Victor Y. Liao of North Charleston Selected for National Clean Energy Leadership Program

2012 May 23

Clemson University student Victor Y. Liao has been selected as one of the nation's top rising young leaders in the clean energy sector by the national organization Focus the Nation.

Liao, a senior from North Charleston, is majoring in biosystems engineering with a minor in business administration.

He is among 20 students from across the country selected for their dedication, passion and unique contribution to increasing clean energy in America.

The young leaders - five each in the categories of Technician, Innovator, Politico and Storyteller - will meet for a week in August on Oregon's Mount Hood at the ReCharge! Retreat to viscerally experience an area of the country where energy is accelerating toward renewables.

Liao will represent Innovators at the retreat.

Participants in ReCharge! Retreat will hike Elliot Glacier, which has experienced 60 percent snowpack loss since 1982; tour the Boardman Coal Plant, scheduled to close by 2020; experience The Dalles Dam, located on the Columbia River and producing hydropower since 1957; and visit Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, which powers 125,000 homes in Oregon.

Focus the Nation created ReCharge! in collaboration with The Center for Whole Communities to address the need for rising leaders to approach energy challenges with innovative ideas and fortitude throughout their careers. ReCharge! is made possible through sponsorship by KEEN Footwear, Portland General Electric, LiFT Label, the Clif Bar Family Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Focus the Nation

Focus the Nation is the country's leading clean energy youth empowerment organization and supports rising leaders in launching careers that accelerate the transition to clean energy in all fifty states. Since 2008, the organization has helped more 300,000 young people engage in direct dialogue with business and elected leaders around energy solutions.