Path to Zero
Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)
Challenge
In the climate change conversation, fossil fuels have been painted as the villain with the “electrify everything” movement positioned as the heroic solution to all problems putting organizations like the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) on the defensive.
“Un-sticking” the electrification vs. fossil fuel narrative was seen as a nearly impossible task. Traditional media relationships had failed as reporters at major publications would not entertain or were prohibited from accepting any pitches that may have the potential to promote propane, in spite of its positive environmental attributes.
Solution
If the press wouldn’t let PERC tell its story, what if PERC let the press tell their story? Hahn developed an environmental thought leadership content platform called, The Path to Zero consisting of a purpose-built section on PERC’s website and an original podcast. The podcast, hosted by PERC’s CEO Tucker Perkins, served as neutral ground where climate change activists, energy industry executives, climate scientists, and a variety of reporters and content publishers immersed in the climate change discussion, could tell their stories. Along the way, they were also introduced to the climate-friendly attributes of propane and renewable propane.
The first episode of the Path to Zero podcast was recorded on May 20, 2020. Well over 120 episodes since, host Tucker Perkins has built more than 120 relationships with influential climate voices ranging from respected journalists including Sarah Golden (Green Biz Group), Elizabeth Findell (Wall Street Journal), Elizabeth Kolbert (New York Times), and Vox’s, Bryan Walsh to a Nobel Prize winner (Dr. Kevin Trenberth), and experts ranging from Dr. Scott Tinker, Katherine Hayhoe, Ginger Zee (ABC’s chief meteorologist) and the “Father of Environmental Justice,” Dr. Robert Bullard, have also been guests.
Results
The podcast episodes were then woven together in a book for which the Hahn team provided the manuscript entitled, “Path to Zero: 12 Climate Conversations That Changed The World.” To write the manuscript, the Hahn team drew from more than 100 podcast episodes. The historical futurism perspective of the book–looking back from years in the future to today has established Perkins as an energy futurist.
Today, along with the more than 100 high-value relationships built through through the podcast, copies of The Path to Zero book are now in the hands of thousands of people, and Mr. Perkins is now introduced at stage events and in press interviews, as “Author of…” He has become an accepted and trusted expert on energy matters through outlets like the TD Ameritrade, now Schwab Network (six appearances), ABC, NBC, and CBS radio, CBS-TV, FOX Business News, Bloomberg, USA Today and Forbes.