Building Power for a Just Energy Future: A Climate Digest Interview with Brionté McCorkle

Chapters

00:00 Meet Brionté McCorkle 

00:34 From Mojave Desert Roots to a Career in Climate Justice 

03:15 Building Georgia Conservation Voters Around Equity from Day One 

08:35 A Drawdown Georgia Grant to Organize Electric Membership Cooperatives 

14:19 How Electric Membership Cooperatives Were Built, and Why That Matters Today 

18:34 How Drawdown Georgia’s Framework Shapes GCV’s Work 

21:31 How to Get Involved with Georgia Conservation Voters 

24:24 Where to Find GCV’s Reports and Resources 

25:41 What’s Giving Brionté McCorkle Hope

Resilience and leadership can take many forms in Georgia’s climate movement, from expanding rooftop solar in rural communities to empowering young voters to advocate for cleaner air and lower utility bills.

In this installment of the Drawdown Georgia Climate Digest video interview series, longtime climate justice advocate Eriqah Vincent sat down with Brionté McCorkle, Executive Director of Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV), to talk about how her team is organizing communities around clean energy and equity, and why she believes hope is one of Georgia’s most powerful renewable resources.

How Did Brionté McCorkle Find Her Way into Climate Work?

Brionté traces her connection to the environment back to moving to Georgia as a child from a military base in the Mojave Desert, and being struck by the state’s thick forests. That early sense of wonder turned into a calling during a college political science course, when a unit on climate change made her realize how fundamental a stable planet is to every other issue she cared about, from healthcare access to women’s rights.

How Is GCV Building Power with Georgia’s Most Impacted Communities?

When Brionté took the helm at GCV in 2019, she saw a chance to build an organization centered on racial equity and environmental justice from day one, focused on Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous communities, people under 40, and women. She explains why these groups are both most affected by climate impacts and most engaged on the issue, and how that focus led GCV straight to energy affordability as its core organizing focus.

What Did GCV’s Climate Solutions & Equity Grant Fund?

With support from a Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions and Equity Grant, GCV took on Georgia’s roughly 41 electric membership cooperatives (EMCs), mapping them out and building a public scorecard on clean energy adoption and transparency. The results were sobering: no EMC scored better than a C. Brionté explains how that scorecard became a starting point for helping residents understand they’re member-owners with the power to vote, and even run, for their EMC’s board.

Why Do Public Service Commission Decisions Matter, Even If You Don’t Pay Georgia Power?

Brionté breaks down a connection many Georgians miss: EMCs buy power wholesale from Georgia Power and Oglethorpe Power, so Public Service Commission decisions ripple down to EMC customers’ bills too, even though the PSC doesn’t regulate EMCs directly. She and Eriqah also discuss how the rapid growth of data centers is giving communities new reasons to pay attention to where their power comes from.

Whether you’re a member of an electric cooperative, a first-time voter, or simply looking for a reason to stay hopeful, this conversation offers a clear-eyed and energizing look at what it takes to build lasting power for a just energy future in Georgia.

What You’ll Learn

• How a college political science class turned into a career in climate justice.
• Why GCV centers Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous communities, young people, and women in its organizing.
• How a Drawdown Georgia grant funded GCV’s scorecard and organizing effort across Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives.
• Why Public Service Commission decisions affect your bill even if you’re not a Georgia Power customer.
• How rising data center development is changing the energy conversation in Georgia.
• Ways Georgians can get involved with GCV, from voter education to running for an EMC board seat.
• What gives Brionté McCorkle hope about Georgia’s climate future, and her message for anyone feeling hopeless.

Continue reading in our companion blog for additional examples, quotes, and key takeaways from Brionté’s conversation about energy democracy and building a just energy future for Georgia.

Download the Interview Transcript

Prefer to read the conversation instead? Download the complete PDF transcript of this interview with Brionté McCorkle to explore her insights on energy equity, electric membership cooperatives, and building power for Georgia’s climate movement.