Maria Virginia Olano

Maria Virginia Olano

Chief of Staff . .

Maria Virginia Olano is chief of staff at Canary Media. Before joining the Canary team, she worked on state-level climate policy advocacy, specifically focusing on communications strategies. She previously produced the podcast Political Climate and hosted and produced the podcast Cooler Earth. She grew up in Colombia and now lives in Boston.

Clean energy jobs

Only 2% of US electricians are women. Tonya Hicks wants to change that

As a Black woman, Hicks has faced her share of industry hurdles. Now she's on a mission to electrify buildings, make EVs more accessible and build the next generation of climate-aware electricians.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 18 December 2023
Solar

Chart: The US installed more solar in 2023 than ever before

The industry saw 55% growth over 2022, according to forecasts — but headwinds threaten to temper the momentum in the years ahead.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 15 December 2023
Workforce diversity

Charging Up: A chat with Suzanne Leta, head of policy and strategy at SunPower

Plus, climatetech career moves at Origami Solar, NextEra Energy Resources, Vineyard Offshore, Fermata Energy and more.

By Maria Virginia Olano, Eric Wesoff . 14 December 2023
Climatetech finance

Chart: How much are oil and gas firms spending on clean energy? Not much

Fossil fuel companies accounted for just 1% of global climatetech funding last year — while continuing to invest lavishly in their planet-warming products.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 1 December 2023
Workforce diversity

Charging Up: A chat with Constance Thompson, senior vice president of DEI at ACORE

Plus, climatetech career moves at Rabobank, Aurora Solar, Climate Line, SJF Ventures, Encore Renewable Energy, Galvanize and more.

By Maria Virginia Olano, Eric Wesoff . 30 November 2023
Solar

Chart: Here's where utility-scale solar is located in the US

Though a few states are leading the way, big solar installations are spread all around the country — and many more will get built in the years to come.

By Dan McCarthy, Maria Virginia Olano . 24 November 2023
Workforce diversity

Charging Up: A chat with Cynthia Adams, CEO of Pearl Certification

Plus, climatetech career moves at Intersect Power, CarbonQuest, Aurora Solar, AtmosZero, Mission Possible Partnership, EnergeiaWorks, SolarKal and more.

By Maria Virginia Olano, Eric Wesoff . 15 November 2023
Clean energy jobs

Chart: Which clean energy sector is creating the most new jobs?

More than 200,000 jobs have been announced since the IRA, most of them in battery manufacturing.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 3 November 2023
Workforce diversity

Charging Up: A chat with Jessie Feller, director of business development at UrbanFootprint

Plus, climatetech career moves at Invenergy, Arcadia, MassCEC, EnergyHub, Fortescue WAE, Joule Case and Energy Dome.

By Eric Wesoff, Maria Virginia Olano . 1 November 2023
Clean industry

Chart: Here's where the carbon-intensive steel industry is concentrated

China makes half of the world's steel, and steel makes up a huge portion of the world's carbon emissions.

By Maria Virginia Olano . 27 October 2023