CLCV's Byron Sher Lifetime Achievement Award

CLCV will hold our Environmental Leadership Awards ceremony Thursday night in San Francisco (more details here). Along with our other worthy nominees, we’ll be awarding the Byron Sher Lifetime Achievement Award to Congressman George Miller. For those who aren’t familiar with former State Senator Byron Sher, here’s why our award is named after him.

In short, Byron Sher is the most influential environmental champion in the history of California. CLCV awarded Senator Sher our Environmental Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. The following year, we named our Lifetime Achievement Award after him.

Senator Sher’s service to California’s environment over his career is unprecedented. In his 24 years as a member of the California Legislature, from 1981 to 2004, he was not just a reliable vote, not just a leader; he was an environmental icon.

Senator Sher is the author of many of the most important environmental laws ever passed in California, many of which alone would represent a significant environmental legacy, including:

  • AB 1362, which was the nation’s first law to prevent toxic contamination from leaking underground storage tanks (1983);
  • AB 2595, the California Clean Air Act (1987);
  • AB 939, the Integrated Waste Management Act (1989);
  • AB 21, the Safe Drinking Water Act (1989);
  • AB 3995, which was California’s first law to require electric utilities to use more renewable energy (1990);
  • AB 653, which permanently preserved free-flowing portions of seven rivers in California (1993);
  • SB 20, which established California’s successful e-waste program (2003);
  • SB 288, which nullified the Bush-era rollbacks of the Clean Air Act in California (2003);
  • SB 1078, which created California’s renewable energy standard (2002); and
  • SB 23, which expanded the state’s recycling program (2003).

Senator Sher began his career in public service on the Palo Alto City Council, serving for nine years including two terms as Mayor. He was a member of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission before being elected to the State Assembly in 1980 and the State Senate in 1996.

CLCV is proud to honor Senator Sher’s legacy by honoring environmental champions in his name.

Posted on June 22, 2014
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