On Saturday, June 4, Global Green USA will welcome celebrity guests to its 15th Annual Millennium Awards, which acknowledge and honor individuals whose lives and careers exemplify Global Green USA’s mission of “fostering a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure world.”
Global Green USA CEO Matt Petersen will join honorees Mark Ruffalo, Ed Begley Jr., Wendy Schmidt and the Los Angeles Business Council at the event, along with expected celebrity presenters Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Guest and many more.
The event will raise funds to support the organization’s initiatives to rebuild a green New Orleans; to create green affordable housing and green schools in Los Angeles, throughout California and nationally; and to continue to advocate for innovative and effective policy initiatives to combat climate change.
Global Green USA – the American arm of President Gorbachev's Green Cross International – was founded in 1993, and is a national leader in advocating for smart solutions to climate change that benefit humanity by saving energy, reducing CO2 emissions, improving health, creating green jobs, and securing a more sustainable future. For more than 15 years, Global Green has greened nearly $20 billion in new school and affordable housing construction; authored multiple state and national laws and policies on green building, climate change and energy-efficiency; and responded to environmental disasters from hurricanes, to chemical weapons dumping, to sea level rise and the melting of the poles. Global Green is the only national environmental group headquartered in Southern California and has offices in New Orleans and Washington, DC.
Honorees at the 15th Annual Millennium Awards will include actor and activist Mark Ruffalo who will receive the Entertainment Industry Environmental Leadership Award. This honor recognizes Mark’s deep commitment to the environment, demonstrated through his visible dedication to the campaign to ban hydrofracking. By becoming an educated advocate and an outspoken activist on behalf of this issue and appearing before Congress, supporting the documentary GASLAND and leveraging the power of the media, he has brought national attention to an issue that threatens both the environment and public health. Mark has further personalized his crusade by starting his own foundation, Water Defense, to educate the public about the threats posed to our supply of drinking water and provide information and tools that will inspire action. By using his platform as a celebrated actor to raise awareness and hold the energy industry accountable, Mark is raising the bar for his peers in the entertainment industry and beyond.
Environmental Activist Ed Begley Jr. will receive the Individual Environmental Leadership Award. This honor recognizes Ed’s lifelong commitment to “walking the talk” of sustainability and inspiring so many activists in the Hollywood, environmental, political and business communities to follow his great example. Ed’s leadership by quiet example has helped pave the way for countless environmental celebrities and activists to follow in his footsteps and benefit from his counsel. Ed’s tireless commitment toward creating a more sustainable world is inspirational. From powering his home with 100% wind and solar to taking his bicycle to nearly every environmental event in Los Angeles to humbly utilizing his celebrity to advocate for greener policies, corporate practices and individual action, Ed is a true environmental hero and leader.
Wendy Schmidt, President of the Schmidt Family Foundation, will receive the Community Environmental Leadership Award; and the Los Angeles Business Council, represented by LABC President Mary Leslie, and Immediate Past Chairman Brad Cox, will accept the California Environmental Leadership Award.
The event takes place at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows, 101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica. More information can be found here.
