Early life
Tom Cotter grew up in Napa Valley, California, United States. A significant influence was the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Hiking, camping and fishing in beautiful Northern California through adolescence and the Boy Scouts rule: "Always leave the campground cleaner than you found it" led to a deep ecological awareness and accountability in adulthood.The original form of this rule was written by Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the father of scouting. In his final letter to the Scouts, Baden-Powell wrote:
...I have had a most happy life and I want each one of you to have a happy life too. I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life. Happiness does not come from being rich, nor merely being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be useful and so you can enjoy life when you are a man. Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one. But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. 'Be Prepared' in this way, to live happy and to die happy ... stick to your Scout Promise always ... even after you have ceased to be a boy ... and God help you to do it.
In 1990 Cotter was awarded the title of Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program.
Personal life
Cotter currently resides in Clovis, California with his wife, Christi Gaither, and their two children. He is the Sales Manager at the Real Goods Solar office in Fresno and is an adjunct professor of Theological Ethics and the Environment at Fresno Pacific University.
Environmental activism
In 2007, Cotter and Socient CEO, Victor Ramayrat, Co-founded Green Fresno, a free online community and information portal for exploring ecologically intelligent, commercially beneficial and socially productive living in the Fresno metro area. Green Fresno is part of the Fresno Interactive Network, a collection of vertical content websites focused on the Fresno region (Fresno County area). Through the combination of independent and company-owned web properties, the network uses that leverage to cross-promote relevant and contextual content (Fresno-focused) to all of the network site's web visitors.
Cotter is the organizer of the annual Fresno Solar Tour part of the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour, the largest grassroots solar event in history. At this educational event participants tour homes and buildings to see how their neighbors are using solar energy to reduce their cost for electricity. Solar tours were started by Real Goods Solar and Real Goods founder and President John Schaeffer in 1995 and was picked up by the American Solar Energy Society in 1999.
Cotter is the founder and organizer Fresno Green Week which is held each April in Fresno.
Cotter is the founder and organizer of Fresno Green Drinks, an informal networking event where environmentally minded people meet over drinks. As of September, 2010, Green Drinks is active in 731 cities worldwide.
Cotter is a principle organizer of the annual Fresno Earth Day, a valley-wide celebration of place with a vision of raising awareness about accessible solutions which will improve the quality of life in the Fresno region and ensure a healthy future.
Cotter is also a public speaker addressing various environmental topics such as solar, alternative fuels, sustainability, simple living and stewardship.
Environmental affiliations
- Solar Living Institute[1]
- No on Proposition 23 (Stop Dirty Energy Prop) [2]
- American Solar Energy Society
- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
- Green Drinks and Fresno Green Drinks[3]
- Vote Hemp
- National Biodiesel Board
- Rainforest Alliance
