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CHAPTER 2

Seeding Entrepreneurial Green Careers

Being entrepreneurial is more than starting your own business. It’s about taking charge and trailblazing a path forward, and this can happen anywhere. Employees work as entrepreneurs inside businesses or government, taking risks and innovating to create change. The evolution of the modern economy forces us to be entrepreneurial in our daily work. Globalization, outsourcing, telecommuting, the internet, and the flattening of hierarchies have hastened the evolution of the company man of the 1950s into the one-man, mobile work force of today. We can’t rest on our laurels, slowly rising up the career escalator based on our years of service. Today to survive, we must get out in front and live the change we want to see in our organization and our world.

Eco-entrepreneurial individuals in government, business, and nonprofits are engineering sustainability from the inside out, but what starts as an inside job need not stop there. The evolution of work blurs the line, and the green wave you start in your company may soon carry you to start your own business.

One place where eco-entrepreneurs are engineering change is in our schools, remodeling them inside and out (Opportunity 11). More efficient and healthier school buildings are just the start. Teachers are using green schools to prepare kids for a greener world ahead.

Eco-entrepreneurs also are working inside corporations in every industry, helping businesses ride the green wave. More and more businesses are finding environmental issues to be such an important challenge, and opportunity, that they are creating the position of chief sustainability officer (CSO) to lead the way (Opportunity 12). The CSO ensures the corporation complies with environmental regulations; deals with risks from climate change and pollution; looks for opportunities to save money through improved efficiency; and finds growth opportunities that the green revolution creates. The CSO cannot fake it or just go through the motions. When creating a vision for how the company will look in the green future, the successful CSO expresses his/her sincere vision of a sustainable world.

Another center of green change is the nonprofit world. Environmental nonprofits are not new—they have successfully moved policy, regulation, and action on many occasions. Now climate change has re-invigorated environmental activists, but at the same time, some are questioning if nonprofits are as effective as they could be. The proliferation of small groups with a fragmented, disjointed effort may not be effective in meeting a global problem such as climate change that requires decades or even centuries of effort. Helping nonprofits to be more effective, measuring their outcomes, and investing funds with the most productive methods will ensure that philanthropy delivers results (Opportunity 13).

Government stands smack in the middle of the green wave, creating laws and regulations about how we interact with the natural world. Some people wish government would get out of the way, while others wish it would do more. Governments at the local, state, and regional level in the United States have crafted plans to address climate change, and action at the federal level seems inevitable. We need sound government action that addresses these problems even as it encourages robust economic growth. Green lobbyists shape legislation and regulation on environmental issues at all levels of government (Opportunity 14).

We associate the green movement with clean flowing water, pristine mountain peaks, and solar panels. Lawyers may not be the first resource that comes to mind when thinking of the environment, but many green battles often are fought with legal papers. As companies increasingly become motivated to do the right thing, there are fewer battles, and opportunities abound for green lawyers working as partners with businesses to address environmental issues upfront (Opportunity 16).

The dramatic upswing in green business also has led to an upswing in the demand for innovative solutions that eco-entrepreneurs can use in their businesses. Universities are a key source of innovation, with university tech-transfer groups (Opportunity 15) ensuring that academic inventions don’t stay academic, but continue to seed the green businesses that will drive continued long-term economic growth.

Opportunities for entrepreneurial individuals to do right and do well are not limited to these; they are everywhere. Answers often lie right in front of us. Even if the first step is small, do something green at work today. Plant a seed of change, care for it, and watch it grow. Don’t worry about what people will say; before long, they will be joining in as the opportunities grow from the seed that you planted. That’s being entrepreneurial.

