Stephen Lacey at ClimateProgress

I’m sure Stephen Lacey is sorely missed here at Renewable Energy World, as he’s a most impressive young man.  A recent college grad with a journalism degree, taking his first job out of school, he learned more about this industry in his first year than most people do in a lifetime, and wrote some terrifically insightful pieces.  I’d often see him at huge industry events, e.g., Solar International, coolly and confidently interviewing dozens of people twice his age on camera over a few days’ time. 

The first time we spoke, he told me this about Renewable Energy World: “We advocate for renewables and against nothing,” he explained. I clarified, “So you don’t take positions counter to Big Oil, Coal, Nuclear, etc?” I asked. “Exactly.  As a blogger, you can do anything you want, Craig, but don’t expect to see it from the editorial staff here.”

I can only imagine that Stephen sees things a bit differently at his new gig at ClimateProgress.org; trust me, these people call ‘em like they see ‘em. Here’s a recent piece he wrote, based on materials acquired by Bloomberg News, showing how Koch Industries, Exxon Mobil, and numerous other corporations paid tens of thousands of dollars to write legislation for lawmakers that would repeal carbon pollution reduction programs in various states around the U.S.

I know Stephen had a great deal of fond respect for a number of his colleagues at Renewable Energy World, but I have to think that his new-found freedom will sit well with him, in that it will bring the kind of exuberance that a dog experiences when it’s let off its leash.  And perhaps the entire industry will be better served now that he’s free to call a spade a spade. 

Go get 'em, man.  

Craig Shields is editor of 2GreenEnergy.com and author of Renewable Energy -- Facts and Fantasies (published by Clean Energy Press, 2010).