Interview with Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth
Grist Magazine recently interviewed the President of Friends of the Earth (FOE), Brent Blackwelder. FOE is an Earth Share of Washington organization
Q: With what environmental organization are you affiliated?
A: I am president of Friends of the Earth.
Q: What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute "mission accomplished"?
A: Friends of the Earth is a national environmental organization celebrating our 35th anniversary this year. We are part of Friends of the Earth International, with member groups in 68 countries. We defend the environment and champion a healthy and just world.
FoE often serves as a pioneer on environmental issues that are later adopted by other groups. For example:
- FoE helped launch the campaign to reform international financial institutions such as the World Bank.
- FoE was the first group to expose the threat of genetically engineered ingredients in our food supply.
- FoE was the first group to establish a watchdog position to monitor the Department of the Interior in the Bush administration.
We believe that economics are the root cause of environmental degradation. In a very real sense we are "environmental accountants." Our flagship program is Green Scissors, in which we point out wasteful and environmentally harmful spending in the federal budget. In the last two years, we have taken our program to the next level and begun working on state-level budgets.
Our other campaigns also get at the root causes of environmental problems here and around the world.
"Mission accomplished" would consist of having an environmentally sustainable global economy; in other words, nations and transnational corporations would not be gobbling up natural resources faster than they can regenerate. The economy would be powered primarily by renewable energy, industrial agriculture with its inhumane treatment of animals and massive use of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics would be a thing of the past, and pollution with all its devastation and injustice would be largely gone. It would be a world in which we could all breathe easier.
Q: What do you really do, on a day-to-day basis?
A: My day is usually packed with stuff to do. In the morning, I check my voicemail and email. After that my day may be filled up with any or all of the following activities:
- meet with decision makers in Congress and the federal agencies;
- meet with other environmental groups;
- give speeches or appear on panel discussions;
- talk to the press or do a press conference;
- call major donors or write fundraising proposals; or
- conduct strategy sessions with staff.
Toward the end of the day I will make and return phone calls and review the daily mail, email, and faxes, and take note of the news of the day. I strive to keep an open-door policy, so that if my staff needs to talk with me about something they consider important I always try to make time for them.
The day does not stop for me at 5:00 p.m. In the evenings on several nights a week I often attend fundraisers and receptions. For example, last week on Tuesday it was a dinner and panel discussion by the Interfaith Religious Partnership on the Anacostia River; on Wednesday the annual dinner of the Natural Resources Council of America, which honored Ted Turner; and on Thursday a fundraiser for the Environmental Leadership Project. No rest for the weary!
Q: What long and winding road led you to your current position?
A: In the words of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, "What a long and strange trip it's been." I did not set out to work in the environmental arena. I received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in math from Yale University. I thought my whole life would be devoted to teaching at the college level. For two years (1966-68), I was chairman of the math department at Philander Smith College, a black college in Little Rock, Ark. Everything seemed to be going as I envisioned it would, until that fateful day back in 1970. It was the first Earth Day -- by the end of the day my life would change forever, after I heard Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters make presentations.
I began by doing volunteer work for each group. Little did I know at the time that this would start me off on a 35-year career in environmental advocacy, helping to start organizations like American Rivers and serving on the boards of others like the League of Conservation Voters. In 1994, I became president of Friends of the Earth.
Q: How many emails are currently in your inbox?
A: I have hundreds of emails. I run through these daily and read all the in-house ones first as well as any others that are important and leave the rest unopened. Because my name appears on so many documents, I have become a prime target for spammers. We have a filter system in place, but a lot still gets through. So if anyone needs a new mortgage, I have an email I can forward them.
Q: What do you consider your environmental coming-of-age moment or experience?
A: The worsening air and water pollution in the 1960s really concerned me but not until the first Earth Day in 1970 did I connect with two organizations that showed me many ways to make a difference, including how to lobby Congress.
Continue reading this story from Grist Magazine:
Go With the FoE
