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There has been little fanfare in the mainstream media about President Obama's State of the Union declaration of a new national goal to make the entire economy 50 percent more energy efficient in the next 20 years by making our residential and commercial buildings more energy efficient.

I'm not entirely shocked that the initiative didn't grab headlines, but the real question is how can the energy efficiency industry now rouse Americans to rush out and buy caulking guns in droves or take all the steps laid out in their free government-supported energy audit?

When it comes to technologies that can help combat climate change, sleek solar panels, smooth spinning wind turbines and even turning cow manure into power are far sexier than insulating your walls to help save the planet.  Consumer excitement around energy efficiency has been changing, but there is a clear hurdle in the way of mass consumer adoption of energy efficiency technologies. Why? The truth is energy efficiency has a messaging problem and- plain and simple-the energy efficiency industry has to market an un-sexy product that doesn't thrill most Americans.

It starts with the term "energy efficiency'" itself. It's hard to imagine the average person relating to a term that derives from and is most commonly used in management circles. Defined as "using a particular commodity or product with the least waste of resources or effort," efficiency isn't aspirational or inspirational. Now, the energy efficiency industry is moving to an equally dreary term: "energy productivity." While there's clearly a need for new messages for energy efficiency (anything but green) there's also a clear need to dedicate serious marketing efforts.

Celebrities getting dirty insulating their attics, or a buzz-worthy Got Milk?-style campaign would surely grab mass media attention. Maybe the President's and the Industry's message needs to be that while we may not have a Congress that can get its act together to stop the impacts of climate change from worsening, every day homeowners can do their part right now.

The bottom line is that consumer attitudes are shifting in regards to products and services that help them save energy, but there is still an incredible need for consumer education. Supporters of energy efficiency will make more of an impact if serious efforts are made to educate and excite individuals on energy efficiency and how making their homes smarter about how they use energy is the right and smart thing to do.

By Kate Plourd, Senior Account Executive, Solomon McCown & Company

In yet another sign of the dwindling newspaper business, the New York Times recently announced that it will close its environmental desk & reassign its current environmental reporters to other desks. While the Times' assures its readers that it will embed environmental coverage in its local, national and business coverage, it's still painful to think that the hard-hitting reporting on this ever-so important topic will change-or dare we say decrease.

Some media critics argue that the move could be good for environmental news-such as climate change-because by taking it out of the isolation of being a strictly environmental issue it will show readers how climate change permeates throughout society.

The truth is only time will tell what this move means for the paper's environmental news coverage, but the environmental desks' death speaks to a broader trend in journalism that has been gripping newspapers across the country for years: the death of the beat reporter. As former reporter for The Baltimore Sun David Simon argues in a blog post earlier this year, beat reporting is essential to civic society and is needed to do good journalism. It takes reporters years to truly delve into an industry, government body or organization to be able to truly expose true stories. The environment and climate change, which are filled with stakeholders trying to influence the conversation from so many sides, deserve dedicated reporters, so I suspect the coverage will suffer because of the move.

So while newspapers continue to shift from beat reporting to make more "structural" and likely more economic sense, does it make journalistic sense? And sense for the public good?

By Kate Plourd, Senior Account Executive at Solomon McCown & Company

For many early stage start-ups, communications may seem like a daunting and unnecessary task. But it's never too early to start thinking about how you communicate your value to investors, customers, the media and the other important audiences that will be key to driving your company to success.

As part of our work with clean energy business plan competition and accelerator Cleantech Open Northeast, we recently hosted a "Public Relations 101 Workshop" with this year's three regional finalists. Gorham, ME-based Pika Energy, New York City-based Rentricity and Red Ox Systems of Waltham are all working on developing and commercializing truly innovative technologies that stand to change the energy landscape.

While we covered a range of topics, below are three points that garnered a lot of discussion and should serve as important lessons for early stage companies of any kind as they look into planning for communications efforts:

• Priority number one in communications planning should always be messaging. Developing a simple, consistent message that resonates with the audience you're trying to reach is key. Not only does messaging help you communicate to your outside audiences, but it helps build enthusiasm and ensures consistency in how your whole teams talks about your business. Messages can be tweaked depending on the audience too because you're not going to talk to an investor the same way you'd talk to a customer and it's important to remember to always think about your audience.

• When you land an interview in the media, always prepare as if you were going into a business pitch. Start with a concise introduction about you and your company, prepare three messages that you really want to get across to the reporter (and ultimately their reader) and make sure you say them at least once. Don't be afraid to lead the conversation and repeat your messages to make sure they resonate.

• For a company in the fundraising stage, collateral and press kits may seem excessive or costly, but they're important and easy to do on a shoestring budget. A press kit is a basic communications tool that can serve as a great leave behind for reporters will show potential investors that you're thinking ahead about communications. Packaging a backgrounder, biography page, fact sheet and brochure or infographic, in a simple folder with your company logo.

