Laurie David

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Laurie Lennard (born 22 March 1958) is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and board member of California's Children Nature Institute. She is a contributing blogger to the The Huffington Post, and a political activist. She is also the wife of Larry David (co-creator of Seinfeld and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm).

Laurie David is best known for her efforts to stop global warming. She founded the Stop Global Warming Virtual March at http://www.stopglobalwarming.org with Senator John McCain and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

She was a producer for Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, starring Al Gore. David alleged in The Washington Post that the National Science Teachers Association rejected 50,000 DVD copies of the film, fearing risks to "the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters," which included Exxon Mobil. ^[1]

In addition to the Virtual March, David has produced several other projects to bring the issue of global warming into mainstream popular culture -- including the release of her first book, The Solution is You: Stop Global Warming – An Activist’s Guide, and the comedy special, Earth to America! for TBS, which aired November 20, 2005 and featured Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell, Steve Martin and Jack Black among many others. The show garnered positive reviews and sparked hundreds of TV, print and radio stories about global warming. In addition to An Inconvenient Truth, she produced the HBO documentary Too Hot Not to Handle on the effects of global warming in the United States, which aired on HBO April 22, 2006 and is now available on DVD.

In October 2006, David was featured in Glamour Magazine as one of its “Women of the Year,” for her efforts to stop global warming. She received the Gracie Allen Award for Individual Achievement by the American Women in Radio & Television and the NRDC’s 2006 Forces for Nature award for her work against global warming. In 2003, Ms. David was honored by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Riverkeeper organization. David received the Los Angeles' Children's Nature Institute for her commitment to the environmental education of young children.

As a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and a founding member of the Detroit Project, Ms. David has spearheaded numerous public education and action campaigns urging Congress and auto-makers to raise fuel efficiency standards and make higher mileage cars.

In January of 2004, the NRDC opened the David Family Environmental Action Center. Endowed by the David family, the Center embodies much of Ms. David's perspective on the environment and promotes activism to protect it. It features exhibits on issues such as global warming, ocean pollution, everyday toxins, and green building solutions.

Before working full time on environmental and political issues, David worked in the entertainment industry. She began her career in New York City as a talent coordinator for the David Letterman show. Four years later she left to start her own management company, representing comedians and comedy writers. She also produced several comedy specials for HBO, Showtime, MTV, and Fox Television. Upon moving to Los Angeles, David became vice president of comedy development for a division of Fox Broadcasting and developed sitcoms for Twentieth Century Television.

[edit] Controversies

While an avid advocate for the environment, David has been accused of living a less-than-green lifestyle, leading critics to tag her a "Gulfstream Liberal" or "Learjet Liberal." In an interview with The Guardian in November of 2006, Ms. David acknowledged that owning two homes on opposite sides of the country and flying in a private jet several times per year is a bit at odds with her message to others. In the interview she notes "Yes, I take a private plane on holiday a couple of times a year, and I feel horribly guilty about it. I probably shouldn't do it. But the truth is, I'm not perfect. This is not about perfection. I don't expect anybody else to be perfect either. That's what hurts the environmental movement – holding people to a standard they cannot meet. That just pushes people away."

Critics note that every hour of flying time in a mid-size private jet emits 6000 pounds of CO2 while every hour of commercial flying time emits just 230 pounds of CO2 per passenger. With per-capita emissions in the US at about 20,000 pounds of CO2 per year, three 10-hour flights (roundtrip) in a private jet for holiday represents 180,000 pounds of CO2, or the equivalent CO2 output of 9 people in the US for an entire year