Dan Misch spent five years in the Navy. When he left for civilian life, a career in clean energy was not on his radar.

“I did not know very much about clean energy or climate change when I got out of the Navy,” he says.

But he got a job at the Department of Energy. And as he learned more, he became passionate about the benefits of solar and wind.

“The clean-energy transition is going to strengthen our future national security by reducing our reliance on foreign fuels, diversifying our energy sources and our investments in those energy sources, and mitigating the worst impacts of climate change,” he says.

Today Misch is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and founder of the Veterans Advanced Energy Project, which recruits veterans for clean energy jobs.

“Most military veterans, for one reason or another, have a mission-oriented, service nature to contribute to society and defend their country – both while wearing the uniform and after they take the uniform off,” Misch says.

So he helps them understand how working for clean energy can support national security.

“We hope to help make veterans feel good about what they choose to do in their post-military careers,” Misch says.

Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media.