We’re all working from home now. We’ve canceled events and postponed others. And we’re learning a lot about videoconferencing.
But I want you to know that at E2, this pandemic also is sharpening our mission and strengthening our resolve. And you should know that we’re still getting good work done.
COVID-19 has taught us we need to wash our hands more – and reminded us that we must have clean water to do so.
It has elevated the importance of healthy lungs and bodies – and reinforced the essential need for clean air.
And as the pandemic continues to rattle our economy, it’s shown us we shouldn’t forget about economic resilience; the workers who keep America running and the opportunities for a better, cleaner economy in the recovery that lies ahead.
Over the past few days, I’ve connected with E2 members across the country who are struggling in their jobs and businesses, in addition to dealing with the health crisis.
“We were having our best year on record when this happened, and now they are closing schools and we are losing staff due to self-quarantine,” one E2 member, an Iowa solar entrepreneur, told me. “I suspect it is only going to get worse.”
Others see the opportunities ahead.
“The pandemic, I think, highlights the need for resiliency throughout the economy, and that includes basic infrastructure like the grid,” said an E2 member and investor in Seattle. “I think continued investment in vehicle electrification and grid modernization can be incredibly powerful from a resiliency perspective.”
At E2, we hear you. And we’re continuing to fight hard on issues like these – even if digitally for now.
As Congress debates a major economic stimulus bill, for instance, E2 is making sure lawmakers remember clean energy and other clean economy businesses along with airlines and hospitality businesses and oil companies. We’re reminding them that the last economic bailout – the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) – supercharged the clean energy industry, and that we now have a new opportunity to keep that growth going while simultaneously making our economy more resilient and combatting climate change.
We’re continuing to amplify the importance of the clean economy beyond the Beltway as well, as we’ll do with the national release of our 2020 Clean Jobs America report soon.
And we’re keeping connected by replacing in-person meetings with our digital Action Alerts and a robust Webinar schedule we’ll be rolling out in the weeks ahead.
COVID-19 is forcing us to change how we work. But it’s not changing what we’ll continue to work for and for as long as it takes: The good of our environment and the good of our economy.
Lately, I’ve been reading Jon Meacham’s book “The Soul of America,” which recounts how our nation recovered from calamities of our past, from the Civil War to the Great Depression to the end of segregation.
The underlying thread woven throughout the fabric of America’s history, Meacham reminds us, is that even in the face of unfathomable crises, even amid deep societal division, we’ve overcome every adversity that has tried us – usually in part because of the relentless engagement and continued support of passionate people.
This time, I’m convinced, is no different.