OPPORTUNITY 11 Green Schools and Teachers

The Market Need	Teaching kids to work and live in a green world
The Mission	Work as a green teacher and build green schools
Knowledge to Start	Education, sustainability
Capital Required	$ (to start as a teacher), $$$$ (to start as a school)
Timing to Start	Months to years
Special Challenges	Being a green teacher or providing green supplies happens quickly; building schools takes time

Kids are merciless. When they learn something at school and bring it home, they won’t let it go until they are satisfied that their families get it. Take recycling. The little ones learn about it at school, and next thing you know, they are telling us how to recycle and asking why we aren’t doing more. I thought I was reasonably conscientious, but the energy, purity of vision, and openness of children puts me to shame. They believe they can do anything. They are right. Green teachers and schools are helping them get started on the path to a green future.

Kids need to learn the basics, and to apply the basics in order to help build a healthy economy, society, and planet. It’s like working with a computer, learning a language, or picking up good nutritional habits. If learned early, such things become second nature to us, woven right into our fabric.

INFORMATION RESOURCE

To learn more about what is being done to build greener school buildings, visit the USGBC green schools website at buildgreenschools.org.

Landmark schools are part of a developing movement to green schools inside and out. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is supporting the greening of school facilities, helping schools save money, create a better learning environment, and teach what it means to go green. In 2006 the USGBC estimated that a school can save $100,000 per year on its utility bill by going green—dollars that could be spent on salaries and books. The upfront cost of building green schools has been estimated to be as little as 1 to 2 percent more than traditional schools—money that is recouped quickly through lower power bills (“Greening America’s Schools, Costs and Benefits,” A Capital Report, 2006). Schools around the country are making this change, with 10 percent of school construction expected to go toward green approaches. Schools dating from the baby-boomer era are now so old that they need replacing, creating an opportunity to construct better buildings. Going green also can help the morale of staff and teachers, provide a better work environment, and help staff connect with students behind a common purpose.

Having a green school building leads the way to renewed programs inside, teaching about energy efficiency, waste reduction, and renewable energy by using the school itself as a learning tool. Reading about these topics is great, but learning firsthand how to install a solar panel can change how a young person sees the world. Green schools help kids relate to and get excited about physics (how do solar panels produce electricity?), biology (how are biofuels produced?), and ecology (what services do ecosystems provide for us?). Students who ask the proverbial “Why do we have to know this stuff?” can simply look around their school for the answer, seeing each application in action.

The staff at the Bertschi School in Seattle has been greening its facilities and using these steps as a starting point for learning about sustainability, working with the green schools consultant, Meredith Lohr, to involve teachers, parents, and administrators. With a background in the environmental and earth sciences, Lohr blends her teaching with work to add sustainability to the curriculum at Bertschi. The school now has solar panels, a water reclamation system, composting, and gardens with plants native to the region.

RELATED TRENDS

As the green-schools movement grows, perhaps there will be a green certification program and a green curriculum that will establish minimum course requirements. Maybe kids and teachers can have their sustainability quotient (SQ) tested, rather than their IQ.

“The curriculum at Bertschi has always emphasized diversity and social responsibility, and we have built upon this foundation over the last few years,” Lohr says. “The students study neighborhood gardens and tend the small plots on the school’s urban campus. They study ecology, through visits to local wetlands and watersheds, and participate in restoration projects in local parks.” Students get involved in tracking wasted water and energy at the school, and find ways to do better. The curriculum includes visiting an organic farm in the second grade, reducing their garbage at school and at home in the third grade, conserving water in the fourth grade, and learning about renewable energy provided by the building’s solar panels. The students learn how their lives, their school, their community, and the living world are connected. “We find that when presented with real connections and left to draw their own conclusions, children will make choices that benefit all living things, in the present and the future,” Lohr says.

INFORMATION RESOURCE

See the Alliance to Save Energy’s website at ase.org and click on the section about education for more information.

For eco-entrepreneurs interested in education, one opportunity is to grow their own green private school like the Bertschi School. Those who start out as green teachers can develop a green teaching program or even their own school. To be effective, a green approach is not layered on top but built into the foundation of the school. Green schools need to cover the same material as other schools, but have the advantage of a unique and valuable perspective about the environment that parents won’t find at most other schools. Schools such as the Bertschi provide a model for how to build a green school that others can adopt.

