"Sierra Club Names New Executive Director"

"SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental group Sierra Club has named its first new leader in 18 years -- an activist who once took over the intercom of a Home Depot to tell customers not to buy lumber from ancient forests.

Michael Brune, 38, replaces Carl Pope in March. Pope served as executive director for the nation's oldest environmental group since 1992 and will remain with Sierra Club as chairman focusing on the group's work battling climate change.

Most recently, Brune worked as executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, where he earned a reputation for successfully working to get corporations such as Home Depot and financial companies like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs to adopt more environmentally friendly policies.

Brune now brings his aggressive style of activism to the cherished, 118-year-old environmental group, which is focused on lobbying to speed the country's transition to more reliance on renewable energy and passage of greenhouse gas reduction legislation."

Jason Dearen reports for the Associated Press January 20, 2010.

See Also:

"New Sierra Club chief brings confrontational style" (Grist/Guardian Environmental Network)

"Sierra Club Taps Mike Brune" (Earth Island Journal)

"Sierra Club's New Chief Likes Pressuring Companies" (Reuters)

Sierra Names New Exec (Los Angeles Times)