakeholder interviews and analyzed more than 600 survey responses from CE4B members. The review concluded that missing from the current political and educational landscape is an organisation that engages the full breadth of the clean energy workforce to meaningfully influence election outcomes and inform the public. CE4A, taking over the work of CE4B in the 2020 cycle, is the answer: an aggressive and inclusive organisation, with members in every state, to activate the growing clean energy voter base, elect key clean energy candidates, and adopt high-impact policies.

CE4A will work to elect clean energy and climate champions up and down the ballot and pursue educational work on clean energy policy. Importantly, CE4A will also coalesce around the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion to ensure that the clean energy transition is a just transition for all. As an immediate action to support this mission, CE4B will provide the proceeds from this evening’s Clean Energy for America Inaugural Ball as unrestricted donations, through the Solutions Project , to ten climate justice groups focused on equity issues and frontline communities. Recipients include the Miami Climate Alliance , Solar United Neighbours , and Soulardarity . Further information on the donations and additional recipients will be announced at the ball and on cleanenergyforbiden.com .

“In one of the most important elections of our lifetimes, CE4B played a critical role in helping to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as well as grow the political presence of the clean energy community and embrace equity,” said Rose McKinney-James, CE4B Executive Council Member and Managing Principal of McKinney-James & Associates. “I am thrilled to see CE4A build on this work — and these results —to advance clean energy in U.S. elections through targeted public education and increased engagement.”

CE4A will launch in spring 2021, building from the existing 13,000 founding members of CE4B and with a formal governing structure and full-time leadership team. To facilitate its educational and electoral missions, CE4A anticipates forming both 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 entities. CE4A will raise funds from business, policy, and philanthropic donors, as well as voluntary contributions from its members. CE4A has received initial funding commitments from the Caldera Foundation and Perkins Hunter Foundation.

Source: Clean Energy for Biden