Tom Cotter (born June 29, 1972) is an American conservationist, entrepreneur,

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

advocate, and ordained

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

minister living in

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Biography

Early life and inspiration

Tom Cotter grew up in Napa Valley,

California, United States California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. A significant influence of his work was the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. In 1988, Cotter was awarded the title of Eagle Scout.

Professional career

In 1997, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

clergy at First

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...

in Napa, California. He served as a pastor at Clovis Christian Church in Clovis, California, from 1996 to 2006. From 2006 to 2015, Cotter worked in sales leadership in the U.S. Photovoltaic Industry, starting at ReGrid Power, which was later acquired by Real Goods Solar. He also worked at Sunrun. From 2015 to 2017, he worked as Regional Sales Manager a
Renew Financial
for the California counties of Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. Cotter has worked as an adjunct professor of Theological Ethics and the Environment at Fresno Pacific University.

Personal life

Cotter lives the family life residing in Clovis, California, with his wife, Christi Gaither, and their children. The family has down to earth spirit, loving nature and a pretty yard while at the same time host's lar power and solar thermal system in their home. Mr and Mrs cutter are frugal in cost-effective. Cotter is a part of the California Climate Ride, a 320-mile bicycle benefit ride for bicycle advocacy and renewable energy down the coast of California from Eureka, California to San Francisco, California.

Sustainability education and advocacy

Community

In 2007, Cotter and Socient CEO, Victor Ramayrat, co-founded Green Fresno, a free online community and information portal (in 2012 it was relaunched as Green Central Valley). Cotter is the organizer and curator of the annual Fresno Solar Tour part of the

American Solar Energy Society The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is an association of solar professionals and advocates in the United States. Founded in 1954, ASES is dedicated to inspiring energy innovation and speeding up the transition toward a sustainable energy ec ...

's National Solar Tour. Cotter is an Organizer of Fresno

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

, purposed to inspire and mobilize individuals and organizations to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. Cotter is the creator and organizer of Fresno Green Drinks, a monthly informal gathering of environmental field experts, educators, public servants, activists, and individuals looking to learn from and encourage one another toward broader ecological stewardship in the Fresno metro area. As of May 2012,

Green Drinks Green Drinks is an informal networking event where environmentally minded people meet over drinks. Started in London in 1989, by Edwin Datschefski, Paul Scott, Ian Grant and Yorick Benjamin, it has spread to 51 cities in the United Kingdom, 400 in ...

was active in 642 cities worldwide. In 2012, Cotter became a Climate Leader in the Climate Leadership Corps with the Climate Reality Project. Cotter served as a Technical Advisory Committee Member fo
Energize Fresno
in the Private Business, Development, and Finance Sector in 2017.

Board of directors

Cotter serves on the Board of Directors of the Solar Living Institute. Cotter is the past president and chairman of the board of directors at the International Green Industry Hall of Fame, which promotes ecological sustainability worldwide by recognizing individuals and organizations for outstanding achievement(s) in the Green Industry and provides an educational forum for the international public. Cotter is a past member of the board of directors at

Restore Hetch Hetchy Restore Hetch Hetchy is a US non-profit organization seeking to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park to its original condition. History The Hetch Hetchy Valley was sculpted by glaciers as recently as 10,000 years ago (like ne ...

Film

Cotter is a producer of the short documentary film, Forest Man. The film chronicles the story of

Jadav Payeng Jadav "Molai" Payeng (born 31 October 1959) is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli, popularly known as the ''Forest Man of India''. Over the course of several decades, he has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the riv ...

, an Indian man who single-handedly planted nearly 1,400 acres of forest to save his island, Majuli, India. The film is directed by William D. McMaster of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The film was released in the summer, of 2013.

Political

In 2010, Cotter worked with California's No on Prop 23 Campaign. This proposition would have suspended

AB 32 The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill (AB) 32, is a California State Law that fights global warming by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state. AB32 was c ...

, a law enacted in 2006 legally referred to as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Prop 23 was defeated by California voters during the statewide election by a 23% margin.County Summary Status for the November 2, 2010, Statewide General Election
, California secretary of state, November 3, 2010 In 2012, Cotter worked to get the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to expand

net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly importa ...

in California. In 2012, Cotter worked to get the passing of Proposition 39 - California Clean Energy Jobs Act.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotter, Tom 1972 births Living people People from Clovis, California People from Napa County, California People associated with renewable energy Christianity and environmentalism 21st-century Protestant religious leaders Renewable energy in the United States American motivational speakers Activists from California American conservationists