Carl Pope is the former

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...

, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scal ...

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

founded by conservationist

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologis ...

in 1892. Pope was appointed to his position as executive director in 1992, and served until January 20, 2010, when he was succeeded by Michael Brune. Pope then served as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the

until stepping down from that position in November 2011. He has served as the senior climate advisor to former New York City Mayor and 2020 Presidential candidate

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...

since 2017. Pope had worked with the Sierra Club for more than 30 years, and has served as a board member for other organizations, including the National Clean Air Coalition, California Common Cause, and Public Interest Economics Inc. He has served as Political Director for

Zero Population Growth Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG, is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines; that is, the number of births plus in-migrants equals the number of death ...

. He was a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

from 1967 to 1969. In 2008, Pope expressed support for the

Pickens Plan The Pickens Plan is an energy policy proposal announced July 8, 2008, by American businessman T. Boone Pickens. Pickens wanted to reduce American dependence on imported oil by investing approximately $US1 trillion in new wind turbine farms for ...

, an effort by T. Boone Pickens to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Pickens, a billionaire oil investor,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and financier of conservative causes, took Pope to his ranch in

west Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betw ...

, where Pickens and a group of investors plan to invest $12 billion in

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s. In January 2009, Pope had announced his intention to step down from the post of executive director, effective upon the hiring of a successor. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

in 1967.

Bibliography

Pope's first book, ''Sahib: An American Misadventure in India'', was published by Liveright in 1972. In 2004 he published a book with

Paul Rauber Paul Rauber is a Senior Editor at the Sierra Magazine, the publication of the Sierra Club, a United States environmental organization founded by conservationist pioneer John Muir in 1892. In 2004 he published a book with Carl Pope, ''Strategic ...

called ''Strategic Ignorance: Why the Bush Administration Is Recklessly Destroying a Century of Environmental Progress.'' On April 18, 2017, Pope published a book with

on titled '' Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet''. He appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah with

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

May 3 to promote the book.

References

External links

Carl Pope Sierra Club papers, 1973-1988
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

Carl Pope's weblog, ''Taking the Initiative''Blue/Green Alliance website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Carl Sierra Club executive directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American environmentalists American non-fiction environmental writers Peace Corps volunteers HuffPost writers and columnists Environmental bloggers Harvard College alumni