Q: What excites you the most about the Executive Director job?
A: The opportunity to help provide political will.
Anyone who follows the news or understands environmental issues knows
that we face an unprecedented series of environmental challenges on
our planet. But we also have pragmatic, practical, very tangible
solutions to those same problems. The challenge for the Sierra Club
right now is to help close the gap between what we are doing in this
country, and what we're capable of doing, and I'm very excited to be a part of that.
Q: What scares you about the job?
Remembering everyone's name! We've doubled in size in recent years
at Rainforest Action Network, but RAN is still a relatively small
organization compared to the Sierra Club. It'll take me some time to
get acclimated and get under the hood to figure out how everything works.
Q: What will your priorities be at the Sierra Club?
A: I want to help the Club with the critically
important goal of passing strong energy and climate legislation. I
want to help it keep up the good work of stopping dirty energy and
creating a new clean-energy economy. And I'm motivated to accelerate the
"resilient habitats" program that views the protection and expansion of wild
places -- the Club's traditional mission -- as a means for adapting to the
threats posed by climate disruption. When most people think of climate
change, they don't focus on parts-per-million concentrations in the
atmosphere or other technical issues -- they care more about the
people and places that will be impacted. It's a priority for me
to continue the Sierra Club's great work in this regard.
Q: How did you first get interested in environmental
issues? Did you have a "eureka" moment?
A: I grew up in a family of "do-gooders" in New
Jersey. My mom is a public school teacher. My father owned his own
construction business and was mayor of Toms River Township for two terms.
My two sisters and brother are involved in their own way in making the world a better place.
Growing up on the beach in New Jersey, we were plagued by horrific
water-contamination issues. As a teenager, I would get rashes from
swimming in the ocean, which was polluted by a nearby chemical factory
and the dumping of hospital waste directly in the ocean. I saw firsthand
how a handful of environmental groups were able to inspire people in my
neighborhood to get involved -- and we prevailed! Hospital-waste dumping
was banned, the chemical factory was shut down, and the impact on the
environment was noticeable and immediate. That's how I learned that grassroots
activism can make a positive difference in the world, and it's a lesson I try to apply every day.
Q: You have two young children. How does being a dad affect you in your work?
A: I get a lot less sleep than I used to! Having
children changes everything -- it's a cliché because it's true. I
certainly don't want my children to live in a world where the air and water
are increasingly poisoned, or where water shortages and climate change produce
more destabilization and unrest. Being a parent produces an almost instantaneous,
gut-level desire to protect and provide for your kids a safe and healthy world.
For me, one of the ways to be a good parent is to be good at my job. I can't
take this work more seriously than that.
But there's another idea that's even more inspiring to me and my wife.
Certainly, we want our children's lives to be marked by a slowing of the
rate at which our environment deteriorates. Even better, however, is the
notion that our kids could live in a time where our greatest problems were solved.
Rather than talk about the forests that have been converted to strip malls,
we want our kids to talk about the coal plants that were converted to solar
factories, about where were ecosystems restored rather than degraded. We
want them to be part of the ecological and social "tire-screeching U-turn"
that David Brower used to mention.
Q: You're an outdoorsy guy. Do you have a favorite place or
an activity that inspires you?
A: I grew up on the beach, and that's probably where
I'm most comfortable. But now that I've lived in California for almost
15 years, I have a deep connection with California redwoods. I've been
fortunate to have traveled extensively, but there's no ecosystem in the
world quite like the redwoods here in our backyard. We get out for hikes
and go camping frequently, and we're lucky to have such beauty at our doorstep.
Q: What's your green eco cred? Do you have a plug-in car? Do you compost?
I'd like to think that my wife and I do a good job at walking our talk.
We don't have a plug-in hybrid (yet) but we've been driving a Prius
since 2004. We do compost, and we cultivated a vibrant, organic
garden this summer and grew our own tomatoes, lettuce, squash, artichoke,
eggplant, green beans, and so on. I even broke up the concrete driveway in
our back yard a year ago (and threw out my back) to double the size of the garden.
Q: What's your secret environmental sin? (e.g., I took the
low-flow adapter out of my showerhead).
A: My wife will laugh when she reads this, but I
have a deep, secret, unmet desire for a large-screen television.
Consider it a sin that I just don't have the heart to commit.
Maybe we can get one of those new LED televisions, because watching
Sports Center on our sad little set just doesn't do the job.
Q: You've worked with quite a few celebrities on green
issues. Do you have any good gossip?
A: Maybe, but those stories can be shared only
over the campfire or a bottle of Tequila. Or both.
Q: Where do you see the Sierra Club in ten years?
A: Doing its best work ever. I came to the
Sierra Club because there is no other organization in the country
with such a rich history, diverse and effective grassroots force, and record of success.
But to meet the challenges we face, the Sierra Club will need to continue to innovate
and be as effective at creating and implementing solutions as we are at stopping coal plants or logging projects.
I'm excited to see the Sierra Club become a more diverse and inclusive
organization. I'm also excited by the opportunities the Sierra Club has
to engage more with young people and find strategic ways to get youth involved in the
important work we do. Finally, I want to see the Sierra Club become more nimble and
aggressive at using technology to organize, advocate, and raise funds to advance
our programs. Just watching how the Red Cross was able to use text messaging to
raise millions of dollars in a weekend shows once again the power of technology to
bring people together to solve problems collectively.
Q: Have you received any advice from Carl Pope, who is moving
from the executive director position after 18 years to a new role in the Club?
A: Of course. Carl and I have only started our conversations,
but he's been a good mentor through the hiring process. Carl has done a fantastic
job in building the Sierra Club into the grassroots force that it is today, and his
continued counsel will be invaluable as I jump into the job and take on the task of filling his shoes.