fitz
10-03-2008, 09:40 PM
Meg Caldwell California Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force
Biography
Meg Caldwell ’85 has dedicated her career to environmental law, having worked as an attorney, professor, and board member in the field. Her scholarship has focused on the environmental effects of local land use decisions, the use of science in environmental and marine resource policy development and implementation, and developing private and public incentives for natural resource conservation. In addition to her role as lecturer in law, Caldwell directs the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program at the law school. Caldwell also has an appointment with the Woods Institute for the Environment where she serves as Interim Director of the Center for Ocean Solutions. The center is a collaboration between Stanford, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute whose core mission is to increase the impact of the natural, physical and social sciences on ocean policy.
A well-respected figure in environmental law, she was selected as the chair of the California Coastal Commission and served on that body for nearly three years. While Chair of the Commission, Caldwell also served on the board of the California Coastal Conservancy. She was appointed by the State Secretary of Resources to the California Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force for the central and north central coasts and is currently serving on the Third Phase Blue Ribbon Task Force for the south coast.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1994, Caldwell was an instructor at San Jose State University and the University of California, Davis; counsel for MicroCLEAN, Inc.; a member of the City of Saratoga Planning Commission; and an associate in the environmental law group of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen.
News Article
By Terry Rodgers
STAFF WRITER
April 6, 2008
Green and GOP?
The two philosophies – environmental activism and conservatism – aren't always at odds with each other. That's why Ocean Champions, a conservation group with an affiliated political action committee, has no qualms helping politicians who lean toward the environment, even if they are rock-ribbed conservatives.
Saving the ocean from pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction shouldn't be a partisan issue, said David Wilmot, president and co-founder of both advocacy groups.
“The idea is to pick the right people regardless of their political affiliation,” said Wilmot, a former San Diegan who has a doctorate in marine biology from the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.
“We're not going to win in the long term for the oceans unless we build the bipartisan army to support it,” said Wilmot, who now lives in La Selva Beach in Santa Cruz County.
In the past three years, Ocean Champions and the Ocean Champions Voter Fund Political Action Committee have distributed about $500,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions, Wilmot said.
The groups have focused on key congressional races nationwide.
They mostly back Democratic candidates, but also have gotten behind a smattering of Republicans. Those GOP legislators include Reps. Connie Mack of Florida and Christopher Shays of Connecticut, as well as U.S. Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine.
The groups also work to unseat lawmakers they view as anti-environment.
In 2006, they joined a large coalition of environmental groups that successfully helped remove Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, from the House of Representatives. Pombo, a property-rights champion, had tried to change major aspects of the Endangered Species Act as chairman of the House Resources Committee.
Ocean Champions' leaders “are not bleeding hearts,” said Warner Chabot at the Ocean Conservancy's office in San Francisco. “They are smart, pragmatic and, most importantly, effective.”
Wilmot created Ocean Champions in December 2003 with attorney Jack Sterne after the two wrote “Turning the Tide,” a 120-page analysis of how marine conservationists could achieve more political clout.
They concluded that while many scientists and conservationists are comfortable participating in intellectual policy debates, few are willing to engage in hands-on fundraising, organizing of volunteers and other political work.
“The ocean conservation community needs to participate fully in the political process to be successful,” the treatise concluded. “Full participation involves both professional and grass-roots lobbying and direct involvement in the political process.”
Building a base of supporters also is crucial to becoming an effective special-interest group. Ocean Champions and its affiliated political action committee court people with a strong affinity for the ocean, from fishermen to plankton researchers.
“The oceans are a part of everyone's life,” Wilmot said. “This effort is about protecting a lifestyle, whether you fish, dive, surf or kayak.”
Ocean Champions claims more than 300 members, whose donations range from the minimum $25 membership fee to the maximum PAC contribution of $5,000 per year.
MAJOR DONORS INCLUDE JULIE PACKARD, DIRECTOR OF THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM, OCEAN PHILANTHROPIST ROB MOIR AND VENTURE CAPITALIST J. THOMAS MCMURRAY, EACH OF WHOM HAS GIVEN $20,000 CUMULATIVELY OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS.
The strategic model for OCEAN CHAMPIONS came straight from the National Rifle Association playbook, Wilmot said. http://www.oceanchampions.org/
“The NRA succeeds by being focused with laser-like intensity on a single issue,” Wilmot and Sterne wrote in “Turning the Tide.”
Wilmot said he switched his career path from marine biology to political science after a seeing a miles-long trail of plastic debris floating in the ocean during a research voyage in the Pacific.
“The assault of this man-made threat to the ocean hit me hard,” he said. “I knew then that my future was in ocean advocacy.”
Ocean Champions and its affiliated political action committee fill an important niche, said Meg Caldwell, director of the newly formed Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University.
“It focuses on delivering the political will, clout and leadership necessary to achieve meaningful progress in protecting the oceans,” Caldwell said.
