Clinton has been focusing on the issues of climate change and resource depletion for at least 32 years, he said. In 1977, when he was Attorney General of Arkansas, he said he once brought Amory Lovins to come speak before the public utility commission about how energy efficiency could help prevent the construction of another nuclear plant.

But post-Presidency Clinton has done an even deeper dive into the subject of clean energy and energy efficiency, and is promoting support of these industries through his foundation and through speaking opportunities (like this one). Energy efficiency is the lowest hanging fruit, said Clinton, emphasizing that “We [the U.S.] have not made a serious attempt to take energy efficiency to scale.” Energy efficiency has the ability to create the most jobs for the investment, said Clinton.

After energy efficiency, Clinton said solar is the next clear opportunity. Solyndra failed because the Chinese came in with billions in subsidies and even bankrupted some of its own domestic solar firms, said Clinton. Clinton also sang the praise of waste to energy technology, saying he wanted more waste to energy technologies to be used in areas like Mumbai.

Clinton did have some ideas for how to help solve the clean energy problem and potentially break the log jam of bipartisan politics. “If every state had a renewable energy mandate it would be much easier to get clean power installed, said Clinton. Tax credits are always good in this area, he said during the Q&A.

Other theories were a little more offbeat. Clinton said he was impressed with all of the visible tattoos of the 2,000 plus construction workers on the site of Ivanpah, and said this made him ponder how if there were people with visible impressive tattoos that advocated and understood clean energy, then there would be more success for the clean energy industry in Washington D.C. Think of the tattoo vote.

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He is joining the company as corporate VP of strategic and special projects, reporting to CEO Steve Ballmer. According to a Microsoft statement, Penn will focus on “key consumer initiatives.”

The company said:

Penn will lead a cross-functional team focused on consumer initiatives and will draw on his experience in strategic development, branding and positioning to develop and deliver breakthrough ideas that meet consumers’ changing and dynamic needs. He will continue to write about consumer, demographic and social trends but will not be involved in public policy issues for Microsoft. Penn will remain based in Washington, D.C., but will spend substantial time in Redmond.

By most accounts Microsoft does need help in this consumer sector. It has seen wild success with its Xbox-Kinect tandem but otherwise is viewed as an also-ran in consumer electronics where it’s trying to catchup with Apple in tablets and smartphones. In short, Microsoft needs help there.

Penn is somewhat controversial. He left the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign under something of a cloud.

The 58-year-old Penn was worldwide CEO of PR giant Burson-Marsteller and CEO of the polling firm Penn Schoen Berland LLC. It was unclear if he would leave his role at the polling company. Penn also wrote Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes.

This is not the first time a tech company has turned to D.C. power players and master spinners for help. Oracle hired Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart as a senior VP in 2001 but he left six months later. More recently, Amazon added Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, to its board early this year.

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