Another opportunity for eco-entrepreneurs is to provide schools with green supplies, curriculum materials, food, janitorial services, and so on. Green schools want cafeteria food that is consistent with their beliefs, opening the way for school chefs to work with local food, food service providers, and distributors of food supplies for green schools. Green schools need recycled paper, and lots of it. The growth of green schools will create a market for more materials for projects such as fuel cells and solar energy.

In working to make new and old schools greener, teachers and administrators need to be entrepreneurial, taking the initiative and risk to create change. But there is a lot of help out there. The Green Schools Program of the Alliance to Save Energy is promoting green schools (Kindergarten through grade 12) around the country, setting up programs to teach about energy, save energy, and spread the word. The program provides curriculum materials like the “Energy Hog Challenge.” Local programs, such as the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance, are also getting involved, providing more ideas and materials to encourage schools and teachers to go green.

RELATED TREND

Another great opportunity is a green summer camp, such as Planet Energy run by Strategic Energy Innovations in Marin County, California (seiinc.org).

Green schools do not stop at the K–12 level. Colleges, universities, business schools, and many others are going green as well. Second Nature of Boston, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit group encouraging sustainability in higher education. Many schools have pledged to improve their environmental performance, including a pledge by the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to go carbon neutral. Courses and majors related to sustainability are popping up everywhere, and business schools and product-design schools are rising to meet the demand for those who want their work to reflect their commitment to a new way of working and doing business.

Opportunities for green teaching and schools include:

Starting a green school

Getting involved in building green school facilities

Providing healthy and green food to students

Providing green school supplies

Founding a green summer camp

As the green economy grows, so does the need for people who can continue building green businesses for the future. The lessons kids learn shape their lives and their world. Someday, they will tell stories to their kids of how crazy things were before we all learned to live a better, greener way. I warn you though, once you get going as a green teacher and unleash kids on greening the world, they will prove unstoppable. Kid power is the ultimate form of renewable green energy.

OPPORTUNITY 12 Chief Sustainability Officer

The Market Need	Businesses need to understand and act on risks and opportunities of environmental issues
The Mission	Guide businesses to compete and succeed in the new green playing field
Knowledge to Start	Business, sustainability
Capital Required	$ (as a job in a company); $$ (to start a small consulting business)
Timing to Start	Weeks to months (to create a position)
Special Challenges	Motivating corporate commitment and action

There is a green-business revolution under way, and businesses are working hard to understand what it means for them. What risks does it expose them to? What opportunities does it create? Company executives have spent their careers focused on other issues and often don’t know how to react to the pressures of the green wave. To lead them through the risks, challenges, and opportunities in the brave new green world, many businesses are creating a new position in the company: the chief sustainability officer (CSO). Whether it is called the chief sustainability officer, chief environmental officer, or chief green, this position is an opportunity for the right person to help companies ride the green wave to success. It can also lead to a new business working as a consultant helping others to go green.

Green issues are not limited to green companies producing solar power, organic food, or organic clothing, and if business is going to be green, the change cannot be limited to businesses whose main focus is the environment. Major corporations such as DuPont and Wal-Mart are changing how they do business to reduce their carbon footprint, and cut down on waste and pollution. DuPont has taken the initiative to reduce its carbon footprint 72 percent since 1990, and is selling green products in fields such as solar power and fuel cells. The largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to increase energy efficiency, reduce packaging, and produce renewable energy. Wal-Mart also is driving its immense chain of suppliers to make similar changes. These changes are not always easy, and they would often not happen without strong environmental leadership within the company.

Ensuring company compliance with regulations is one responsibility of the chief sustainability officer. Compliance includes dealing with existing regulations to reduce pollution, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and addressing future legislation. Some businesses still are assuming a wait-and-see attitude about climate-change legislation in the United States, but those that get started early will be ahead of the game when legislation finally arrives, giving them a competitive advantage.

