🌐 Clean Energy Is as American as Football in the Fall—If You Tell It Right

A theme we return to often on this show is the business strategy behind climate adoption. After 50+ episodes and conversations with leading climate builders, it’s clear:

You can’t scale climate solutions if you don’t know how to talk about them.

The professionals scaling solutions—founders, CEOs, mayors, policymakers—all have one thing in common:

They know how to frame what they do in ways that resonate. That convinces customers, sways skeptics, and scales impact.

Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun, told us how the company—the first U.S. home solar provider to reach 1 million customers—pivoted to a storage-first strategy and now leads the nation in home battery installations.

Not by selling customers on kilowatt-hours or solar-panel efficiency.

But by promising peace of mind during storms. Control over rising bills. Greater comfort. Stability. Savings.

➡️ Listen: Ep. 33

Jaime Pumarejo, former mayor of Barranquilla, Colombia, mapped where kids were fainting from heat on their way to school, then planted 250,000 trees to shade their routes.

What swayed city leaders to approve the plan?

A stat he brought back from London: tree-lined streets saw 15% higher property values. Which meant 15% more tax revenue.

Translation: nature as a public investment delivers ROI.

➡️ Listen: Ep. 46

Roger Griffiths, Team Principal at Andretti Formula E, explained how the all-electric racing series scaled to 500 million fans in under a decade and became the fastest-growing motor sport.

Not by pushing EV specs.

But by designing a racing experience people love—tight turns, city tracks, Super Mario-style “Attack Mode.”

Formula E wins because it’s thrilling. Climate advocacy never has to be shouted because it’s integrated. And the positive associations with EVs accelerate with every race and podium finish.

➡️ Listen: Ep. 48

These are the playbooks that succeed in driving climate adoption, rapidly and at scale.

Few people understand this dynamic better than Keith Zakheim.

He’s an ordained rabbi. A former elected official. A policy wonk. A passionate fan and father of two college basketball players. And the CEO of Antenna Group—one of the most respected climate marketing and communications firms in the world.

Strange mix. Until you hear how he discusses power, persuasion, redemption, and public trust.

Many supercool companies we’ve featured—battery innovators, grid technology leaders, urban mining pioneers—entered our orbit through Keith’s team.

What else caught my attention? Keith hosts a podcast, too. It’s called The Age of Adoption.

It was only a matter of time before Keith and I connected.

We both see this moment—a multi-trillion dollar low-carbon economic transition—as clear and underway. The future is bright. The question is how fast we get there.

And in this moment—when incentives are rolling back and the narrative is fractured—how we talk about climate isn’t a side issue.

It’s the strategy.

The Backlash Was About Speed

Keith doesn’t view the rollback of the IRA tax credits for solar and wind as a rejection of clean energy.

He sees it as a rejection of speed.

“You can bring people along with incremental change. But when it feels radical, it invites backlash,” he told me.

The Biden administration sprinted, rolling out billions in incentives and loans, not quite at the urgency the climate crisis demands, but historic by any U.S. economic measure. 

Missing was a similarly urgent and robust national dialogue and conversation to bring America along. That left an opening for opponents, who didn’t have to refute the technologies or the economics. They just had to paint the whole thing as ideological overreach.

To Keith, the lesson isn’t “go slower.”

It’s communicate better.

Frame the change in values people already believe in. Start with the benefits they already want.

The Football Field Theory of Change

Keith calls himself an incrementalist.

Not because he lacks urgency—but because he understands how culture shifts.
Radical change invites resistance. Incremental change brings people with you.

“When you move too fast, you trigger backlash,” he told me. “But if you’re gaining yards—even slowly—you’re still in the game.”

It’s not about playing it safe. It’s about building momentum that sticks. Step by step. Yard by yard. Reform that lasts because it makes sense at every stage.

That’s the strategic logic behind how Keith sees clean energy adoption. It’s not a revolution. It’s a reframe.

Clean energy doesn’t threaten American values—it reflects them.

• Prosperity. Lower costs. More jobs.
  

• Security. Energy independence. Grid resilience.
  

• Abundance. More power. Faster. Cheaper.

You’re not asking people to change what they believe.

You’re showing them this is what they believe.

Every Company Becomes a Climate Company

Keith sees what’s ahead—and he’s blunt about it:

“Every company, regardless of its core business, is going to have to be a sustainability company. Just like every company became a tech company over the last 30 years.”

And when that happens? Positioning matters.

Because the companies that thrive in the low-carbon economy won’t win on virtue. They’ll win on clarity—clear value, sharp messaging, and confident delivery.

That’s what Antenna helps clients unlock. And it’s what we see, again and again, across the company’s Supercool spotlights.

They don’t lead with climate. They lead with outcomes.

✅ Real-World Supercool Examples

• Aeroseal (ep. 23)
  Seals energy-wasting air leaks in buildings from the inside out.
  Frames efficiency as ROI—fast payback, lower bills, and stronger performance.
  

• Trove (ep. 42)
  Branded resale for Patagonia, Levi’s, Carhartt, Michael Kors, On, and more.
  Frames recommerce as a profit engine—driving margins, loyalty, and supply chain value.
  

• Zum (ep. 25)
  Modernizes school transportation with EV buses and smart routing.
  Frames electrification through trust—safer rides, smoother ops, better parent experience.
  

