Arthur O'Donnell:
CLASS OF 1971
Bayonne High SchoolClass of 1971
Bayonne, NJ
Rutgers University Class of 1975
New brunswick, NJ
St. Henry's SchoolClass of 1967
Bayonne, NJ
Arthur's Story
Life
Having escaped New Jersey during a "junior year in exile" program to the University of Oregon in 1973-74, I realized that I'd probably been meant to be born on the West Coast, but for a parent who used birth control, sending me to the next available womb in an Irish-Catholic family in Bayonne.
The career path went from fast-food cooking to radio news announcer and sometime DJ, getting a graduate degree in business/economics reporting in Seattle (UW), then becoming unemployable for too many months. Moving to San Francisco in 1983, I found success as a journalist, covering business, medicine and eventually the energy and utility industry, collecting awards, paychecks and memories along the way.
The love path followed a similar trajectory--almost getting married in 1980, until my fiancee determined her gayness; having several good if fleeting relations and far too many crash/burn affairs once I hit SF. Finally, my true love appeared in the form of an Irish-Catholic exile from Illinois, Terri Kelly.
Married on the Big Island of Hawaii on May 1, 1992, we share some 30 nephews and nieces but have decided not to bring a new life into this weird world ourselves. A succession of dogs, cats and rabbits make up an extended family of friends.
I was born on the day that Sir Edmund Hilary reached the top of Mt. Everest and Queen Elizabeth II was finally crowned. It's been all downhill since!
School
High schoool:
go to bed too late, wake up too early, check out the news, fake my way through classes with a few jokes and occasional studying, take tests, be amazed at how well or poorly I did, walk someone special home, go to work, eat dinner, listen to music, start all over again.
College:
go to bed too late, wake up too early, get to the campus radio station for the 6 am shift, go to classes when absolutely necessary, talk too much in class, get to work at the dorm dining hall or student accounts office, party with friends, listen to music, start all over again.
Grad school:
go to bed too late, wake up to early, bike to campus, read a whole lot, talk too much in class, write another paper, take another test, get home, make dinner for friends/housemates/lover, party, listen to music, start all over.
Workplace
In January 2008, I took on a new job and career as executive director of the Center for Resource Solutions, here in San Francisco, Best kno...Expand for more
wn for its Green-e certification and consumer protection programs for renewable energy (check your power bill, you might be a customer!) and carbon offsets, CRS is an international leader in energy policy and practice.
Prior to this gig, I was an independent journalist who covered the energy business from his home in San Francisco. In 2003, I self-published three books, "Soul of the Grid," "The Guilty Environmentalist" and "When Chelsea Came to Stay"--all available on Amazon.com and other fine e-stores.
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As a recognized expert on energy matters, O'Donnell has appeared in numerous media reports on the energy situation in California and the US Southwest and is a frequent speaker and panelist for industry groups, conferences and other public forums. He was honored as "Person of the Year" by the Power Association of Northern California in January 2003.
Prior to starting CEM in 1989, O'Donnell was a radio public affairs reporter in Eugene, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, and served as the San Francisco correspondent for a number of specialized news services, including McGraw-Hill's energy newsletter group (notably Electric Utility Week), the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), The Physicians' Radio Network, and various public radio programs. In 1980, he was named "Urban Reporter for Radio" by the National Urban Coalition of Washington, D.C., for producing and narrating the syndicated program "Neighborhood News Review" that documented community activism in Seattle.
He was also an affiliate relations coordinator for "The Wall Street Journal Report" radio news feature of Dow Jones & Company, New York, during 1981.
Among other journalism awards, O'Donnell was named 1st Place Winner in the SF Peninsula Press Club's annual award competition in the categories of "Industry Analysis Story" and "Best Column" in 1999 and 2000.
Along with other CEM staff, he shared a First Place honor from the National Press Club of Washington, D.C., in the category of "analytic reporting for newsletters" in the 2001 awards, as well as earning Honorable Mentions in the same category in 1997 and 2002.
O'Donnell holds a Masters of Communications from the University of Washington, and was a Graduate Fellow in Business and Economics Reporting in 1981-82. Undergraduate work was done at Rutgers College, New Jersey and the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR.
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