The responsibilities of the chief green extend far beyond sticking to the letter of the law. Business leaders are realizing that being green is something they want and need to do to build a better world and a better business. Reducing a company’s carbon footprint is the right thing to do and may be essential to stay competitive. Investors are asking businesses to outline their business risks related to climate change, and how the business contributes to the problem. Revealing this risk may even be required in the United States under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, U.S. government legislation about the rules of financial disclosure. Businesses also are being asked to describe their climate footprint and what programs they have in place to offset that footprint. Businesses without a good handle on their environmental footprints may lose customers.

The chief green is responsible not just for cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions, but also for helping the business to attend to the old-fashioned bottom line: making money. Businesses that consider green factors are finding opportunities in a changing world and using them to create good business. Does your company produce a great deal of waste and pay others to dispose of it? Cutting back on the waste will save money. How can you help eliminate wasted energy or develop economically attractive options for using renewable energy? What does your company make or do? Can you reduce packaging? Can you green your office? If you are in plastics, can you produce bio-plastics or find creative ways to encourage recycling?

MOVING BETWEEN WORLDS

Those not ready to create a green position within a company or small companies or those that cannot afford a full-time position devoted to green issues may turn to external consultants, experts with experience moving companies toward sustainability (see Opportunity 61 ). The roles are related and individuals may work as a green chief in their career and later perhaps move to consulting. ❦

RELATED TREND

As part of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, Google’s Bill Weihl and others are developing computing systems to be more energy efficient. PCs consume a surprising amount of energy, a lot of which is wasted. The more pervasive computers become, the more important it is that they be as efficient and green as possible. “There are a few efficient PCs on the market, not many yet,” Weihl says, “but in the next three or four years, they will be the norm.”

Going green is a big opportunity, but there are risks the move will be seen as “greenwashing,” seeking the appearance of greenness while lacking substance. The green community increasingly is skeptical of the growing chorus of companies suddenly proclaiming their greenness, suspecting they are hoping to capitalize on a trend. To avoid this, implement the initiative first, and then let the public know about it—not the other way around.

Bill Weihl is the green energy czar at Google and helped to negate Google’s carbon footprint in 2007 through a variety of measures. He sees the position of chief sustainability officer position becoming increasingly common and more important. Google may not be your average company, but like many, it is working to use energy more efficiently and create a more sustainable economy. For Weihl, the CSO understands and implements best practices across departments to “get out in front [by] pushing these issues.” A green chief also helps companies shape legislation and make the most of opportunities created by climate legislation like AB-32 in California requiring a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. For Weihl, “Success will be to put myself out of business”—the day when being green is not an extra effort but part of daily business.

ECO-TIP

A word of warning: Keep your job title professional. It might be fun, but Jason Kovak of WorldatWork, an association of human resources professionals based in Scottsdale, Arizona, advises against using the “Doctor of Green,” or other titles that might be hard to take seriously. Try telling your new job title to your friends and see if they can keep a straight face before you print your business cards.

To be the chief green, you need to understand environmental issues. A growing number of schools have programs related to sustainability, producing a cadre of graduates trained to lead the way. Having an advanced degree may help, but it’s more important that you be eager and open to learn, and make use of experts from a wide range of backgrounds. Topping those with the experience to minimize environmental risks, deal with compliance, and capitalize on green business opportunities will help achieve those goals.

The opportunities include:

Working as the chief sustainability officer in a larger business

Taking on environmental responsibilities as an employee in a smaller firm

Developing independent consulting business, working as an external advisor in various aspects of going green (see Opportunity 61)

While being green is not always easy, it can be done. The harder the choices, the more important it is that a chief green be on board to make the changes happen. The most important qualities for a chief green are having the commitment, drive, and passion to keep moving forward. There are enough challenges and opportunities ahead to keep many chief greens busy for a long time to come.

