Senior Advisor
New York, NY
Josh Baran has been a communications and public relations professional since 1982. He is best known for his work in the areas of environment, technology, corporate relations and public affairs, entertainment and films, non-profit communications, crisis management, publishing, and religion.
During a long and varied career, Josh has worked with a broad range of clients, companies, and leaders—from Bill Gates and the Dalai Lama to Arnold Schwarzenegger; from Time Warner, Miramax and Sony Pictures to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Amnesty International. He directed strategic communications for Al Gore’s book and movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” the special environmental campaign around the blockbuster film, “The Day After Tomorrow” for MoveOn.org, and the ABC-TV film, “The Day After,” still ranked as the one of the biggest TV-related events in history.
He led Josh Baran & Associates for nearly a decade, and sold his company to Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, where he was Executive Vice President for several years. He also served as Director of Communications for Microsoft, where he advised Bill Gates, and is the author-editor of a spiritual anthology, 365 Nirvana Here and Now. He is Senior Advisor to RenewComm from his New York office.
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A conversation with Josh Baran about founding RenewComm
Q: Why was RenewComm created?
A: The impetus to create RenewComm came while working closely with former Vice President Al Gore on “An Inconvenient Truth.” The key messages of “An Inconvenient Truth” are that we are in a crisis, it is not too late and that through political will and technologies, we all together can create a better energy future. So I decided to create a communications firm with a sharp focus on renewable energy and new technologies. RenewComm actively seeks to work with innovators, entrepreneurs, corporate visionaries, eco-capitalists, and organizations to create a new clean powered world. This sector is now called “clean energy,” “clean-tech” or “green-tech.”
Q: What will RenewComm focus on?
A: Ethanol, biofuels, biodiesel, wind and solar energy, new battery technologies, energy-efficient vehicles, green building, new grassroots initiatives, ballot measures and initiatives, corporate and non-profit partnerships, legislation. RenewComm’s first client is E3 BioFuels, an exciting ethanol company in Mead, Nebraska that has created a new way to generate ethanol—a closed-loop system that uses virtually no fossil fuel to create the ethanol, and at the same time, removes methane from the atmosphere. E3 BioFuels is a perfect example of the kind of company that we seek to represent. This is not some future dream. This is happening here and now in the heartland of America.
Q: Are there lessons we can learn from the Internet revolution?
A: We all know that the Internet/personal computer revolution was huge. Many companies and technologies thrived while others failed and vanished. There was an Internet bubble that burst but computer technology continues to be a driving force in the world economy. When we look at energy, we also see many new technologies, visionaries, dreamers, and all the rest. How will these technologies evolve over the next decades? Which innovations will become part of our lives and which will quickly become irrelevant? What new technologies and approaches have yet to be even imagined? The key difference between the internet and energy is that energy is a far bigger dimension of the world economy. Energy affects everyone and everything. And the need for new forms of energy will only grow as China and India and other nations further industrialize. So, while some companies will fail, energy is no bubble and the need for renewable energy will only grow over time. Also, as we look forward—10, 20, even 30 years, intermediate technologies may be necessary as part of the green evolutionary trajectory.
Q: Has there been a recent shift in the public’s understanding of climate change and renewable energy?
A: Absolutely. I think when we look back on how we transformed our energy culture, 2006 will be seen as the great moment of shift. Through a combination of factors, global warming is now widely accepted as fact, not conjecture. The public understands that the planet is in a crisis and that we must make serious long-term changes for the sake of future generations. Environmental concerns are no longer partisan. For the most part, both Democrats and Republicans accept the basic premise. As President Bush said in the 2006 State of the Union—America is addicted to oil. So, the red state-blue state dichotomy with regard to environmental progress is fast becoming old news. As Tom Friedman said in the New York Times, green is the new red, white and blue. Many conservative leaders see our dependence on foreign oil as a security issue. And many corporate leaders and venture capitalists quickly realized the huge amount of money to be made through new technologies and services. So it is clearly a new day. Wal-Mart is now the poster child of corporate environmental responsibility. Just a year or two ago, that would have been unimaginable.
Q: How big is this new greentech / cleantech sector?
A: Already huge and growing. In our meetings with various venture capitalists, we are hearing that billions of dollars are now flowing into new companies and supporting new approaches. $2.9 billion was invested by VC’s in North America in 2006. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. In the next coming years, we would expect to see these investments numbers double or even triple every year, not only in America, but worldwide.
Q: What role does PR and communications play in this arena?
A: Whenever a shift in society is in play, communications serves a crucial and on-going role – in educating elected officials, policy makers, the media, the financial community and the public. From my experience working in the computer tech sector with Microsoft and Oracle, PR played a huge part in not only selling products, but more importantly creating whole new markets and industries, educating the public on entirely new way of doing business and functioning. New environmental products and systems will require even more outreach and societal changes. At RenewComm, we see the role of communications as an integral part of creating success and change. Also, it is crucial to develop long-term evidence-based communication strategies. Too much conventional PR is based on hype, exaggeration or speculation. With these new technologies, we need to present accurate information to the media and the public. Exaggeration and hype will only backfire. This is especially important with new technologies, since some are quite complex and don’t fit into the 15 second sound-bite.
Q: Isn’t there a danger of over hype and exaggerated expectations?
A: Yes, absolutely. This societal and business shift is real and it must be long term and sustainable. We are not going to break our dependence on oil overnight. The media can get overly excited and then do an about face and become overly cynical or critical. “The nextbig thing.” I think our job, as PR professionals, is to genuinely share our enthusiasm and excitement while at the same time being honest, clear and grounded in reality. Let’s face it, we will only succeed if all sectors of society—in all the nations of the world—get together, understand and face the complex challenges and keep moving forward. Hype will come and go, but the need for a revolution/evolution in the way we create and consume energy is the huge challenge of the 21st century.
