Clean Energy Action Board and Staff

Leslie Glustrom, Research Director

Leslie Glustrom is a founding member of Clean Energy Action. She is trained as a biochemist and has spent over 30 years working at the interface of science and society in a variety of roles, including science writer, policy analyst, college instructor and research lab manager.

In 2004, she resigned from her job managing a protein structure research lab at the University of Colorado-Boulder in order to work full time on climate change. She has intervened in numerous dockets at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission with an emphasis on issues related to Xcel’s generation fleet and rates. She has played a pivotal role in helping draw the connection between coal-fired generation and climate change and has worked to accelerate the transition to the post-fossil fuel world.

In February 2009 she authored an extensively referenced report on US coal supplies entitled, “Coal—Cheap and Abundant—Or Is It? Why Americans Should Stop Assuming that the US Has a 200-Year Supply of Coal.” The report is available for free download from www.cleanenergyaction.org. Leslie has traveled extensively and now works with regulatory staff and citizen activists in many states to raise awareness about US coal supply and cost issues.

In 2005 and 2010, Leslie received Plan Boulder County’s Award of Recognition, the Gilbert White Award, for outstanding service; in 2011 shared the Boulder Weekly “Citizens for Boulder’s Clean Energy Future” award, and in 2012 the Earth Guardians “Steward of our Future” award.  She is also the recipient of the Colorado Solar Energy Society President’s Award, the Boulder County Audubon Community Conservation Award, and the Colorado Renewable Energy Society Larson-Notari award. She is a co-founder of Clean Energy Action, as well as, Woman in Sustainable Energy (WISE)-Colorado, Ratepayers United of Colorado and RenwewblesYes.org.

Leslie and her husband of over 30 years presently live in Boulder, having previously lived and worked in Wisconsin and Arizona. They are the parents of two grown children.

Amy Guinan, Development Director

Amy Guinan

Before joining Clean Energy Action, Amy Guinan completed a 2-year long environmental and social justice leadership training course on the University of Colorado campus called INVST.  This program helped train her in grassroots organizing and movement building.  While at Clean Energy Action, she has put these skills to work to motivate her local community to take pro-active steps towards moving off of coal-based power and towards increased clean energy.

Amy also has experience  in organic food sales and management and has worked with a number of local, organic food companies to help them grow their distribution and cultivate effective marketing.

When she is not attending a rally at a coal plant, Amy likes to rock climb, mountain bike and ski.

Julie Zahniser, Board President

A long-time Colorado resident, speech-language pathologist and educator, Julie Zahniser joined the Clean Energy Action Board of Directors in 2008 because of her growing concern about the need to respond to the Global Warming Crisis. Ms. Zahniser and her then husband built a primarily passive solar home in Boulder County in the 1980′s where they raised their children to enjoy, respect, and steward the beautiful Colorado mountain outdoors. Previously involved in her local Sugarloaf community, school outdoor education programs, and the Sierra Club, Ms. Zahniser is a fairly recent but enthusiastic member of the energy activism community. “There is no point in teaching children to talk if the planet is burning up.”

Alison Burchell

Alison Burchell, CEA Board Member

Alison Burchell is a professional geologist with a dual B.S. in Chemistry and Environmental Planning, an M.S. in Tectonics and Isotope Geochemistry and certifications in GIS and Remote Sensing. Following a Fellowship with the U.S. Dept. of Interior and US Geological Survey, she established a private consulting practice on issues including: crustal processes, reef and wetland preservation, land-reclamation, siting analysis for renewable energy projects and stakeholder facilitation; and research includes quantifying the mechanisms and kinetics of terrestrial sequestration.  In 2005, she received Plan Boulder County’s Award of Recognition for outstanding service, and co-founded both Clean Energy Action and Ratepayers United of Colorado.

Anne Butterfield, Board Treasurer

Anne Butterfield is a columnist for the Boulder Daily Camera, writing usually on local energy issues. Her column also appears in NewEnergyNews and on Renewable Energy World.  With two English degrees, her foray into energy writing was compelled by her view that non-technical people ought to be discussing energy, since they will have to be voting on it.

She’s lived the volunteer life, tackling gigs such as being a felony victim advocate at the local district attorney’s office and building the sandstone patio labyrinth at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Her life is also organized around her husband Sandy, the CEO of Boulder Wind Power, plus her stepson (also in the wind analysis business), two gardens, 60 houseplants, and her heart-throb chow mix named Maitai.

Michele Jackson, Board Member

Michele Jackson

Michele Jackson moved to Colorado in 1998 to join the faculty of the University of Colorado, where she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication. She has extensive experience with administration and program building, serving as Department Chair and currently as the architect and founding Director of ASSETT, a College-wide program to support the use of technology for teaching and learning in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Dr. Jackson also helped found and currently co-directs the Communication program CASE for Sustainability, which works to provide students opportunities to serve their communities in the interest of environmental sustainability.

Susan Perkins, Board Member

Susan Perkins

Susan Perkins is the Principal of Perkins Energy Law, a renewable energy law firm in the Denver Tech Center which has as its focus providing legal and energy policy assistance for the development of renewable and sustainable energy resources in Colorado.  Ms. Perkins has practiced law for over thirty years in the energy sector, and founded her own firm in 2004.  She contributes personally and professionally to the formulation of local, state and national renewable energy policies, and represents a wide range of clients who share the common goal of advancing the use of renewable and sustainable energy resources.  These clients include municipalities, real estate developers, producers of carbon offsets, and companies involved in distributed and utility-scale solar, wind, biomass and geothermal technologies.  Ms. Perkins advocates for the expansion of renewable resources and for democratized control over local energy supplies, and has worked with organizations such as the Boulder Decarbonization Tech Team and Clean Energy Action to advance these goals.

*All photos, dgrinsberg, all rights reserved