OPPORTUNITY 13 Green Philanthropy Management

The Market Need	Green philanthropists are well-intentioned but may not always accomplish their goals
The Mission	Improving how green philanthropic money is invested, ensuring that the money makes the greatest possible difference
Knowledge to Start	Business, finance, philanthropy
Capital Required	$$ to $$$
Timing to Start	Months to years
Special Challenges	Research to measure nonprofit effectiveness and acceptance by donors of those measures to guide donations

Philanthropy is a hot business. Bill and Melinda Gates have given more than $30 billion to their foundation and Warren Buffett is adding another $31 billion. This high-profile philanthropy may signal a new age, eclipsing even the era of Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Mellon. While the Gates Foundation funded grants worth $1.4 billion in 2005, it is not the only source for funding. Americans gave $260 billion to charitable causes (Giving USA estimates for 2005). One focus of giving today is environmental causes, and green philanthropists increasingly want to see that their money is well spent.

GREEN LEADER

One nonprofit organization committed to fighting climate change is StopGlobalWarming.org, founded by Laurie David, a Hollywood producer. There are countless others committed to a wide range of environmental issues.

Sir Richard Branson has committed $3 billion to fight climate change, and the Clinton Climate Initiative is committing additional billions to the fight. Google has created a foundation that is promoting a next generation of automobiles—such as plug-in hybrids using biofuels—and investing hundreds of millions of dollars to drive the price of renewables down to the cost of coal. In 2005, green philanthropy accounted for $8.9 billion (Giving USA), and this number is increasing steadily as concern grows about climate change and other issues. Some donations are large and from well-known names, but more come as small donations from millions of people.

How can people making donations ensure that their money makes a difference? Green philanthropists don’t want to just throw money at the problem and walk away, hoping for the best. They hope to leverage their wealth to make lasting changes in the lives of millions or even billions of people, but with large sums of money at stake and big goals in mind, philanthropists need to ensure that their money is well spent. While giving money to worthy causes is inherently rewarding, nobody wants to see money wasted or misused. The more money there is at stake, the greater the risk of wasting money, particularly in the absence of the economic pressure toward efficiency that is ever-present in the business world. “Billions are wasted on ineffective philanthropy,” says Michael Porter, of the Harvard Business School. “Philanthropy is decades behind business in applying rigorous thinking to the use of money” (The Economist, February 3, 2006).

The new philanthropists often are called “social entrepreneurs,” attacking social and environmental problems with the zeal and rigor of the business world. The salary may not be as large in the nonprofit world, but making a difference in the lives of millions may prove even more rewarding in other ways. Using the lessons of the business world allows green philanthropists to produce the greatest environmental impact per dollar invested.

INFORMATION RESOURCE

One group of philanthro-capitalists is New Philanthropy Capital in London, England, a non-profit that advises donors on how to make the most of their donations. The group’s report, titled “Green Philanthropy,” describes nonprofit efforts in the environment.

Foundations and social entrepreneurs need to measure success to keep track of how well they are doing. Making this work requires a nontraditional accounting system, in which the value created is not measured in profits but in the value to society. Nonprofit “portfolio managers,” “philanthro-capitalists,” or “venture philanthropists” track how investments in non-profits perform. Professionals from other industries also are getting into the nonprofit act, including management consultants, venture capitalists, and bankers.

One model establishes a firm to guide money toward the most effective environmental nonprofits. To start, the performance of nonprofit groups needs to be measured and compared to each other. How many tons of greenhouse-gas emissions were avoided per donated dollar spent by each group? How many lives were improved and by how much? Simply measuring the percent nonprofits spend on overhead is not enough to judge how effective investments in a nonprofit are; overhead says nothing about how efficient an organization is. In fact, the ongoing emphasis on lowering administration costs for nonprofits may be hurting their effectiveness in the long-run, creating well-intentioned but poorly funded management. By measuring how much organizations achieve with their expenditure money can be guided to the organizations and strategies that work best.

