Alex Honnold — the guy who scaled El Capitan with nothing but chalk and an alarming lack of self-preservation instinct — was in San Francisco recently on a different kind of mission: raising millions for clean energy.

Honnold's approach is worth noting. The world's most famous rock climber has been putting his own money and reputation on the line to fund clean energy projects.

His foundation and personal investments have focused on practical energy solutions — solar installations in developing communities, efficiency projects that actually pencil out. The man who famously trusts his own two hands more than any safety net seems to apply the same philosophy to energy work: do the work, prove the concept, then scale it.

San Francisco, to its credit, appears to be helping Honnold take his fundraising efforts to the next level.

Clean energy doesn't need to be a partisan issue. The fact that the guy doing it also happens to hang off 3,000-foot granite walls without a rope just makes the story better.

Naturally, Honnold also squeezed in a climb while he was in town. Because of course he did.