John H. Adams (NRDC)

John Hamilton Adams (born 1936) is an environmental activist, lawyer, and founder of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC). He founded the NRDC in 1970 and served as the executive director until 1998 when he became the President. As of 2006, Adams is the Founding Director of the organization.[1] With the help of his team at the NRDC, Adams has worked on numerous environmental movements including passing the Clean Water Act, phasing of lead from gasoline, and curbing the emissions of coal-burning power plants. He has authored three books and written many research papers. In 2010, Adams received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his achievements in environmental activism.[2]

John H. Adams
BornFebruary 15, 1936
EducationB.A. in History, L.L.B. Law Degree
OrganizationNational Resource Defense Council (NRDC)
AwardsPresidential Medal of Freedom, 2010; Awards Section

Early life

John H. Adams was born February 15, 1936, in New York, New York to John and Barbara Adams.[3] He lived on a farm in upstate New York for some of his childhood.[4] John married Patricia Brandon Smith (now Patricia Brandon Adams) on September 30, 1963. She is a teacher, writer, and environmentalist. They have three children: Katherine L., John H., and Ramsay W, and six grandchildren.[5]

Education

Adams graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1959.[1] He then attended Duke University Law School in 1962 to pursue his law degree and received his L.L.B.. In 2005, Adams received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Duke University.[6]

Career

Adams worked as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for five years before joining with a young group of lawyers from Yale to pursue funding from the Ford Foundation to start up the NRDC in 1970.[7] This organization was the first of its kind: a national environmental advocacy group creating change through the legal system. Adams was inspired by similar organizations in different fields, namely the ACLU and the NAACP, to conduct activism at a legal level.[4]

Adams was NRDC's first executive director and held the position till 1998. During this time, he also was an adjunct faculty member at New York University's Law School for 26 years, founding the NYU/NRDC Environmental Law Clinic.[8] He then held the position of President till 2006. While under Adam's leadership, the NRDC had many notable accomplishments:[7][9]

Notable Accomplishments of the NRDC
Year Accomplishment
1971 Aided in the passing of the Clean Water Act, allowing citizens to sue polluters directly.
1973 Began action resulting in the phase out of lead from gasoline.
1974 Won historic court case requiring coal-fired power plants to control pollution levels in an effort to prevent acid rain.
1983 Won litigation to remove harmful ozone depleting CFCs from aerosol cans.
1985 Advocated for the implementation of national energy efficiency standard for consumer appliances.
1989 Petitioned the EPA to issue a comprehensive ban on asbestos.
1991 Helped stop a Senate bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
1992 Secured passage of significant lead-poisoning law.
1993 Litigated ARCO and Texaco, two large oil companies, to cease water pollution and pay heavy fines for prior transgressions.
1999 Legal action forced the EPA to require monitoring and public reporting of mercury emission from coal-fired plants.
2000 Stopped Mitsubishi's plans for to build a salt factory on grey whale breeding grounds in Laguna San Ignacia, Mexico.
2001 Campaigned the EPA to adopt stricter standards for tap water treatment.
2004 Only international environmental advocacy organization asked to aid in creating a national plan for energy efficiency in China.
2007 Won a monumental Supreme Court case ruling global warming emissions are pollutants under the Clear Air Act and that the EPA has authority to reduce such pollutants.
2010 Advocacy resulted in President Obama establishing the first-ever National Ocean Policy.

In 2006, John Adams stepped down from the role as president and will indefinitely stay as the founding director of the NRDC, playing an active role in the organization at the local, national, and international levels.[10] As of 2020, he serves on the board of the Open Space Institute, Woods Hole Research Center, and the League of Conservation Voters, among others.[8]

Research

John H. Adams has published many research reports. In 1992, he published “The Mainstream Environmental Movement” in the EPA Journal; the piece recounts the environmental racism working in urban planning. He discusses how toxic waste facilities are placed more frequently in minority, specifically Black or Latino, spaces.[11] In 1998, Adams published “Salt in the Wounds” in the Amicus Journal in which he exposes the Mitsubishi Corp for the industrial saltwork operation which led to the environmental degradation of the Laguna Ojo de Liebre in Baja California, Mexico. He explains how saltwork has caused devastating harm to the ecosystem, including killing many endangered black sea turtles.[12]

Works

Adams published his first book in 1985. As of 2020, Adams has published a total of three books.

