Denis Allen Hayes (born August 29, 1944)[1] is an environmental advocate and an advocate for solar power. He rose to prominence in 1970 as the coordinator for the first Earth Day.

Denis Hayes
Hayes in 2000
Born
Denis Allen Hayes

(1944-08-29) August 29, 1944 (age 80)[1]
Wisconsin, United States
Alma materStanford University
Harvard Kennedy School
Stanford Law School
OccupationEnvironmental advocate
Known forCoordinating the first Earth Day,
founding the Earth Day Network, construction of the Bullitt Center

Hayes founded the Earth Day Network and expanded it to more than 180 nations. During the Carter administration, Hayes became head of the Solar Energy Research Institute (now known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), but left this position when the Reagan administration cut funding for the program.

Since 1992, Hayes has been president of the Bullitt Foundation in Washington and continues to be a leader in environmental and energy policy.

He is also the author of Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America's Health, Economy, Politics, Culture, and Environment[2] and Rays of Hope.[3]

Hayes has received the national Jefferson Awards Medal for Outstanding Public Service as well as many other awards. Time magazine named him a "Hero of the Planet" in 1999.

Early life and education

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Denis Hayes was born in Wisconsin in 1944, but mainly raised in the small town of Camas, Washington, where in 2007 the Hayes Freedom High School was named in his honor.[4] His experiences growing up in the Pacific Northwest instilled a lifelong love of nature.[5] His father worked at a paper mill on the Columbia River, where both the discharges from the mill and the lack of worker protections showed Hayes the impact of industrialization on both people and the environment.[6]

In 1964, Hayes graduated from Clark Community College in Vancouver, Washington.[6] Hayes received his undergraduate degree in history from Stanford University,[7] where he was president of the student body and an activist against the Vietnam War.[8][9] During those years, he spent significant time backpacking to remote corners of the world.[10] Hayes later enrolled at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University,[11] although he eventually was graduated from Stanford Law School.[12]

Earth Day

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He left Harvard after being selected by Senator Gaylord Nelson to organize the first Earth Day.[13] The first Earth Day (April 22, 1970) had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, about ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities.[14] It is believed that some 20 million demonstrators participated.[15][16] In 2009, the story of Earth Day was told in the film Earth Days[17] which closed that year's Sundance Film Festival.[18]

Following the success of the first Earth Day, Hayes founded the Earth Day Network and served as international chairman for Earth Day's anniversaries in 1990[19] and 2000.[20][21] Internationally, he is recognized for expanding the Earth Day Network to more than 180 nations.[22] It is now the world’s most widely observed secular holiday.[23] Hayes continues to chair the board of the international Earth Day Network and is the Chair of the Earth Day 2010 Global Advisory Committee.[24] Earth Day celebrated its 50th anniversary in April 2020, and marked the day with environmental activism across the globe [www.earthdaynetwork.org].

Career

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During the Carter administration, Hayes became head of the Solar Energy Research Institute (now known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory),[25][26] but left this position when the Reagan administration cut funding for the program.[27] Hayes went back to school and completed a Juris Doctor degree at Stanford Law School, and went on to become an adjunct professor of engineering in that university and litigator with law firm Cooley Godward.[28]

Since 1992, Hayes has been president of the Bullitt Foundation[29] in Seattle, Washington and continues to be a leader in environmental and energy policy.[30][31][32] By mobilizing the resources of The Bullitt Foundation, Hayes intends to make the Pacific Northwest the best-educated, most environmentally aware, most progressive corner of America—a global model for sustainable development. He is currently overseeing construction of The Bullitt Center, expected to be the most energy efficient commercial building in the world,[33] firmly planting Seattle at the forefront of the green building movement. The goal of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies in the Northwest. The building is seeking to meet the ambitious goals of the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most strenuous benchmark for sustainability. For example, a solar array will generate as much electricity as the building uses and rain will supply as much water, with all wastewater treated onsite. Also in Seattle are Hayes' wife, Gail Boyer Hayes[34] (daughter of Paul D. Boyer), and daughter, Lisa A. Hayes,[35] a lawyer defending the Northshore United Church of Christ regarding Tent City 4 (King County, Washington).[36]

Over Hayes' career, he has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC[37] and at the Bellagio Center in Italy, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute,[38] an adjunct professor of engineering at Stanford University, a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow of the Bosch Foundation, a Silicon Valley lawyer at the Cooley Firm,[39] and author.[40] He has served on dozens of governing boards, including those of Stanford University, the World Resources Institute, the Federation of American Scientists, The Energy Foundation,[41] Children Now, the National Programming Council for Public Television, the American Solar Energy Society, Greenpeace, CERES, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association.[42][43]

Awards

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Hayes has received the national Jefferson Awards Medal for Outstanding Public Service,[44] as well as the highest awards bestowed by the Sierra Club, The Humane Society of the United States, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Council of America,[45] the Global Environmental Facility of the World Bank, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and the American Solar Energy Society.[46] He was featured in the 2009 documentary film Earth Days. Time has named him "Hero of the Planet."[47]

