In Memoriam: Environmental Champion Phil Clapp
In Memoriam: Environmental Champion Phil Clapp
Our guest blogger is Daniel J. Weiss, a Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
The effort to stop global warming lost one of its leading champions with the passing of Philip E. Clapp, Deputy Managing Director of the Pew Environment Group. He was the founder and President of the National Environmental Trust, which began in 1994 and merged with Pew in 2007. He was an advocate at Clean Water Action, and worked for then Rep. Tim Wirth (D-CO) to strengthen the Clean Air Act.
“Phil was an environmental hero who vigorously advocated the prompt reduction of global warming pollution,” said John Podesta, President and CEO of Center for American Progress. “His was a prominent voice for action, particularly in the international arena. He will be sorely missed.”
Phil strived to solve a number of environmental threats to human health, including smog, acid rain, toxic air pollution, and hazardous waste, among others. He made his greatest mark as an early and forceful advocate against global warming. Phil provided leadership in the international NGO community to ensure that their voices were heard at international negotiations over the planet’s fate. He was an expert at translating complicated discussions and convoluted proposals into every day concepts that the public, media, and public officials could understand.
Phil Clapp was both a dedicated environmentalist and a savvy politician. He was a strategic big thinker and an effective tactician. His first foray into politics occurred at age 15 when he left his Los Angeles home to go to New Hampshire in 1968 to work for Sen. Eugene McCarthy’s (D-MN) presidential campaign. That was his launching pad for a life dedicated to the pursuit of a cleaner, safer, healthier nation and planet.
3 Responses to “In Memoriam: Environmental Champion Phil Clapp”
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Rest in peace, Phil. You are missed already.
September 17th, 2008 at 3:52 pmPhil was my boss from the beginning of National Environmental Trust (predecessor of Pew Environment Group), and was an immensely important person in my life as well as in the environmental movement. He gave us a chance to defend the environment from a range of attacks in the 90s with a serious budget and a great deal of glee. We were entirely results-focused, and much of the time ran flat-out to win in the face of much better-funded opponents. Phil, operating with a lot of latitude on behalf of a consortium of funders, threw himself, and us, into the work and was an endless source of enthusiasm and ideas for getting it done. Working on the team that he assembled gave me many of the skills I needed to start a public interest PR business. So in large part because of Phil, I’ve been able to employ many other people in doing this work. And, it’s worth noting, he was a total character and unapologetic about it. Those of us who had the chance to work with him are already eulogizing him and pondering the shortness of life and the shock that he’s gone. — Peter Kelley
September 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pmToo bad the Gods and Priest of Global Warming cant do anything for Hell.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:46 pm