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August 5, 2024
To mark EESI’s 40th Anniversary, Carol Werner reflects on her time in the organization, where she served as executive director from 1998 to 2019. She remains on the team as a senior policy fellow with more than 35 years of public policy experience on energy and environmental issues.
I was asked to come to EESI in late 1987 to start an energy and climate program. I was working on the Hill at the time as the legislative policy director for the Northeast Midwest Congressional Coalition. After 10 years of working at EESI, I was made executive director of the organization and continued in that role until 2019. Since then, I have remained active working with the On-Bill Financing team, doing policy calls with Policy Director Anna McGinn and the policy team, and expanding EESI’s network and coalitions.
Things have clearly changed. Now we see many, many more organizations across all sectors that are engaged in climate action, which EESI always saw as being important.
Another change that started several years into our work was the growing backlash from the fossil fuel industry, which started sowing the seeds of uncertainty. Folks in the fossil industry started to view environmental work as a threat to fossil energy. I think that’s when the pushback really began and disinformation started being circulated. That was definitely one thing that affected how we proceeded. But it’s also hopeful that, over the years, more and more people have become engaged in climate action so there has been much more money and investment available.
The conversation around climate adaptation has also changed. Initially, there was a focus strictly on mitigation. And in fact, if you talked about adaptation, you would actually get blowback from environmental groups because they said it would just encourage people to continue business as usual, rather than move forward on mitigation. Now, there’s been a shift where people realize that increasing scientific understanding and working on mitigation are important, but so are conversations on how to adapt and build greater resilience. Over the years, we have seen vocabulary change, with more emphasis on adaptation, and a shift to really focusing on solutions as opposed to only scientific education. EESI’s work has always tried to emphasize interrelationships and take a holistic approach. Recognizing that our world works in systems is important to ensuring we do no harm with our solutions and create policies that can solve multiple problems.
Something else that has really evolved over the years is an understanding of how climate and security are so intertwined. Security is national and global security, but it is also economic security, health security, and human rights security. It's so important to understand the connections between climate-induced displacement, civil strife, and geopolitical tensions. Understanding all these connections is important so that we can move forward. Something I found really interesting was that these connections between climate and security were found very early on—I want to say maybe around 1975—when the CIA did its first report on climate change and outlined it could end up creating security risks if the scientists were right.
One of the things that EESI has done over the years is develop an understanding of the relationship between national security, defense, and climate. And that was why we brought in really high-level Department of Defense officials to talk about the role of climate and the need to get off fossil fuels. For example, in Afghanistan, when we had to truck in convoys of petroleum, those were sitting ducks—therefore, the less energy that you needed to use, the better. And so it was one more connection between clean energy and security that people wouldn't ordinarily think of. But we had key admirals and generals who would come in to talk about how addressing issues related to climate actually addressed a whole variety of security issues as well.
I would say the main priority was how to be most effective and most responsive to Congressional offices’ needs. This was also why we put an emphasis on building strong networks across sectors. It was important to not see ourselves strictly as an environmental organization because we needed to be a broader education, science, and policy organization to do our work effectively. We understood how the environment, science, and the economy all needed to work together because they are all so tightly interconnected. And it was really our priority to build alliances, relationships, and networks because we knew that messengers mattered and that we needed relationships with people who could reach different offices, constituencies, and concerns, rather than assuming that we alone were the right messengers.
We wanted to really be an important facilitator in terms of helping develop a solid network of people who could be trusted, so developing strong relationships with Congressional offices was really important. We have to have those offices trust us to be the ones who are able to carry climate messages and solutions forward. That’s why it's always important to meet people where they are, rather than where you are.
I think I’d be surprised by how technology has changed so many things. One knows that technology is going to change, but I could not have foreseen quite how much technology would change things. Frankly, the pandemic probably caused the greatest change to our technology and situation. And I think the organization has done very well in terms of handling that.
Something else that I've always believed, and continue to believe, is that issues and actions will need to continue to evolve, rather than be static. Our world keeps changing in so many ways, and we need to be aware of those changes and adapt to them as well.
