Climate Crisis Takes Center Stage at 2008 Environmental Leadership Dinner
Keynote Speaker Cathy Zoi, Head of Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection
August 29, 2008
The Illinois Environmental Council ratchets up its year-long emphasis on the issue of global warming and the climate crisis with the selection of Cathy Zoi, the chief executive officer of the Alliance for Climate Protection, as keynote speaker of the sixth annual Environmental Leadership Dinner Thursday, Sept. 25.
Zoi joined the Alliance for Climate Protection, the non-profit, non-partisan effort to halt global warming founded by former Vice President Al Gore, in February 2007. The Alliance’s We Campaign aims to educate people about the need to solve the climate crisis and draws from the best practices of successful commercial, social marketing and political campaigns. We combines advertising, online organizing and partnerships with a diverse and growing group of grassroots organizations, to educate the American public on the urgent need to solve the climate crisis and activate them to demand real solutions from elected officials.
Zoi has spent more than two decades in the energy and environmental sector in the United States and Australia and has led private sector and government organizations in developing technologies and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the pioneering Energy Star program and the first nationwide Green Power program. She serves on the board of the California Clean Energy Fund and also chairs the board of the Climate Institute, a non-profit Australian organization to focus public attention on the importance of climate change. She was chief of staff for environmental policy in the Clinton White House.
Zoi was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Australian Government for her contributions to sustainability in 2003 and was profiled in the March 2006 issue of Rolling Stone magazine as a global warming “Warrior and Hero.”
The choice of Zoi as IEC’s annual dinner speaker reflects the organization’s growing emphasis and work on the issue of global warming as it impacts Illinois. In 2007, IEC facilitated the formation of the Illinois Climate Action Network (Illinois CAN), a coalition of environmental, faith and health organizations that advocates for policies necessary to reduce global warming pollution to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Since June, IEC has hosted a series of town hall meetings around the state to build support for climate change legislation introduced in the last session that included the omnibus Global Warming Response Act (SB2220/HB5254) and the Illinois Clean Cars Act (HB3424/SB2238).
Zoi's selection to keynote IEC’s annual dinner also continues a tradition of timely, thought-provoking speakers for the event. Other headliners have included Attorney General Lisa Madigan in 2003; then-U.S. Senate Candidate Barack Obama in 2004, and Fran Pavley, a leading advocate of a landmark California state law regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks in 2007.
The 2008 Environmental Leadership Awards will also be presented at the annual dinner. These honors highlight exceptional and extraordinary achievements by individuals and organizations in Illinois on behalf of the environment.
This year’s Environmental Leadership Awards recipients are:
- Chicago Recycling Coalition, which has persevered in its 15-year fight to create a better recycling program for the City of Chicago,
- Dan Rosenthal and Ina Pinkney, founders of the Chicago Green Restaurant Co-op, which links businesses with local sources of sustainable products, and
- Strachan Donnelley, a posthumous award to this conservationist and philanthropist who was founder of the Center for Humans and Nature.
The 2008 Environmental Leadership Dinner takes place Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Hotel InterContinental Chicago, 505 N. Michigan Ave. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by the dinner and speaker at 7 p.m. Tickets are $150 per person; $25 for students. Table sponsors are $1,500 and Corporate, $2,500.
For more information or to register, call 217-544-5954 or click on the link to the dinner on our website homepage. For more information about the Illinois Climate Action Network, visit www.illinoisclimateactionnetwork.org.
For more information about the Alliance for Climate Protection and the We Campaign visit www.wecansolveit.org.
 |
|
