Al Gore Honors Lafayette Climate Activists With Climate Reality’s Green Ring Award

Los Angeles, Calif. – Former US Vice President and Climate Reality Founder and Chairman Al Gore awarded Lafayette climate activists Wei-Tai Kwok and Steve Richard The Climate Reality Project’s Green Ring Award at Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Los Angeles. The Green Ring Award is presented to outstanding Climate Reality Leaders who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to their role as climate communicators and activists.

Wei-Tai Kwok and Steve Richard are committed climate activists who have dedicated their lives to advancing climate action in their local community of Lafayette, California and beyond. Kwok has been a leader in the renewable energy sector for more than 10 years, working to advance solar energy as an executive at companies like Suntech Power and Amber Kinetics. He also established the US-China Green Energy Council in 2008, a nonprofit organization that seeks to strengthen cooperation between the US and China on high-impact, clean energy initiatives. Richard is the co-founder of Sustainable Lafayette, a nonprofit organization that works to improve sustainability in Lafayette, California by providing education and a wide array of programs for citizens, schools, and local businesses. Together, they head up The Climate Reality Project: San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.

“Wei-Tai and Steve both exemplify what it means to be Climate Reality Leaders,” said Climate Reality’s President and CEO Ken Berlin. “In their communities and careers, they have worked tirelessly to advance climate action and create better lives for their family, friends, and neighbors. Climate Reality was honored to present them with the Green Ring Award and we look forward to hearing about the incredible work they continue to do in the future to move us closer to solving the climate crisis.”

From August 28-30, more than 2,200 climate activists gathered in Los Angeles to be trained as Climate Reality Leaders by world-class scientists, climate communicators, grassroots organizers, and Al Gore. These newly minted Climate Reality Leaders have emerged from the training equipped with the knowledge and tools to build public awareness of global climate challenges, share the good news about the practical solutions in our hands today, and strengthen public support for leaders at all levels of society taking action. 

Both Kwok and Richard were on hand in Los Angeles to guide groups of new Climate Reality Leaders through the three-day training.

“Getting personally trained by Al Gore in 2013 to speak knowledgeably about the science, impacts and solutions to the climate crisis gave me clear direction on where best to focus my efforts,” said Wei-Tai Kwok. “As a volunteer Climate Reality Leader engaging with thousands of people in my community over the past five years, I can see I’m helping to change the dialogue, and it makes me hopeful to see those I meet ask how they can help be part of the solution as well. Though we must move with greater urgency, I really believe we are going to solve this crisis.”

“I co-founded Sustainable Lafayette a decade ago as my way of trying to make a difference in my hometown after seeing An Inconvenient Truth,” said Steve Richard. “Getting trained as a Climate Leader, and then launching the San Francisco Chapter of Climate Reality has enabled me to engage and share what we’ve learned locally with other dedicated leaders around the Bay Area and the U.S. It’s exciting to see how far the ‘Sustainability Revolution’ has progressed since I was moved to action in 2006.”

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ABOUT THE CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT 

Founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project is working to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society. With a global movement more than 5 million strong and a grassroots network of trained Climate Reality Leader activists, we are spreading the truth about the climate crisis and building popular support for clean energy solutions. For more information, visit www.climaterealityproject.org or follow us on Twitter at @ClimateReality.