A major challenge was always developing a strong fundraising base. And we addressed that by trying to be very fiscally prudent, working closely with our board, and developing strong relationships. There were times when we had to make some very hard choices because our investment portfolio had significantly decreased. We were always trying to do more with less, but we did it. And I think the organization and our relationships became stronger because of that. I think those relationships were critical to the development of our reputation, which helped build trust with funders. People talk to other people, and that is why it is always so important to make sure that you develop strong networks and relationships based on trust.
I think the fact that we were able to become an organization that punched above its weight, that we developed a strong reputation for the work that we do, and that we built strong relationships both on and off the Hill. For example, people wanted to sit on our panels, and that became a sought-after thing. Also, I am proud of the policy changes that we were able to drive. For example, our work on the Farm Bill, as well as various energy bills and tax bills, makes me very proud because we were able to play a role in those things and bring about a much broader understanding of climate change and its impact across the board.
I also feel very proud of the staff that we built over the years. I think we’ve had so many good people, each of whom felt that they’d had good experiences and those who left did so with a feeling that they were better prepared to take on climate-related issues in the next stage of their careers—or at least, that was my understanding and hope. I also feel very proud that there are a number of former staff who have made an effort to stay in touch over the years. And I also feel very good about so many of the wonderful board members we've had over the years. And certainly, you know, that includes Richard L. “Dick” Ottinger, who was one of the founders of EESI when he served in Congress and a longtime board chair.
President Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the 2013 Environmental Inaugural Ball
This isn't really an anecdote, but one thing we did that I think was really valuable was our work with embassies. I still remember working with the environmental attaché from the Royal Netherlands Embassy. We helped them host a dinner at the embassy for members of Congress and spouses to talk about climate change. The environment minister of the Netherlands came over to address them. That was a really special event. It took a lot of effort, but it was another thing that showed the kinds of people we brought in and the very high-level relationships we developed.
Something else that came up the other day was all the work we did with the Environmental Inaugural Ball over the years, to celebrate the inauguration of a president. It was one of those things that was kind of a labor of love. It was not a real EESI priority at all, but you know, there were a lot of hours put in on the side to help make it a wonderful event.
Another thing that I am very proud of is when we put out a short climate newsletter, Climate Change News, that went to every Congressional office, and which has since become Climate Change Solutions. I'll never forget the very first time we sent it out. I got a call from Senator John McCain's office. The Commerce Committee that Senator McCain led was doing a hearing on climate, and he used information from our newsletter in his opening statement. His committee counsel called after and said something to the effect, “This was so timely, thanks so much! I used the first three items in Climate Change News in Sen. McCain's opening statement.” So that was awesome and very cool.
I would like EESI to be able to help lead the way to a sustainable world that revolves around a circular economy. I also want us to successfully point the way toward policy that can really work for the betterment of people in the United States and around the world.
Educate, innovate, evolve.
Education is critical for EESI in terms of thinking about how to improve policy. It's one thing that I think also differentiates EESI from so many other groups, in that we do not have an ax to grind. We are more concerned about learning, putting out facts, and making sure that people know how to find resources that would be helpful in terms of better understanding. We don't want to be in the position of saying, “This is the answer,” or “You need to vote like this.” We do not do that. If you do that, I don't think that you're able to develop the kind of trust that is really necessary in order for people to call you up or send you a note asking for help understanding something.
I said “innovate” because we need to challenge ourselves in terms of thinking about where things could go, how things can be done better, what issues need to be addressed, how we learn more about them, whom we need to talk to, and how we best bring those messages forward and really incorporate a whole variety of people and interests in that. If we don’t think about these things, we're not going to be effective in terms of producing policy change.
And lastly, “evolve” because, once again, you can't be static. If you are, you lose. It’s so important to look at how our world is changing, and think about how we can adapt to that, and evolve in a way that things can be done in a better, more resilient, healthier, more sustainable way for people here and around the world. Because our globe, it's very small. We are all connected. And we really need to understand the web of life that supports and connects us all.
Author: Laura Gries
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