Convo: Mike Rufo on Melding Environmental Activism and Musical Passions
In this Earth Day Special of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Mike Rufo, Musician and Energy / Climate Policy Consultant and Activist. Mike has had a long and distinguished career working with energy efficiency and modelling, as well as resource planning and cost effectiveness evaluations. He is now semi-retired, focusing on his career in singing-songwriting, with three albums since 2012 and another recently released.
Ted and Mike discuss his background, sharing that he had an untraditional childhood, landing in the flats of Hollywood in the early 70s when he was 12. He shares that there was a moment while living in Hollywood when he became aware of what smog was and how car-heavy LA was. The use of gas and nonrenewable resources didn’t make sense to him, which led him down an environmental path in his studies and career.
Ted and Mike then dive into his pivot from 30 years in virtually all aspects of energy resource consulting and management, to music and activism. Music, for him, became a vessel to be environmentally active. He shares that he is a Board Member of Music Declares (Climate) Emergency-US, which comprises a group of artists, music industry professionals and organizations that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency, and call for an immediate governmental response to reverse climate change. They believe in the power of music to promote the cultural change needed to create a better future.
Mike recorded his first album in 2012, and recently released his new album, “living is,” debuting a single from the album, “The Reckoning” which is his ode to Earth, live on the podcast for Earth Day!