Jigar Shah: The Clean Energy Industry Needs Its Own “Got Milk?” Campaign

Clean energy is winning on technology—but losing the story. Jigar Shah tells Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina why solar, wind, and EVs need the swagger (and budget) of a “Got Milk?” campaign. From plug-in hybrids to nuclear power, he explains how better narratives—and a billion-dollar confidence boost—can keep the transition moving forward.

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Transcript

Jigar Shah: The Clean Energy Industry Needs Its Own “Got Milk?” Campaign

 “We invest twice as much as oil and gas—and yet we devote almost nothing to telling our story,” he says.

For decades, the solar and wind industries prided themselves on staying under the radar—growing quietly, avoiding politics, and trusting the numbers to speak for themselves. That instinct, Jigar argues, no longer works when you’re in the crosshairs of a culture war.

“Our industry invests about $500 billion a year—double what oil and gas spend—and yet we devote almost nothing to telling our story,” he said on the Scientista Podcast. “Power doesn’t come from passively letting people see your work. You have to advertise it. You have to market it.”

A Billion-Dollar Confidence Problem

Jigar points to the dairy industry’s “Got Milk?” campaign as a model for what clean energy could do. Funded by a small mandatory fee on every gallon sold, the campaign turned a commodity into a cultural touchstone.

“Why not a dollar on every panel, turbine, or inverter?” he asked. “That would create a billion-dollar communications fund—money that could organize the people already benefiting: landowners, school districts, and rural counties. They just don’t know it.”

Because, as Jigar points out, those benefits are everywhere. Every year, the renewable sector pays millions of dollars in lease payments to landowners and steady tax revenue to rural communities. Solar farms fund local schools, help counties pave roads, and keep small towns alive. Yet most residents don’t realize where the money comes from.

“The solar and wind industry has stayed under the radar for too long,” Jigar said. “You can’t stay quiet when people are targeting you. The people who benefit from clean energy need to know it—and they need to be organized.”

At the same time, he pushes back against the narrative that U.S. climate progress is slipping away. The majority of incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act, he notes, survived the recent budget deal—what he jokingly calls the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

“The OPPB by itself would be the second-largest climate bill ever passed,” he said. “Most of the production incentives for batteries, solar, and critical minerals are still in place. The foundation is solid—it’s the story that’s weak.”

To Jigar, this isn’t spin—it’s strategy. “We act like the underdog,” he said. “But we’re already the backbone of new power generation. It’s time to sound like it.”

EVs, Without the Anxiety

If clean energy has an image problem, so do electric vehicles. Americans, Jigar argues, want sustainability without the sense of sacrifice. His solution: plug-in hybrids.

“I told my parents and in-laws not to buy fully electric cars,” he said. “They got plug-in hybrids instead—about 35 miles of electric range—and they almost never use gas. A Level-1 charger in a wall outlet is enough.”

Smaller batteries mean lower costs and less demand for critical minerals while still covering nearly all daily driving. “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good,” Jigar said. “With a 35-mile hybrid, most days you’re electric. On the few days you need to drive further, you’re still covered.”

Critical Minerals and Circular Logic

Critics of the clean energy transition often point to the environmental toll of mining lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Jigar doesn’t deny the impact—but he insists on context.

“So let’s first reject the premise of the question. When you think about how much destruction we create to habitats around the world from pumping out 100 million barrels a day off the ground, putting it on ships, doing refineries… all of that stuff is offset by these critical minerals. And so the critical minerals, in the worst possible way that we can get them, are still 99% better than oil and gas.”

The future, he says, lies in circular systems—repurposing used EV batteries into microgrids, recycling solar panels, and designing products with their disposal already priced in. Several U.S. firms, backed by Biden-era incentives, are already exporting solar recycling technology abroad. “Circularity isn’t a dream,” Jigar said. “It’s the next phase of growth.”

Listen to the full conversation on the Scientista Podcast for a candid, funny, and surprisingly hopeful look at what it will take to keep the energy transition moving.