Voting Station

David Brower

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Advocate

The Resume

    (July 1, 1912-November 5, 2000)
    Born in Berkeley, California
    Environmentalist
    First Executive Director of the Sierra Club (1952-69)
    Founded Friends of the Earth (1969) and the Earth Island Institute (1982)
    Edited the book ‘Wilderness: America’s Living Heritage’ (1961)

Why he might be annoying:

    Dropped out of the University of California, Berkeley, after two years.
    While he led the Sierra Club, donations to the organization dropped even as its membership expanded.
    His involvement of the Sierra Club in political campaigning resulted in the IRS revoking its tax-exempt status,.
    He resigned from the Sierra Club after a bloc of board members, led by president Richard Leonard and photographer Ansel Adams, charged him with financial recklessness and insubordination.
    He was removed from the board of directors of the Friends of Earth for insubordination (1984), but was reinstated when he threatened to file a lawsuit.
    He wrote, ‘Loggers losing their jobs because of Spotted Owl legislation is, in my eyes, no different than people being out of work after the furnaces of Dachau shut down.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He graduated high school at age 16.
    He was a mountaineer with over 70 first ascents and established 19 new routes, primarily in Yosemite National Park.
    During World War II, he trained soldiers in mountaineering and cross-country skiing, and earned a Bronze Star in Italy.
    He was married to Anne Hus for 57 years.
    He led the Sierra Club in a successful campaign to prevent the building of dams that would have flooded part of the Grand Canyon (1964).
    He led campaigns that established ten new national parks and seashores, including Redwoods, Kings Canyon, and North Cascades.
    He was credited with coining the phrases ‘Think globally, act locally’ and ‘We do not inherit the earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 124 Votes: 27.42% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 15 Votes: 66.67% Annoying