The Intersolar Champion of Change AWARD honors outstanding commitment to supporting the development of renewable energy at a national or international level, and is hosted in close partnership with CALSSA.
2018 Champion of Change - first-ever Lieftime Achievement Award: Governor Edmund G. Brown - Governor of California
Born in San Francisco, Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown Jr. has been in public service for over 50 years. During his first eight years as governor in the mid-1970s and early-1980s, he strengthened environmental protections, stopped the expansion of nuclear power, and promoted renewable energy.
After a break from public life, Brown was elected Mayor of Oakland in 1998, and is credited with rejuvenating the city’s urban core.
After serving as the state’s Attorney General, Brown was elected to a third gubernatorial term in 2010 and to a historic fourth term in 2014. Under Governor Brown’s leadership, California has established nation-leading targets to protect the environment and fight climate change.
By 2030 the state will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels, generate half of its electricity from renewable sources, build all new homes with solar, double the rate of energy efficiency savings in buildings, reduce fossil-based fuel use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent, and deploy more than five million zero-emission vehicles state-wide.
The ambitious “Under2 Coalition,” which Governor Brown co-founded, is a global commitment to combating climate change and represents more than $30 trillion in GDP and 1.3 billion people – equivalent to 17 percent of the global population.
The list of Governor’s Brown’s projects and policies to protect the environment from the effects of climate change is simply too long to list here. On the international stage, and at home in California, Governor Brown’s passion and accomplishments that span five decades have earned him universal respect as a true Champion of Change as governments and societies work to protect and prepare for the future of our planet.
“This global challenge requires bold action on the part of governments everywhere,” said Governor Brown. “It’s time to be decisive. It’s time to act.”