• Cyclic Materials (ep. 40)
  Recycles rare earth magnets for EVs, wind, data centers, and medical tech.
  Frames recycling as supply chain strength—less dependency, more control.
  

• Renew Home (ep. 37)
  Turns connected home devices into grid-ready Virtual Power Plants.
  Frames energy automation as lifestyle infrastructure—set it, save money, support the grid.
  

• Wasteless (ep. 44)
  AI-powered dynamic pricing for perishable food.
  Frames waste reduction as profit—better margins, smarter inventory.
  

• TerraCycle (ep. 49)
  Solves hard-to-recycle waste from diapers to cigarettes.
  Frames recycling as a business tool—more customers, stronger brand.

Each one earns attention by speaking the market’s language—cost, control, loyalty, logistics—not just carbon.

Diagnosing the Story

If your brand is fragmented, your story will be too.

That’s what Conscious Compass solves. It’s Antenna’s newly launched AI-powered tool that scans everything—press, internal decks, ESG reports, investor materials, social media posts—and maps how a company’s message actually lands.

Where are you aligned? Where are you off? What patterns don’t match your intent?

It measures performance across eight attributes of what Antenna calls “conscious brands”: Awake, Aware, Reflective, Attentive, Cogent, Sentient, Visionary, and Intentional.

I was skeptical at first. I’ve seen tools like this before—early sustainability-era platforms dating back two decades that promised to map “brand consciousness” but felt more like guided meditations than business assets.

This isn’t that.

It’s using AI’s unprecedented analysis power as a force amplifier for good. The Conscious Compass can surface hidden gaps. It’s not evaluating for tone but alignment—the difference between what you say and what your market hears.

As Keith puts it:

“Misalignment isn’t just about mixed messages. It’s about missed deals. Lost trust. Delayed adoption.”

The compass turns disparate content into actionable data.

Keith may run a communications agency, but what he’s really building is alignment for organizations navigating scale, scrutiny, and the speed of change.

The Supercool Takeaway

The zero-carbon future won’t win because the climate crisis demands it.

We’ll get there when it stops feeling like a sacrifice—and starts feeling like Sunday kickoffs, backyard grills, and star-spangled power on demand.

The future isn’t waiting on awareness. It’s waiting on a story people can believe—and buy into.

Listen to this podcast episode on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and all other platforms.

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What we’re reading at Trellis

Seaweed Takes on Methane

Chipotle, Danone, and Mars are backing seaweed-based feed additives to curb methane from cattle—part of a broader push to cut agricultural methane emissions 30% over the next five years. Meanwhile, Organic Valley is funding seaweed-additive pilot trials on several member farms in partnership with a Hawaiian startup.

The bet? Feed that fights climate change—without changing how America eats.

Read more and sign up for the Trellis Briefing newsletter here. I’m a longtime fan and rely on it to stay connected to how businesses are addressing the climate challenge.

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Stat of the Week: 96%

That’s the share of new U.S. electricity-generating capacity that came from solar and wind in the first four months of 2025. Solar alone has led all sources—every single month—since September 2023.

Quote of the Week:

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Related

States Step In

Back in January—before the Trump administration took power and before the rollback of clean energy tax credits became official—I wanted to know how the industry might respond.

So I asked Britta von Oesen, Managing Director at CRC‑IB, one of America’s top renewable energy investment banks.

Her take was calm and clear:

“The ball is rolling,” she said. “Consumer and corporate demand will keep this industry growing.”

She also described what’s long been called the solarcoaster. Incentives come and go. But the industry keeps moving. And often, cities and states step in when the federal government bows out.

Here’s what we’re tracking:

☀️ Minnesota Moves Forward
As federal tax credits disappear, Minneapolis is stepping in with its own support: up to $50,000 for commercial solar installations and $175,000 for residential buyers’ groups through the city’s Green Cost Share program. The goal is simple—keep solar adoption moving by making clean energy projects pencil out. One example: a new 3,760-panel community solar array atop Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s parking ramp will cut bills for more than 180 households.

⚖️ Massachusetts Reinvents SMART
The state just overhauled its flagship solar program to keep the market growing through federal policy turbulence. The revised SMART program resets compensation annually, expands access for low-income and environmental justice communities, and rewards rooftop and canopy solar—plus adds new protections for farmland and wildlife.

🔌 Oregon Builds Microgrids
Oregon passed landmark bipartisan legislation creating the first regulatory framework for community and private microgrids in the U.S. The new rules streamline deployment, support resilience, and give local governments the power to designate official microgrid zones.

⚡ New York Bets Big on Storage
The state just issued a 1-gigawatt storage RFP—one of the largest in the country. It’s a bet on batteries as critical grid infrastructure: cutting costs, boosting reliability, and building resilience against heatwaves, wildfires, and aging transmission.

🌍 California Hits Two-Thirds Clean Power
The state announced that it’s become the largest economy on earth to run on 66% clean electricity. Love it or hate it, California remains a global bellwether for where energy markets are headed next.

The incentives may change. The investment thesis hasn’t.

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Where Supercool traveled this week:

Articles:

🌐 Fast Company: Africa’s Solar and EV Revolution is Here by Josh Dorfman

Podcasts:

🌐 The Futurist Society Podcast: Building A Better Future: Climate Tech That's Working Today

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