The Clean Energy Future Is a Battle for Hearts and Minds

The
Energy

Transition

A broad, and sometimes quixotic, retail effort to win the fight against global warming is playing out one person at a time, with nary a mention of climate change.

This is the third article in a three-part series examining the speed, challenges and politics of the American economy moving toward clean energy.

Aug 16, 2023

Like many people driving an electric car for the first time, Mikey Marohn had questions: Could he drive hundreds of miles to visit his father without stopping? Where would the chargers be? How did you turn it on?

“I’m anxious,” said Mr. Marohn, a 34-year-old carpenter, as he settled behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Bolt near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

But after a test drive with Alicia Cox, executive director of Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities, a nonprofit group that promotes green transportation, Mr. Marohn had gone from skeptical to curious.

“I would consider it,” he said after Ms. Cox explained that he could save $3,000 a year in fuel costs if he…