THE BREN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT
at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Presents

"Environmental Injustices: Another Inconvenient Truth"

Hosted by Bren School Dean Ernst von Weizsäcker

Biography

Jerome Ringo recently completed a historic two-year term as chairman of the board of the National Wildlife Federation, which made him the first African-American to lead the board of any major conservation organization. During his time at NWF, Ringo was named “the most interesting environmental leader in the United States” by The Nation magazine, and was among Ebony magazine’s “most influential African-Americans.”

He is a leading conservation spokesman on a variety of issues, including global warming, the need for national water policies and projects to serve the public interest, the importance of restoring degraded wetlands of coastal Louisiana and other habitats, and the desirability of keeping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge free of oil development. In December 2005, he was named president of the Apollo Alliance, a coalition comprising business, labor, faith and conservation groups, as well as farmers and others united to forge an energy future that will both create jobs and reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. In 1998, Ringo was the sole African-American delegate at the Global Warming Treaty negotiations in Kyoto, Japan.

Ringo spent 20 years working in Louisiana’s petrochemical industry, during which he observed the disproportionate amount of cancer and other toxics-related health problems experienced by people living near industry plants and refineries. He joined fellow union members in fighting to secure a safe work environment and quality jobs, and he has long fought to empower those whose lives are negatively affected by the petroleum industry. He founded Progressive Resources Inc. to provide those communities with the expert technical assistance, legal counsel, and scientific advisors that would serve them in securing their rights and improving their quality of life.

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