Karim Ahmed, PhD
Senior Scientist, 1974-88
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Trained as a biochemist, Dr. Ahmed served as the NRDC’s Senior Scientist in the 1970s and 80s, and was instrumental in petitioning the U.S. government to phase out ozone-depleting CFCs in aerosol sprays.
James G. Anderson, PhD
Principal Investigator
Anderson Research Group, Harvard University
An atmospheric chemist, Dr. Anderson played a key role in the second National Ozone Expedition to Punta Arenas, Chile, by designing the instrument that measured chlorine monoxide levels in the Antarctic ozone hole—proving that CFCs were destroying the ozone layer.
William Becker
Executive Director
Presidential Climate Action Project
An international expert on sustainable development, Mr. Becker is the Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, which seeks to provide practical solutions for America’s leaders to address the climate crisis and move towards a new, clean-energy economy.
Richard Benedick, PhD
Chief U.S. Negotiator to the Montreal Protocol, 1985-87
State Department
As the Chief U.S. Negotiator, Ambassador Benedick played a key role in hammering out the details of the Montreal Protocol, the international treaty that phased out CFCs throughout the world.
Eileen Claussen
President
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
Currently the President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Ms. Claussen has had a prolific career in international environmental policy, serving in the Environmental Protection Agency—where she was responsible for issues such as ozone depletion, energy efficiency and acid rain—and in the State Department, the National Security Council and as Chairman of the UN Multilateral Fund.
David Doniger
Policy Director, Climate Center
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Now the Policy Director of the NRDC’s Climate Center, Mr. Doniger advocated for the phase-out of CFCs in the 1980s, and as an attorney for the NRDC, he filed an influential lawsuit to force the EPA to regulate CFCs under the Clean Air Act.
Daniel Dudek, PhD
Chief Economist
Environmental Defense Fund
Mr. Dudek is an international expert in cap-and-trade systems, who cut his teeth developing the cap-and-trade system used to regulate sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants—the source of acid rain.
Paul Epstein, MD
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
A medical doctor trained in tropical public health, Dr. Epstein is an international expert on the health effects of climate change who has contributed his knowledge to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Kevin Fay
Executive Director, 1980-89
Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy
Mr. Fay served as the Executive Director of the Alliance for Reponsible CFC Policy, a trade association of major CFC producers—including DuPont—that advocated against regulating CFCs before dramatically changing course and calling for a worldwide freeze on CFC production in 1986.
Ross Gelbspan
Journalist, Boston Globe, 1979-92
Author of The Heat is On and Boiling Point
A former Pulitzer Prize-winning editor at the Boston Globe, Mr. Gelbspan was one of the first journalists to focus national attention on climate change with the publication of his prescient 1997 book The Heat is On.
Sherri Goodman
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), 1993-2001
Defense Department
The former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security in the Clinton Administration, as Executive Director of the CNA’s Military Advisory Board, Ms. Goodman oversaw the publication of two groundbreaking reports—written by former generals and admirals—on national security and the threat of climate change.
Jeff Goodell
Journalist, Rolling Stone and New York Times Magazine
Author of Big Coal
A contributing editor at Rolling Stone, Mr. Goodell is the author of Big Coal, which uncovers the hidden costs to environment, health, and community of the coal-fired power plants that supply nearly 50% of our nation’s electricity.
Hunter Lovins
President and Founder
Natural Capitalism Solutions
Ms. Lovins is a nationally recognized expert in sustainable development—and the co-founder of nonprofit groups the Rocky Mountain Institute and Natural Capital Solutions—who argues that market mechanisms can fuel economic growth while protecting the environment.
Mack McFarland, PhD
Atmospheric Scientist
DuPont Corporation
A highly respected atmospheric scientist and contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. McFarland was instrumental in convincing the executive leadership of the DuPont Corporation to stop production of ozone-depleting CFCs and accelerate research into CFC alternatives.
Mario Molina, PhD
Atmospheric Scientist
UC San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Co-Recipient of 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
As a post-graduate fellow in Professor Sherry Rowland’s lab at UC Irvine, Dr. Molina co-developed the hypothesis that CFCs were destroying the ozone layer, for which he and Dr. Rowland were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995.
Bruce Nilles
National Coal Campaign Director
Sierra Club
Trained as an attorney, Mr. Nilles directs the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign, which is working to phase out coal mining and coal-generated electricity production in the United States.
Michael Oppenheimer, PhD
Chief Scientist, 1981-96
Environmental Defense Fund
A contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Oppenheimer served a productive tenure at Environmental Defense Fund, where he focused on the most pressing issues of the day—including ozone depletion, acid rain and climate change.
William Reilly
Administrator, 1989-93
Environmental Protection Agency
Mr. Reilly succeeded Lee Thomas as EPA Administrator, where he successfully negotiated the establishment of the Multilateral Fund that provided economic and technical incentives for developing countries to sign on to the Montreal Protocol—a model for what needs to happen in international climate negotiations today.
Shari Roan
Journalist, LA Times
Author of Ozone Crisis
A long-time journalist with the LA Times, Ms. Roan is the author of Ozone Crisis, the definitive account of the 15-year struggle to phase out CFC production and protect the ozone layer.
James Rogers
President and CEO
Duke Energy
As the President and CEO of Duke Energy, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, Mr. Rogers has publicly advocated for a cap and trade system to regulate CO2 emissions.
F. Sherwood Rowland, PhD
Atmospheric Scientist
UC Irvine
Co-Recipient of 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Dr. Rowland co-developed the hypothesis that CFCs deplete the ozone layer—for which he and Dr. Molina were awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry—and was a vocal advocate for phasing out CFCs throughout the 1970s and 80s.
Susan Solomon, PhD
Atmospheric Scientist
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Co-Recipient of 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. Solomon led the first National Ozone Expedition to Antartica in 1986, which laid the groundwork for proving that CFCs were causing the ozone hole, and was later a key contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
James Gustave Speth
Dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Co-Founder of Natural Resources Defense Council and World Resources Institute
The former Chairman of President Carter’s Council on Environmental Quality and the co-founder of both the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute, Professor Speth is an internationally-recognized scholar of environmental studies and the author of such books as Red Sky at Morning and The Bridge at the Edge of the World.
General Gordon Sullivan (retired)
Chief of Staff, 1991-95
United States Army
A former Army Chief of Staff during the Clinton Administration, General Sullivan is a member of CNA’s Military Advisory Board and co-author of its groundbreaking reports on national security and the threat of climate change.
Lee Thomas
Administrator, 1985-89
Environmental Protection Agency
As EPA Administrator during the Reagan Administration, Mr. Thomas forged the domestic and international consensus necessary to negotiate the Montreal Protocol, which phased out the production of CFCs worldwide—and provides the most important model for crafting a new climate change treaty today.
Robert Watson, PhD
Atmospheric Scientist, NASA, 1980-1993
Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 1997-2002
As a leading atmospheric scientist at NASA, Dr. Watson organized the National Ozone Expeditions that proved CFCs were causing the ozone hole, and developed the system of international scientific assessments that form the basis of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which he later chaired.