Robert Redford talks about his longtime passion for the environment during a speech Wednesday (April 13, 2011) at the National Wildlife Federation gala in Washington. Redford was honored by the group as its Conservationist of the Year.
Actor and comedian Chevy Chase accompanies his wife, Jayni, who was honored Wednesday (April 13, 2011) by the National Wildlife Federation for her environmental awareness efforts. The couple attended the gala dinner in Washington. Jayni Chase is the founder of the Center for Environmental Education, which is based at Unity College in Maine.
WASHINGTON – Before George Clooney’s mission in Darfur and Bono’s Red campaign for AIDS, before Madonna’s Raising Malawi nonprofit and Alec Baldwin’s support of National Endowment for the Arts, there was Robert Redford, who pioneered celebrity-driven causes with his commitment to environmental causes.
A paragon for environmentalists, Redford is venerated for his almost 40 years of lobbying and support of environmental issues such as land preservation, solar power and the dangers of climate change. In appreciation of his longstanding efforts, the National Wildlife Foundation honored Redford as the Conservationist of the Year Wednesday at the 75th Anniversary Gala at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
Redford has served as Hollywood’s ambassador to environmental causes spanning from his early days as an actor to his role as a director, producer and founder of Sundance Film Festival.
“In those early years there were very few [environmentalists] around and some of the organizations that were just starting up were having a rough time,” Redford reflected in his acceptance speech.
Redford also is known for his 21-year battle to preserve what is now known as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 1.7 million-acres of land in southern Utah. Thanks to Redford and others, then-President Bill Clinton declared the land mass a national monument in 1996.
“I thought if we didn’t do something, we would be facing a time where we wouldn’t have much to leave for our future generations,” he said. You want to think about what you’re leaving for them or what you’re not leaving for them, or, what you’re taking away from them.”
Jayni Chase, wife of actor and comedian Chevy Chase, also accepted a National Conservation Achievement award for her environmental education efforts. Chase is currently spearheading educational initiatives including GREEN Community Schools to create model green schools across the nation.
“I was reading enough that it was really clear to me that a lot of scientists were concerned,” she said of her early commitment to environmental causes. “They’re my mentors, my heroes.”
Chase said she and her celebrity husband have been promoting green markets including implementing geothermal and solar panel practices in homes and businesses.
“Consumers have a voice. Learn, educate yourself and use your voice,” she said.
“She really believes strongly in her environmentalism,” Chevy Chase said of his wife, after playing “When I Fall in Love” on the piano as a tribute his wife.
Celebrity advocacy is now considered in vogue, with luminaries like Angelina Jolie endorsing international humanitarian issues and Elton John supporting HIV/AIDS awareness.
However, it was Redford and a few other Hollywood stars who decades ago started forging the way for their contemporaries.
“He’s been an important part of our history,” NWF President Larry Schweiger said.
Redford is also responsible for the Sundance Film Channel, an offshoot of his world-renowned festival, which features Green, a program dedicated to the environment. He continues to incorporate his environmental conviction in his work, through directing such films as A River Runs Through It and narrating The Sacred Planet.
The actor’s most profound contribution to the environment is the Redford Center, located in the Sundance area of Utah and dedicated to providing innovation for global warming among other issues. The center hosts scientists, artists, policy makers and leaders to discuss and explore solutions.
“I really believe in the young people today, I think they really want to get involved,” Redford said. “So let’s give it to them, let’s encourage them, let’s nurture them because I think they are the chance we might be looking for. And our responsibility is to keep doing what we’re doing.”
The Medill News Service is a Washington program of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Courtney Subramanian, a graduate student from Darien, Ill., covers youth and politics and environment.