ELI Report

Climate Trailblazer: EPA leader Carol Browner receives ELI award, honoring life’s work to protect public health, environment

This year’s ELI environmental achievement award was presented to Carol Browner, a true climate champion and the longest-serving EPA administrator. An award ceremony was held in person on October 19 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., and streamed live on YouTube. The annual event convenes law, management, and policy professionals to honor outstanding achievements in environmental protection. Proceeds support ELI’s research and education programs and publications.

Browner is best known for her work as administrator of EPA from 1993 to 2001 — the only person to ever hold the position for two consecutive terms. Among many accomplishments, she led the agency to adopt the most stringent air quality standards in U.S. history at the time, to help reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act and Food Quality Protection Act, and strengthen enforcement operations.

Former President Bill Clinton offered congratulations via video, calling Browner “one of the finest EPA administrators ever to serve.” He highlighted Browner’s achievement of the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which created more stringent ozone standards and introduced rules for fine particulate matter.

These standards, as noted by Clinton, “led to 43 million more Americans breathing clean air.” For this, and for launching the EPA brownfields program and “elevating environmental justice as a crucial agency priority,” Clinton praised Browner as “one of America’s most knowledgeable and trusted voices on environmental policy and sustainability.”

Providing in-person remarks, former EPA General Counsel Jon Cannon spoke to the extraordinary character and determination that drove Browner’s leadership. During intense opposition toward strengthened air quality standards, when “she was thought to be out of line, and her job was on the line — she did not flinch,” he mentioned.

Cannon added that among her many achievements, Browner embedded equity measures in the Superfund program, expanded the toxics release reporting measures, and “sowed the seeds for climate change policy in this country.” Following her tenure at EPA, Browner continued her work on climate as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama administration.

Browner’s acceptance of the award was celebrated in the form of an on-stage interview with incoming ELI President Jordan Diamond. The two discussed challenges and successes of Browner’s long career, including her focus on environmental health and communicating the importance of EPA’s work to the public.

The ceremony also featured a farewell to outgoing ELI President Scott Fulton and a welcome to Diamond, who will take over the presidency in January. Board member Hilary Tompkins thanked Fulton for his many contributions throughout six years of service, and for “putting ELI on the map, not only domestically but also globally.” She emphasized his tireless efforts to lead the organization to serve the rule of law, the environment, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Institute will build on a strong track record for the past year as it moves into new leadership. Educational programs continued to expand, while the research and policy division earned record-breaking investments in ELI’s analysis and capacity-building work from foundations and donors.

Acknowledging the tremendous challenges that remain, Fulton encouraged the audience to “take this moment that we’re in as a catalyst to carry us to where we need to go.”

Institute welcomes Jordan Diamond as next president

Following a nationwide search, the Institute has announced that Jordan Diamond will begin as ELI’s next president on January 1. Diamond began her career at ELI, holding positions as law fellow, staff attorney, and co-director of the Ocean Program. For the past seven years, Diamond has served as executive director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment.

During this time, she expanded the center’s team and research portfolio fourfold. She helped launch a number of initiatives, including the AmeriCorps fellowship GrizzlyCorps and the California-China Climate Institute. Diamond also co-directs the Law of the Sea Institute at UC Berkeley.

She has been recognized for her outstanding ocean and climate leadership on numerous occasions. Diamond was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the California Ocean Protection Council, and has received the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Distinguished Environmental Advocates: The Next Generation Award. She has also received ELI’s own Environmental Futures Award.

As co-director of ELI’s Ocean Program, Diamond focused on local and regional ocean management issues from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. Her research supported the role of Alaska Natives and Indigenous peoples in marine governance, and analyzed offshore energy management systems.

Diamond was formally introduced at the annual award ceremony in October by ELI board member Nadira Clarke. “Jordan is an accomplished executive, a recognized expert, an experienced fundraiser, and perhaps most importantly, Jordan has her heart at ELI,” Clarke said.

At the event, Fulton formally transferred the presidency with the handover of the ELI leadership baton. The transition concluded with a brief thank you speech from Diamond.

“The day will come, many years from now, when [my children] ask what I did to try to protect them. I want to tell them I did everything I could possibly think of to achieve a just, equitable, healthy world for all. And I’m so grateful to rejoin the ranks of ELI to do exactly that.”

Food waste initiative hosts live cooking demo using “scraps”

On October 15, the Nashville Food Waste Initiative partnered with the James Beard Foundation, Nashville Mayor Cooper’s Food Saver Challenge, and Vanderbilt University to host a “Waste Not” cooking demonstration featuring Julia Sullivan, renowned chef and co-owner of Henrietta Red.

While presenting vegan recipes, Sullivan described strategies chefs use to maximize ingredients, minimize waste, and create restaurant-quality dishes.

The livestreamed event brought together hundreds of viewers from around the country — in person at Vanderbilt and online — to raise awareness about food waste and encourage creative solutions for chefs and households.

Up to 40 percent of all food in the United States goes uneaten. As business owners who place a high priority on avoiding waste, chefs like Julia Sullivan “make ideal teachers to help everyone reduce their own impact at home,” noted Ann McBride from the James Beard Foundation in opening remarks.

Speakers included Nashville Mayor John Cooper, who thanked ELI and its partners for bringing attention to the issues of food waste and food insecurity. He emphasized the importance of “industry leaders showing us the way,” adding that restaurants participating in the Mayor’s Food Saver Challenge, which ELI helped to develop, “are an essential part” of the work that needs to be done.

For the demo, Sullivan prepared a shaved squash salad and squash purée with roasted cauliflower. Along the way, she highlighted different tips and tricks for using ingredients typically considered food scraps. For instance, toasted butternut squash seeds can be used as a garnish, while roasted squash peels and stems can be eaten and puréed along with the rest of the vegetable. Simmering vegetable or meat trims for stocks and pickling leftover produce are just another few innovative ways to prevent waste at home.

Jordan Rogers, executive chef at Vanderbilt, also demonstrated a cocktail recipe using ginger peels and mint stems. The recipes are available on the ELI and James Beard Foundation websites, and the event recording is available on YouTube Live.

ELI Senior Attorney Linda Breggin co-directs ELI’s Food Waste Initiative and serves as a senior strategic advisor to the Nashville Food Waste Initiative, a project piloted by NRDC and now led by Nashville nonprofit Urban Green Lab.