Hayes was selected by Engineering News-Record as one of the Top 25 Newsmakers of 2014 for using biomimicry in the development of the Bullitt Center.[48] In 2020, Hayes received a Trailblazer Award from Verdical Group at their annual Net Zero Conference.[49]

References

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  1. ^ a b United States Public Record Number 214375543
  2. ^ Goodreads
  3. ^ Goodreads
  4. ^ We're growing, building and moving! Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Gregg, Deirdre (2007-04-20). "Talking with Denis Hayes, president and CEO, Bullitt Foundation". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  6. ^ a b Post, Nadine M. (August 5, 2015). "Denis Hayes Shines Rays of Hope on More-Sustainable Cities and Solar Power's Future". BNP Media. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015. archived from the original. Page 3 archived from the original. Page 4 archived from the original. Page 5 archived from the original.
  7. ^ Stanford, ©Copyright Stanford University; California 94305. "Stanford University". Stanford University. Retrieved 2022-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Palo Alto Online: Stanford University under siege - Palo Alto: The First 100 Years". www.paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  9. ^ Marking the day 40 years ago when the green revolution began, Idaho Statesman, April 18, 2010, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/18/92175/marking-the-day-40-years-ago-when.html?story_link=email_msg#ixzz0lrAIoluM
  10. ^ Seattle Times, April 21, 2002, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2002/0421/cover.html
  11. ^ "Harvard Kennedy School". www.hks.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  12. ^ "CNN - Chatpage - U.S. News".
  13. ^ "Mr. Earth Day Gets Ready to Rumble - TIME". 2008-03-07. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  14. ^ "Entertainment & Arts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  15. ^ "History of Earth Day | Earthday". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20.
  16. ^ "DDT is Banned and Earth Day Begins".
  17. ^ "Earth Days—A Robert Stone Film". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03.
  18. ^ Video on YouTube
  19. ^ Strom, Stephanie (1990-04-22). "Earth Day Extravaganza Sheds Its Humble Roots". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  20. ^ Gerth, Jeff (2000-04-23). "Peaceful, Easy Feeling Imbues 30th Earth Day". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  21. ^ Jackson, David S. (1999-04-26). "DENIS HAYES: Mr. Earth Day Gets Ready to Rumble". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  22. ^ Verhovek, Sam Howe (2000-04-09). "Earth Day Goes Global as It Turns 30". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  23. ^ "Denis Hayes". Archived from the original on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  24. ^ "Earth Day 2010 Global Advisory Committee List | PDF | Environmentalism | Al Gore". Scribd. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  25. ^ National Renewable Energy Laboratory History, "NREL: Overview". Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  26. ^ NREL News Feature, April 19, 2010, First Earth Day Organizer Bullish on Renewables, http://www.nrel.gov/features/20100419_earthday.html
  27. ^ http://seattletimes.com/pacificnw/2002/0421/cover.html Treading Lightly, One small step at a time, Seattle Post Intelligencer, April 21, 2002,
  28. ^ Beyette, Beverly (1985-05-30). "Environmentalists Weigh Achievements, Challenges". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  29. ^ WA, DEI Creative in Seattle. "Staff | The Bullitt Foundation". Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  30. ^ Climate Solutions: Charting a Bold Course Archived 2009-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, Yale Environment 360 Journal, June 10, 2008
  31. ^ "The Rumpus Interview with Earth Day Organizer Denis Hayes". The Rumpus.net. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  32. ^ ACORE, American Council on Renewable Energy Archived December 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ http://seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw/2020148827_pacificpgreen27.html greenest
  34. ^ "Gail Boyer Hayes". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  35. ^ "Lisa A. Hayes". Center for Democracy and Technology. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  36. ^ https://www.nwnews.com/index.php/news-features/news-2/1107-court-grants-churchs-motion-for-summary-judgment-award [bare URL]
  37. ^ "Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  38. ^ World Watch Institute Website, http://www.worldwatch.org/ Archived 2019-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  39. ^ Sentinel, Special to Granville. "Denison University welcomes author, Earth Day founder Denis Hayes April 20". The Advocate. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  40. ^ "Denis Hayes". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  41. ^ "Energy Foundation". Archived from the original on 2010-04-16. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  42. ^ "Welcome | EGA".
  43. ^ Denis Hayes biography, http://www.earthday.net/hayes Archived 2009-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
  44. ^ The Jefferson Awards are a prestigious national recognition system honoring community and public service in America. They began in 1972 to create a Nobel Prize for public service. http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national Archived 2010-11-24 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ^ "Denis Hayes Speaker Pricing & Availability from AEI Speakers Bureau".
  46. ^ "Our Experts". NRDC. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  47. ^ "Mr. Earth Day Gets Ready to Rumble". Time. April 21, 1999. Archived from the original on 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  48. ^ Post, Nadine M. (January 21, 2015). "Developing a Model for Office Buildings To Rely on Nature for Their Needs". Dodge Data & Analytics. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015.
  49. ^ hello@verdicalgroup.com (2023-09-29). "Honoring Past Keynote Speakers and Trailblazer Award Winners". Net Zero Conference. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
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