THE 10th ANNUAL JOHN H. CHAFEE MEMORIAL LECTURE

James Gustave Speth, J.D.
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Demos, New York City
Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
Dean Emeritus, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

A New American Environmentalism
and the New Economy

6:00 p.m. Thursday January 21, 2010
The New Green Economy Conference
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, DC

SESSION VIDEO ^new

James Gustave Speth, a leader in environmental education, recently joined Demos as a Distinguished Senior Fellow and will soon begin a position as Professor of Law at the Vermont Law School (2010).  In 2009 he completed a decade-long tenure as Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.  From 1993 to 1999, Speth was Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the UN Development Group.  Prior to his service at the UN, he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute; professor of law at Georgetown University; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality (Carter Administration); and senior attorney and cofounder, Natural Resources Defense Council.

Throughout his career, Speth has provided leadership and entrepreneurial initiatives to many task forces and committees who have worked to combat environmental degradation, including the President’s Task Force on Global Resources and Environment; the Western Hemisphere Dialogue on Environment and Development; and the National Commission on the Environment.  Speth also currently serves on the boards of the Natural Resources Defense Council, World Resources Institute, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Population Action International, The Center for Humans and Nature, 1Sky, and the Center for Sustainable Communities.  He is the author, co-author or editor of six books focusing on global environmental change, including the award-winning The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability and Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment.

He has been the recipient of the National Wildlife Federation’s Resources Defense Award, the Natural Resources Council of America’s Barbara Swain Award of Honor, a 1997 Special Recognition Award from the Society for International Development, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Environmental Law Institute and the League of Conservation Voters, and the Blue Planet Prize.  He holds honorary degrees from Clark University, the College of the Atlantic, the Vermont Law School, Middlebury College, and the University of South Carolina.

The Chafee Memorial Lecture is held in memory of the late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island, who was a champion of bipartisan, scientific approaches for protecting the environment.

JOHN HUBBARD CHAFEE (1922-1999)

Senator John H. Chafee (R-RI) born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1922. He continued on from there to become a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.

Upon the United States’ entry into World War II, Chafee left Yale to enlist in the Marine Corps, and then served in the original invasion forces at Guadalcanal. In 1951 he was recalled to active duty and commanded a rifle company in Korea.

John H. Chafee began his political career by serving for six years in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, during which time he was elected Minority Leader. Running for Governor in 1962, Chafee was elected by 398 votes. He then proceeded to be reelected in 1964 and 1966 -- both times by the largest margin in the State's history. In January 1969 he was appointed Secretary of the Navy and served in that post for three-and-a-half years. The beginning of John Chafee’s Senate career occurred in 1976. 

As Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Senator was a leading voice in crafting the Clean Air Act of 1990, which strengthened pollution emissions standards. He lead successful efforts to enact oil spill prevention and response legislation, and a bill to strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act. Senator Chafee was a long-time advocate for wetlands conservation and open space preservation, and was the recipient of every major environmental award.

As senior member of the Finance Committee, Senator Chafee worked successfully to expand health care coverage for women and children, and to improve community services for persons with disabilities. In 1990, Senator Chafee spearheaded the Republican Health Care Task Force and became a prominent figure in the national health reform debate. He went on to lead the bipartisan effort to craft a comprehensive health care reform proposal in 1994.

Senator Chafee also was a leader in efforts to reduce the federal budget deficit and cochaired the centrist coalition which produced a bipartisan balanced budget plan in 1996. He was an active proponent of free trade and was a strong supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He served as Chairman of the Republican Conference for six years.

The Senator received awards and endorsements from such organizations as The National Federation of Independent Business, The American Nurses Association, The League of Conservation Voters, The Sierra Club, Handgun Control Inc., Planned Parenthood, Citizens Against Government Waste, and the National PTA.

On October 24, 1999, Senator John H. Chafee died from congestive heart failure. He leaves his wife Virginia, five children, and twelve grandchildren.

Previous Chafee Memorial Lecturers:

2009 –  J. Craig Venter, Founder and President of J. Craig Venter Institute, JCVI (report-coming soon)

2008 – John P. Holdren, President and Director of Woods Hole Research Center and Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard University (report - pdf)

2007 – Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org and Founder of the Seva Foundation  (report - pdf)

2006 – Ralph J. Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences (report  - pdf)

2005 – William D. Ruckelshaus, First and Fifth EPA Administrator ( report - pdf)

2004 – Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize recipient ( report - pdf)

2003 – Rita Colwell, National Science Foundation Director ( report - pdf)

2001 – E.O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize recipient ( report - pdf)

2000 – Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland, Nobel Laureates ( report- pdf)

  **To request a hard copy of these reports, please complete form and fax to 202-628-4311