An Environmental Agenda for the Future (1985)

This piece is the culmination of 4 years of research by the chief executives of ten major environmental and conservation organizations. These organizations, and others, joined together to improve their effectiveness of protection of the nation's environment. The book is organized with 11 major subject areas: (1) nuclear issues; (2) human population growth; (3) energy strategies; (4) water resources; (5) toxics and pollution control; (6) wild living resources; (7) private lands and agriculture; (8) protected land systems; (9) public lands; (10) urban environments; and (11) international responsibilities.

A Force for Nature: The Story of NRDC and Its Fight to Save our Planet (2010)

John and Patricia Adams coauthor this piece on the United States' first litigation-focused environmental organization. The book tells the story of the NRDC's birth as a grassroots environmental advocacy group to an international powerhouse agency with over a million members and staff.

A Force for the Future: Inside NRDC’s Fight to Save the Planet and Its People (2020)

Adams recounts the NRDC's 50-year history of triumphing over the world's most powerful polluters. He uses this to speak to the future, offering solutions to tackling problems which entangle science and society.

Awards

Presidential Medal of Freedom

John H. Adam's most notable award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was awarded to him by President Obama in 2010 for his extreme dedication and efforts advocating for the preservation of the environment. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest honor a civilian can receive. Upon receiving the award, Adams says:

"For forty years I've been privileged to live out my passion, standing up for the natural inheritance that belongs to us all. In receiving this great honor today, I stand on the shoulders of a remarkable NRDC team, and of Americans everywhere, who love this country and believe we share a common duty to safeguard the waters that nourish us, the wildlife that inspires us, the air that sustains us and the land we call home. This is our country. It is ours to cherish; it is ours to protect. That is how we keep faith with future generations. And I thank the President for recognizing this high calling and the contribution I've been privileged to make." [2]

— John H. Adams

House of Representatives Tribute

In 2005, John Adams was given the honor of having a tribute from the house of representatives in which his most notable efforts and achievements are highlighted.[13] Honorable Maurice D. Hinchey of New York presented Adams’ honors in the house of representatives.

Endowed Professorship at Duke University Law School

Adam's alma mater, Duke University Law School, endowed a professorship in his honor in 2017. This professorship's funding has commitments of over a million US dollars from individuals and the Duke Endowment.[6]

Other

Some of Adam's less notable awards include:[13] One World One Child Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), NRDC's Forces For Nature Award (2005), the Wilderness Society's Robert Marshall Award (2005), the Natural Resources Council of America's Award of Honor (2001), the Green Cross Millennium Award for Individual Environmental Leadership (2000), the Judge Lumbard Cup for public service from the United States, the National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation (1999), the Francis K. Hutchinson Conservation Award from the Garden Club of America (1990), Duke University's Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 1992, Duke University Law School's Charles J. Murphy Award.

See also

References
  1. "John Adams: Founding Director". NRDC. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  2. November 17; 2010. "President Obama Awards Medal of Freedom to NRDC Founding Director John Adams". NRDC. Retrieved 2020-10-20.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. "Contemporary Authors: "John H. Adams"". Gale Literature Resource Center. 2011 – via Gale.
  4. Rogers, Patrick (April 19, 2016). "The Man Behind the Mission". NRDC. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  5. "John Adams". River Keeper. Archived from the original on June 20, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  6. "New professorship honors Adams '62, co-founder of NRDC". Duke University School of Law. May 30, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  7. "John Adams". Environmental Law Institute. 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  8. Coifman, Jon (March 10, 2005). "Leading Force For American Environment Will Pass the Torch in 2006". NRDC. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  9. "NRDC's Greatest Accomplishments Over The Years". Huffpost. November 11, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  10. "Earth's Caretaker: An Evening with NRDC Co-Founder John H. Adams and Patricia Adams" (PDF). Theodore Gordon Flyfishers Inc. April 25, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  11. Adams, John H. (Fall 1998). "Salt in the wounds". The Amicus Journal. 20: 2 – via Gale.
  12. Adams, John H. (1992). "The Mainstream Environmental Movement". EPA Journal. 18: 25 – via HeinOnline.
  13. Paying Tribute to John H. Adams. U.S. Government Publishing Office. 2005. p. 27626.
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