By Kate Plourd, Senior Account Executive at Solomon McCown & Company

The spirit of New England's clean energy community was bright last night at the New England Clean Energy Council's 5th Annual Green Tie Gala, where the reelection of President Obama and nation's renewed discussion around climate change following Hurricane Sandy had the room abuzz with eagerness to see Congress act on comprehensive energy reform. The night's speaker, Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont, was among the hopeful and spoke passionately about the realities of climate change-dealing with the aftermath of four climate change induced extreme weather events in the Maple State during his 22-month tenure as governor. His passion and sense of urgency to act certainly roused the crowd of business leaders  in a sector that's had its fair share of bad news in the last year-from the Solyndra debacle to  Mitt Romney mocking climate change and our rising sea levels in his speech at the Republican National Convention

But public opinion is in the industry's court. The percentage of Americans who think global warming is real has increased four points in the last year and "half of Republicans, 73 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats saying they're worried about the growing cost and risks of extreme weather disasters fueled by climate change." While the President hasn't committed to a policy tactic yet, we could see a carbon tax proposal wrapped into the corporate tax reform, heavier regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency or simple moves like ending tax breaks for fossil fuel companies and extending tax breaks for clean energy development. Regardless of which policy direction lawmakers go, the most important factor in getting Congress to pass a national energy policy is selling it to the American people.

As always, strategic messaging is going to be very important. It can be expected that many will again rally around any energy bill that looks like a tax on business, a major contributing factor in the death of Cap and Trade in 2010, therefore messaging must be focused on why moving towards a carbon-free economy is good for all business as well as our national security, our health and the future of the planet.

Since opponents will view any type of energy reform as a tax on America's job creating companies, it's also essential that non-energy businesses proponents of carbon reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency come together to speak about why energy reform is GOOD for business. Here in Massachusetts the New England Clean Energy Council and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership launched http://www.mabizforcleanenergy.com/ to create a place for businesses to get connected, educated and engaged around energy issues in Massachusetts. Networks like these need to take it a step further and create a unified message from the business community in support of energy reform.

Lastly, it is essential to tap into the American public through the grassroots networks that came out in droves during election season. The past two presidential elections are evidence of the power that these networks possess; why not encourage these groups who care as much about environmental affairs as they do about the current economy to do their civic duty and rally support for the cause.

By Kate Plourd, Senior Account Executive at Solomon McCown & Company

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wouldn't be surprised to hear that according to SM&'s recently released poll, 72 percent of Americans now believe that living in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way is vital to achieving the American Dream. Since his administration passed a suite of nation-leading energy laws, including the Green Communities Act, Massachusetts has seen thousands of individual homeowners, municipalities and businesses go green through the state's portfolio approach to renewable energy, which includes support for solar, wind, hydro and energy efficiency.

Approaching the four-year anniversary of the law's passage this summer, Governor Patrick joined a crowd of nearly 150 people from the state's clean energy community yesterday for a conversation  about how Massachusetts has been leading the nation in clean energy and is already living the green American Dream.

"If you ever wondered whether people want the opportunity to go green, consider this," Governor Patrick said to the group gathered at Boston-based energy storage company FastCAP Systems.  "A 'Green Community' is a designation created by the Green Communities Act, but it is not easy to achieve. The law set out tough statutory standards that require applicant communities to make a serious commitment to energy efficiency and other reforms.  Today, nearly half of Massachusetts' residents now live in a Green Community."

While the Green Communities designation program has helped cities and towns operate in more environmentally responsible and energy savvy ways, residents and businesses throughout Massachusetts have also made the choice to go green as well. One example is Massachusetts' booming solar market, which was recently covered in the Boston Globe. The amount of solar energy installed has grown from 3.5 megawatts (MW) of solar installed in the state in 2007 to more than 110 MW installed today.

Massachusetts also ranks first in the nation in energy efficiency, according to the American Council on an Energy Efficiency Economy. According to the state's Department of Energy Resources, in 2010 alone more than one million residents and businesses made energy efficiency improvements to their homes or buildings.  Sierra Briton, a Dorchester native working as an insulation technician at Boston's Next Step Living, told the group that the company now has 25 teams of technicians helping consumers make energy efficiency improvements to their homes, compared to five just two years ago.

Even professional athletes are making an effort to live more sustainably. Boston Bruins defensemen Andrew Ference, who is a leader in the National Hockey League's Carbon Neutral Challenge program to help professional hockey players offset the emissions produced by their travel, told the crowd that whether it's recycling, composting or taking public transportation, "we all have a piece of the energy puzzle."

Governor Patrick admitted that while Massachusetts has made great strides in environmental responsibility by giving businesses, families and governments the tools to change how they consume energy, there is no single path or quick-fix to a clean energy future. He suggested that states push for new forms of renewable energy, such as biogass from food waste, and continue to support the research and development of new clean energy technologies as part of the portfolio approach that is already working for residents, businesses and governments in Massachusetts.

"In America, we have rarely left our energy future entirely to chance," he said.  "From whale oil to petroleum, from distributing coal to distributing electricity, we have moved forward by examining our options and our opportunities, learning from our mistakes, and keeping our eye on what kind of future we want. And government has always had a role in that."

You can read Governor Patrick's entire speech here and follow clean energy and sustainability news on Twitter by searching the hashtags #cleanenergy and #susty.


(The above photo was taken by Jeremiah Robinson of the Governor's Office. To see more photos, click here.)


Written by Kate Plourd, Senior Account Executive at Solomon McCown & Co., Inc.