FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter
Announces 2017 Award Winners
Lansing, MI – An East Lansing state official who strengthened and guided Michigan energy policy, the Michigan author of a groundbreaking report examining diversity within the nation’s environmental organizations, and Michigan journalists are among those receiving awards from the Michigan Chapter of Sierra Club this year.
The Michigan Chapter’s top award for public officials, the Jane Elder Environmental Leader of the Year, will be presented to State Rep. Sam Singh, the state House Democratic Leader who was essential in passing strong clean energy legislation in 2016. Singh earned a 100% environmental voting record from Sierra Club in the 2015-16 legislative session.
“Sam Singh’s leadership and persistence in supporting a clean energy economy for Michigan came at a critically important time for our state when lawmakers had to decide whether we would continue on our path of cleaner air and renewable energy,” said David Holtz, Chair of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Executive Committee. “Leader Singh’s commitment to a clean energy future will benefit Michigan families for years to come. He has truly earned the honor of being Sierra Club’s Environmental Leader of the Year.”
The Burton V. Barnes Award, which honors academic excellence in support of the environment, will be presented to Dr. Dorceta E. Taylor, Ph.D, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. Taylor’s groundbreaking report, "The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations", highlights the racial, gender, class and cultural disparities among environmental organizations throughout the nation.
WTVS Detroit Public TV’s report, Toxic Town: Michigan’s Most Polluted Zip Code and MLive journalist Garret Ellison’s enterprise reporting onEnbridge’s controversial Great Lakes Line 5 oil pipelines and Nestle’sgroundwater withdrawals in Michigan earned Sierra Club’s top environmental journalism honors this year.
Another top award, the White Pine Award, will be presented to Traverse City-based For the Love of Water (FLOW) for extraordinary dedication by an organization to Michigan’s environment.
Detroit activist Theresa Landrum will receive the Bunyan Bryant Environmental Justice Award for her leadership in fighting pollution in Detroit’s neighborhoods.
Other awards include:
The Marlene Fluharty Award will be presented to Chapter Chair David Holtz of East Lansing for his Sierra Club leadership in Michigan and at the national level.
Brimley resident Patrick Egan will receive the Michigan Chapter Chair’s Award for leadership as a member of the Chapter’s Executive Committee and as Finance Chair.
Ann Arbor resident Richard Morley Barron will receive the Theodore Roosevelt Political Leadership Award in recognition of his leadership as Chair of the Michigan Chapter Political Committee.
Everyl Yankee of Morrice will receive the Sylvania Award for excellence in leadership involving a new Sierra Club volunteer.
Montrose resident Denny Crispell will receive the Vince Smith Award for outstanding dedication to Sierra Club’s outings program.
The Trillium Award honors for outstanding youth environmental activism will go to East Lansing resident Sarah Tresedder for her strong commitment in supporting Sierra Club’s legislative, political and agricultural advocacy work.
The Ed Steinman Digital Excellence Award will honor Portage resident Bruce Brown for outstanding social media in support of the Southwest Michigan Sierra Club Group.
Brighton’s Lee Burton, chair of the Sierra Club Crossroads Group, will receive the Life of the Party Award, which honors volunteers who take seriously the Sierra Club’s credo “to enjoy the wild places of the Earth.”
The awards will be presented during a ceremony at the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter’s Annual Meeting on January 20, 2018 in Lansing.
##