GREEN LEADER

The Center for Effective Philanthropy in Massachusetts (itself a non-profit) is working to help foundations measure success and be more effective (effectivephilan throphy.org).

Once data on nonprofit performance is available, the firm helps guide philanthropists, large and small, toward the best and most effective places to donate their money, helping them get the most bang for their buck. Once the money is invested, you can track the performance of donations and nonprofits year after year. By putting a value on a nonprofit’s work, the organization is pressured to do better and get as much done as possible with donated money.

Getting the venture started on the road to guiding and improving the results of green philanthrophy requires research to evaluate the performance of nonprofits. Nonprofits have not always been transparent about how money was spent or how well projects work. More effective nonprofits may be eager to cooperate and have the quality of their work validated by an independent “auditor.” Another challenge will be to decide whether to form a nonprofit or to pursue a for-profit structure to analyze non-profits and guide donations. The nonprofit does both the analysis and grant-making. A for-profit enterprise might provide the service and access to research for a fee. If your service is launched as a small independent firm, partnering with one or more financial-service providers would allow your service to integrate with investment, tax, and estate planning to reach existing customers.

GiveWell—a nonprofit founded in 2006 by two former hedge-fund managers, Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld—works to fund charities based on how effective they are, not on the size of their overhead or the pictures in a brochure. Karnofsky and Hassenfeld got their start with a group of friends looking for charities to give to and were motivated by their frustration with the lack of good information about how effective charities really are. For each cause GiveWell takes on, it reviews grant applicants in depth, analyzing how effective the applicants are for the money they spend, and then funds organizations accordingly. Although not currently targeting environmental issues, Hassenfeld says, “The causes we cover are a function of what our donors ask us to analyze, and our interests and passions.” Environmental issues may be part of their future. Some critics are skeptical of GiveWell’s approach, but according to Hassenfeld, “Many in the nonprofit sector agree with our principles.” To move change forward, Karnofsky and Hassenfeld plan “to keep saying what we think, asking others to engage us in conversation if they think that we’re wrong.” Sounds reasonable to me.

While most envision a clean divide between the for-profit and nonprofit worlds, others are blurring the worlds of business and organizations advancing environmental causes. Google.org is a for-profit philanthropic enterprise, investing in startups rather than granting money. Operating as a for-profit means that Google.org is subject to taxes but allows a greater range of activities. If an investment is successful, Google.org can create a business around it to ensure that the investment realizes its environmental, social, and financial value.

Renowned venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has decried the whole idea of charity, insisting that a for-profit enterprise is the only effective route to making a difference. The competing models pursued by social entrepreneurs will uncover the process that works best, and others can follow.

GREEN LEADER

For more about GiveWell’s story, how it is working, and the latest news with its projects, see givewell.net.

The opportunities include:

• Forming a nonprofit organization that rates green nonprofits based on their performance and makes grants based on these rankings

• Establishing a business that researches the effectiveness of environmental nonprofits and sells information for a fee

• Working as a consultant for environmental nonprofits, helping them adopt best practices in business and environmental fields

• Working as an auditor of reports from environmental nonprofits, verifying their environmental impact claimed in reports

• Integrating analysis of nonprofit performance with other financial services as part of estate and tax planning

The scale of environmental problems can seem overwhelming, but there are great opportunities to improve our world. Ultimately, the greater the effectiveness of those fighting environmental challenges, the greater donor confidence and the greater contributions will be in the future, making it in everyone’s best interest to make sure this happens.

OPPORTUNITY 14 Green Lobbyist

The Market Need	Businesses and society need green interests represented for reg ulation and legislation
The Mission	Ensure effective government action on the environment
Knowledge to Start	Government, law, environment
Capital Required	$ (as a job); $$ (to start a small independent lobbying firm)
Timing to Start	Weeks to months (to find or create a position); months to start a business
Special Challenges	Making connections, getting your voice heard

Our government and the environment are inextricably linked. Landmark legislation in the United States, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, has helped protect the public from pollution and slow the rate of degradation of our natural resources. How governments regulate food, pesticide use, transportation, energy, water, and parks affects all of us. With the upswing in concern over environmental issues, support for groups lobbying the government on behalf of environmental causes also has surged.