Biography
Meg Caldwell ’85 has dedicated her career to environmental law, having worked as an attorney, professor, and board member in the field. Her scholarship has focused on the environmental effects of local land use decisions, the use of science in environmental and marine resource policy development and implementation, and developing private and public incentives for natural resource conservation. In addition to her role as lecturer in law, Caldwell directs the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program at the law school. Caldwell also has an appointment with the Woods Institute for the Environment where she serves as Interim Director of the Center for Ocean Solutions. The center is a collaboration between Stanford, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute whose core mission is to increase the impact of the natural, physical and social sciences on ocean policy.
A well-respected figure in environmental law, she was selected as the chair of the California Coastal Commission and served on that body for nearly three years. While Chair of the Commission, Caldwell also served on the board of the California Coastal Conservancy. She was appointed by the State Secretary of Resources to the California Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force for the central and north central coasts and is currently serving on the Third Phase Blue Ribbon Task Force for the south coast.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1994, Caldwell was an instructor at San Jose State University and the University of California, Davis; counsel for MicroCLEAN, Inc.; a member of the City of Saratoga Planning Commission; and an associate in the environmental law group of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen.
News Article
By Terry Rodgers
STAFF WRITER
April 6, 2008
Green and GOP?
The two philosophies – environmental activism and conservatism – aren't always at odds with each other. That's why Ocean Champions, a conservation group with an affiliated political action committee, has no qualms helping politicians who lean toward the environment, even if they are rock-ribbed conservatives.
Saving the ocean from pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction shouldn't be a partisan issue, said David Wilmot, president and co-founder of both advocacy groups.
“The idea is to pick the right people regardless of their political affiliation,” said Wilmot, a former San Diegan who has a doctorate in marine biology from the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.
“We're not going to win in the long term for the oceans unless we build the bipartisan army to support it,” said Wilmot, who now lives in La Selva Beach in Santa Cruz County.
In the past three years, Ocean Champions and the Ocean Champions Voter Fund Political Action Committee have distributed about $500,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions, Wilmot said.
The groups have focused on key congressional races nationwide.
They mostly back Democratic candidates, but also have gotten behind a smattering of Republicans. Those GOP legislators include Reps. Connie Mack of Florida and Christopher Shays of Connecticut, as well as U.S. Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine.
The groups also work to unseat lawmakers they view as anti-environment.
In 2006, they joined a large coalition of environmental groups that successfully helped remove Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, from the House of Representatives. Pombo, a property-rights champion, had tried to change major aspects of the Endangered Species Act as chairman of the House Resources Committee.
Ocean Champions' leaders “are not bleeding hearts,” said Warner Chabot at the Ocean Conservancy's office in San Francisco. “They are smart, pragmatic and, most importantly, effective.”
Wilmot created Ocean Champions in December 2003 with attorney Jack Sterne after the two wrote “Turning the Tide,” a 120-page analysis of how marine conservationists could achieve more political clout.
They concluded that while many scientists and conservationists are comfortable participating in intellectual policy debates, few are willing to engage in hands-on fundraising, organizing of volunteers and other political work.
“The ocean conservation community needs to participate fully in the political process to be successful,” the treatise concluded. “Full participation involves both professional and grass-roots lobbying and direct involvement in the political process.”
Building a base of supporters also is crucial to becoming an effective special-interest group. Ocean Champions and its affiliated political action committee court people with a strong affinity for the ocean, from fishermen to plankton researchers.
“The oceans are a part of everyone's life,” Wilmot said. “This effort is about protecting a lifestyle, whether you fish, dive, surf or kayak.”
Ocean Champions claims more than 300 members, whose donations range from the minimum $25 membership fee to the maximum PAC contribution of $5,000 per year.
MAJOR DONORS INCLUDE JULIE PACKARD, DIRECTOR OF THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM, OCEAN PHILANTHROPIST ROB MOIR AND VENTURE CAPITALIST J. THOMAS MCMURRAY, EACH OF WHOM HAS GIVEN $20,000 CUMULATIVELY OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS.
The strategic model for OCEAN CHAMPIONS came straight from the National Rifle Association playbook, Wilmot said. http://www.oceanchampions.org/
“The NRA succeeds by being focused with laser-like intensity on a single issue,” Wilmot and Sterne wrote in “Turning the Tide.”
Wilmot said he switched his career path from marine biology to political science after a seeing a miles-long trail of plastic debris floating in the ocean during a research voyage in the Pacific.
“The assault of this man-made threat to the ocean hit me hard,” he said. “I knew then that my future was in ocean advocacy.”
Ocean Champions and its affiliated political action committee fill an important niche, said Meg Caldwell, director of the newly formed Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University.
“It focuses on delivering the political will, clout and leadership necessary to achieve meaningful progress in protecting the oceans,” Caldwell said.