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Responding to the Challenge of Global Warming
The National Conservation Achievement Awards & Dinner
Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C.
November 1, 2007
NWF's National Conservation Achievement Awards Dinner was held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC in early November 2007. Almost 600 people joined in the festivities, honoring our awardees.
Jack Hanna was the Master of Ceremonies, entertaining the crowd with his repartée and delighting us with his animal friends.
Noted wildlife photographer Howard Ruby graciously shared his phenomenal collection of arctic photos with us. Images of polar bears and puffins lined the halls and reception rooms, creating the perfect ambiance for honoring those who are leading the charge to confront global warming.
It was a truly inspiring evening.
Al Gore
As a member of Congress and the U.S. Senate, Al Gore began his “climate crisis” crusade 30 years ago. Through his best-selling book and Oscar-nominated documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, he has taken his advocacy to new heights – almost single-handedly awakening America to the reality of global warming and the need for immediate action. His efforts to educate the world about global warming are unmatched in this generation and have earned him a nomination for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben’s 1989-published book, The End of Nature, was one of the first written for a general audience about global warming. Today, McKibben is widely recognized as an environmental activist. He frequently contributes to magazines such as The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone and Grist, where he is also a board member. Last year, McKibben founded Step it Up ’07, an organization that coordinated anti-global warming rallies in all 50 states across the nation.
Stora Enso North America
A global leader in its industry, Stora Enso North America is an integrated paper, packaging and forest products company committed to reducing its impacts on the environment. A founding member of the Chicago Climate Exchange and active participant in the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, Stora Enso has received third party Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all its purchases of raw wood and FSC’s chain-of-custody certification for its newly launched environmentally preferable coated papers.
Kathy Kramer
Over the past eighteen years Kathy Kramer has developed a number of programs that educate and involve the public in local environmental issues. Under her leadership, the Bringing Back the Native Garden Tours and Creating Funding Partnerships for California Native Plant Projects successfully involved thousands of participants. As founder and Executive Director of the Aquatic Outreach Institute, Kramer earned a National Wetlands Award for leading programs that received local, state, and national awards for six years in a row.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has clearly stated his intention – his state will lead the country in the conservation of America’s environment. In 2005, Schwarzenegger mandated a 25% decrease in the state’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020. Since then, he has ordered a dramatic drop in the carbon content of transportation fuels and initiated a Hydrogen Highways program to encourage a state-wide increase in hydrogen fueling stations. Additionally, Schwarzenegger continues to oppose attempts to reopen the California coast to offshore drilling.
Annie Sugrue
Annie Sugrue is a founder of the innovative EcoCity concept, a poverty alleviation program initiated for the Johannesburg, South Africa area that promotes sustainable economic development. The model program, which Sugrue successfully implemented while serving as Executive Director of the EcoCity Trust, is being imitated around the world. Sugrue continues her activism through her consulting firm, EcoSasa and her involvement with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives and the Citizens United for Renewable Energy and Sustainability.
Wildlife Center of Virginia
Founded in 1982, the Wildlife Center of Virginia has become the world’s leading teaching and research hospital for wildlife and conservation medicine. With the mission to “teach the world to care about and care for wildlife and the environment,” the Center uses the clinical care of individual wild animals to gain unique insights into environmental issues affecting entire populations. The Center has treated over 50,000 wild animals and shared the lessons learned with over 1.4 million students and adults.
The Canaday Family Charitable Trust
The Canaday Family Charitable Trust’s generous 11-year support of NWF’s Biodiversity Partnerships project is unprecedented. As a result of that support, NWF can report major wildlife victories such as the release of 29 bald eaglets, the historic de-listing of peregrine falcons and the protection of critical bear habitat. NWF is one of several beneficiaries of the Trust, which was established to support Vermont-based organizations whose mission is to promote environmental education and conservation and preserve the environment.
Dr. Camille Parmesan
Since beginning her independent study of the butterfly’s response to global warming in the early 1990’s, Parmesan has become one of the nation’s leading scientists and an internationally recognized authority on the impacts of climate change on wildlife. She has participated for the past 10 years as author and reviewer of IPCC reports and determinedly educates key decision makers and the American public about the findings of her research: that species around the globe are disappearing due to climate change.
Rev. Richard Cizik
Rev. Richard Cizik is Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), America’s most influential Christian lobby group. Cizik’s controversial stance on environmentalism led to drafting of the Evangelical Climate Initiative’s “Call to Action” statement which recognizes the reality of global warming and insists that Christians have a moral responsibility to respond. His outspoken support of environmental issues has brought global warming conversations into the homes of roughly 30 million across the country.
Steve Curwood
Steve Curwood has been the Executive Producer and Host of the National Public Radio (NPR) Living on Earth show, now aired by more than 300 NPR U.S. affiliates, since it began in 1990. He is also the recipient of the 2003 Global Green Award for Media Design, the 2003 David A. Brower Award from the Sierra Club for excellence in environmental reporting and the 1992 New England Environmental Leadership Award from Tufts University for his work on promoting environmental awareness.
Laurie David
Laurie David has brought global warming into the mainstream through her activism, her best-selling book, The Solution is You: Stop Global Warming – An Activist’s Guide, and her innovative projects. She appeared as herself, discussing global warming, on the world’s most watched soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. As the first-ever guest editor of Elle Magazine, she created an issue that was devoted to the environment, printed on recycled paper, and ranked highest in sales of any May issue in fourteen years.
Colby Davidson
At 17-years old, Colby Davidson’s research has already made a difference in the conservation world. While a junior at Oregon’s Philomath High School, Colby documented the negative effect a Newton Creek dam was having on the migration of native trout and other species. As a result of his work, the dam was destroyed and the Mary’s River Watershed Council was formed to protect the waterway. Davidson has also been profiled in the Healthy Waters Institute newsletter for subsequent research findings. |
