Carl Pope (environmentalist)

Carl Pope is the former Executive Director of the Sierra Club, an American environmental organization founded by conservationist John Muir in 1892. Pope was appointed to his position as Executive Director in 1992, and served until January 20, 2010, when he was succeeded by Michael Brune.[1] Pope then served as chairman of the Sierra Club until stepping down from that position in November 2011.

Pope had worked with the Sierra Club for more than 30 years, and has served as a board member for other organizations, including the National Clean Air Coalition, California Common Cause, and Public Interest Economics Inc. He has served as Political Director for Zero Population Growth. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1967 to 1969.[2]

Pope is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, a progressive website founded by Arianna Huffington.

In 2004 he published a book with Paul Rauber called Strategic Ignorance: Why the Bush Administration Is Recklessly Destroying a Century of Environmental Progress.[3]

On June 7, 2006, in Washington, D.C., Carl Pope, along with labor leader Leo Gerard, announced the formation of the United Steelworkers' and Sierra Club's Blue/Green Alliance, after five years of negotiations between the two groups.[4] The alliance focuses on interrelated issues that both organizations feel are important, including: a clean environment, better jobs, and a safer world.[5]

In July 2008, Pope appeared in a televised interview on the satirical news program The Colbert Report.[6]

In 2008, Pope expressed support for the Pickens Plan, an effort by T. Boone Pickens to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Pickens, a billionaire oil investor, Republican, and financier of conservative causes, took Pope to his ranch in west Texas, where Pickens and a group of investors plan to invest $12 billion in wind turbines.[7]

In January 2009, Pope had announced his intention to step down from the post of Executive Director, effective upon the hiring of a successor.

References

  1. ↑ "Carl Pope to Step Down as Executive Director of Sierra Club" (Press release). Sierra Club. January 20, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  2. ↑ "Notable Former Volunteers / Nonprofit and Development". Peace Corps. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  3. ↑ Pope, Carl; Rauber, Paul (2006-05-04). Strategic Ignorance: Why the Bush Administration Is Recklessly Destroying a Century of Environmental Progress. Sierra Club Books. ISBN 1-57805-125-8.
  4. ↑ "Sierra Club, United Steelworkers Announce 'Blue-Green Alliance'" (Press release). Sierra Club. June 7, 2006. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  5. ↑ "USW and Sierra Club Announced ‘Blue/Green Alliance’" (Press release). United Steelworkers. June 7, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  6. ↑ Colbert Report (July 21, 2008). "Carl Pope on "Better know a Lobby"". Press release. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/176354/july-21-2008/better-know-a-lobby---the-environmental-lobby.
  7. ↑ "Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind". Usa Today. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2008-08-19.

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