Honorees:

• Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Green Fund

  Sir Richard Branson’s track record of innovation and success is well-known. He is investing $3 billion over the next decade in energy sources that do not contribute to global warming. Last year he announced the creation of Virgin Fuels, a company that will invest up to $400 million over the next three years in biofuels. His first investment, Cilion, is a new California company building ethanol refineries designed to burn far less fossil fuel than conventional biofuel operations.
  Biography at virgin.com | Virgin Earth Challenge

• Mary Nichols, California Air Resources Board

  Mary Nichols is a longtime CLCV friend and former board member. She has been a top environmental official in the administrations of three California Governors as well as President Clinton. Most recently, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to chair the board of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the nation’s pre-eminent air quality regulator. CARB is tasked with carrying out the state’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020 under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Before this most recent return to government service, Mary served as Director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment.
  Mary Nichols bio

• EI Solutions, an Energy Innovations Company

  EI Solutions is one of California’s most experienced designers and builders of large-scale, grid-tied solar power systems. Founded in 2000, EI Solutions recently completed the 1.6 megawatt solar power system for Google’s main corporate office, the largest solar power system ever installed at a single corporate campus. EI Solutions’ other clients include Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Puget Sound Energy and Seghesio Winery.
  EI Solutions website

Keynote Speaker:

• California Attorney General Jerry Brown

  Listen to an excerpt from his keynote address at our December 4, 2007 event