A 2007 BBC poll showed 76 percent of Americans would make significant changes to their lifestyle to help prevent climate change. State and local governments have enacted climate-change legislation, with California passing AB-32, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to mandate reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to control greenhouse-gas emissions from cars. In response to these changes, it is commonly believed that the U.S. federal government will soon act on climate change. Lobbyists are helping to shape the important steps that are being taken.

Now endorsing federal action toward climate change are representatives of many industries, including the United States Climate Action Partnership (us-cap.org) with industrial members such as Ford, GE, and DuPont working together with environmental organizations, such as the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). While there has often been an adversarial relationship between industry and the environmental movement, representatives of both are coming to view the other as an essential partner in dealing with environmental problems and are working together to find solutions that work for everyone. Both sides share the desire to do the right thing and, perhaps, a practical desire to simplify the developing patchwork of inconsistent state regulations across the United States. If climate-change legislation is inevitable, companies want to influence the action to ensure it does not hurt their business.

Karen Wayland is the legislative director at the NRDC, working to steer government toward environmental solutions that work for everyone. “We are comprised of lawyers, scientists, policy-specific experts, and some economists,” Wayland says, describing the variety of backgrounds of those working at the NRDC. However, additional skills may be even more important. “To be effective in shaping policy, one needs an understanding of the policy process, politics, and Congress itself,” Wayland says. “Astute people skills are a must, as is the ability to be a persuasive speaker.”

GREEN LEADER

One of the groups the NRDC works with is Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2, a nationwide group of businesspeople who believe we can protect the environment and build a strong economy at the same time.

With increasing concern about climate change and other environmental issues, support for groups such as the NRDC and receptiveness toward their messages have increased dramatically. According to Wayland, the NRDC staff uses a variety of strategies to get their message across. Approaches include direct lobbying, promoting a message through the media, as well as mobilizing activists and influential individuals on the NRDC’s behalf. These efforts seem to be working. Wayland cites a discussion with a senior staffer in the Senate who has worked with a 20-year senator: “He had never seen such a dramatic shift on an issue in such a short amount of time. [The] NRDC is much busier on [Capitol] Hill than it has been in years.”

Not ready to move to Washington, DC? Look closer to home, lobbying your state and local governments. Not so well-connected to start your own green lobbying firm? Join with someone who is, and your network will swell quickly. Those who work at lobbying may start their own firm, building on their experience and connections. There is no license or certification required to be a lobbyist, although registration with the government is required.

ECO-TIP

Green lobbyist Roger Ballantine has offered advice for green advocates of climate-change legislation: Don’t over reach. The fear is that by going for the most aggressive legislation, green efforts may backfire and get nothing at all.

Once climate-change legislation is secured, the work is not over. Climate change will require consistent action for decades and even centuries, work that cannot be abandoned with changing political events. And, while climate change is the uber-environmental issue of today, it is far from the only challenge we face. What will be the government’s future role in other environmental issues, such as waste disposal, auto efficiency, home-building standards, renewable energy, habitat preservation, and oil exploration? Whatever happens with climate change, the government will keep legislating and regulating, and green lobbyists will make their clients’ voices heard. That’s what I call job security.

Opportunities for green lobbying include:

Working as a green lobbyist in an existing firm, lobbying for environmental nonprofits or for industry

Establishing a new lobbying firm at the state or local level

Creating firms that provide tools, technologies, and processes for lobbyists to mobilize activists and promote their message

OPPORTUNITY 15 Green-Tech Transfer

The Market Need	Green companies need innovation to compete
The Mission	Help entrepreneurs move green innovations from patent to product
Knowledge to Start	Technology, patents, business
Capital Required	$ (as a job); $$$ (as an intellectual property broker)
Timing to Start