Ryan McGoldrick is rejoining the CVI team as the Program Associate.
Over the past two years, Ryan has worked at CVI as a Legislative Assistant, Voter Outreach Specialist, and as a Communications Fellow. For more information on Ryan, you can check out his first introduction and (re)introduction. For round three of his ongoing introduction blog series, we asked Ryan to share more information about his role and why he’s passionate about these programs:
I am excited to be rejoining the CVI team, and equally excited to have the opportunity to work on the issues within the conservation movement that I am most passionate about. My focus as the Program Associate will primarily be on clean energy, climate change, and toxics.
Clean energy presents a promising opportunity for the conservation movement, as it has become not just economically viable, but a profitable investment. Clean energy has always been valuable as a way to prevent climate change and protect clean air and clean water from toxic pollutants, but it’s now also a valuable job creator that drives economic development. The clean energy industry already supports three times more jobs than the fossil fuel industry in the United States, with many jobs being created in rural communities. That disparity in value will only continue to grow in the future.
That’s especially true in Idaho. We do not have reserves of fossil fuels like oil, methane, and coal. What we do have though, is a wealth of potential and realized clean energy resources like hydro, solar, and wind power. A transition to clean energy represents energy independence for Idaho and can be a bipartisan and nonpartisan issue in Idaho because it protects our wild spaces, preserves our clean air and water, creates and supports local jobs, and keeps Idaho dollars in Idaho communities.
In the last two years, we have seen clean energy commitments from Idaho’s two largest utilities (representing 755,000 customers) and many local governments (representing 573,000 residents). In my role as Program Associate, I hope to continue that progress by working with Idahoans across our state to support candidates, elected officials and policies that move Idaho forward on these critical issues.