NEWS ADVISORY Contact: Susan Stephenson
December 5, 2018 (510) 444-4891
Interfaith Power & Light’s Board Chair to receive Ted Turner’s Captain Planet Exemplar Award
Interfaith Power & Light’s Board Chair, Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley is to receive Captain Planet Exemplar Award at the Captain Planet Foundation Gala on Friday, December 7, 2018 in Atlanta, GA. According to Ted Turner, Rev. Durley is receiving the award “In celebration of your commitment to a sustainable future, the fight against climate change, and your indefatigable work to spread the message of creation care.”
Rev. Durley is the former Pastor of the historic Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Atlanta, where he served for nearly 25 years. Rev. Durley’s previous roles include Executive Director of the Head Start Program for Fulton and Douglas Counties, Director of the Health Promotion Resource Center at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and founder of Perspectives, International, a consortium of historically black colleges and universities. In 2011, Rev. Durley was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for his contributions during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Rev. Durley believes that “Climate change is a civil rights issue. We are seeing its impacts in our own communities in the form of record-breaking temperatures, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and the list goes on and on.”
For over twenty-five years, Captain Planet Foundation has been activating generations of environmentally literate citizens empowered to protect and sustain the natural systems upon which all life depends. The Captain Planet Foundation invests in high-quality, solution-based projects that inspire and teach youth to become collaborators and agents of change. Awardees along with Rev. Durely are Adrian Grenier, Coda Christopherson, Chloe Mei Espinosa, Dyson Chee, Robbie Bond, and Steff McDermot. Past honorees include President Jimmy Carter, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Ovie Mughelli, and Dr. Jane Goodall.
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Interfaith Power & Light is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in congregations through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.