Meet Nicholas Jansen
Meet Nicholas Jansen
Rural Clean Energy Organizer
nicholas.jansen@groundworkcenter.org | (231) 941-6584 x721
As Groundwork’s Rural Clean Energy Organizer, Nicholas will be working to help rural communities move forward to successfully expand clean energy infrastructure in ways that work well for farmers and other rural landowners while also working for rural communities more broadly. Nicholas grew up in rural Michigan surrounded by farms and small towns and carries an appreciation for and understanding of how culture and landscape are inextricably woven together in rural regions.
“I believe one of the best ways to find joy and happiness is to build strong communities and that requires bringing people together around ways we are similar, not dividing over ways we are different,” Nicholas says. That philosophy will shape how Nicholas approaches what can at times be a fraught process, as communities grapple with how to regulate installation of renewable energy infrastructure in the countryside.
Nicholas will focus on two constituencies that are essential for Michigan to meet its clean energy goals. One focus will be working with three northern Michigan electrical co-ops to advocate for more rapid expansion of renewable energy generating capacity. The second focus will be residents of rural northern Michigan counties where clean energy projects are being proposed. He will lay a base of factual information, counter misinformation, and illustrate benefits, such as farm family financial stability and tax dollars to improve community infrastructure.