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Earth Day: See the women over 50 fighting to save the environment

Forbes' Randall Lane and Know Your Value’s Daniela Pierre-Bravo join “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski to highlight women over 50 who are working toward a more sustainable planet.
Native American land rights activist Winona Laduke, left, and Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson.
Native American land rights activist Winona Laduke, left, and Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson.Getty Images
By KYV Editorial Staff

This week the White House announced President Biden is pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030. The new target doubles the country’s previous commitment made under the Paris Climate Agreement of 2013.

On Thursday – recognized as Earth Day – “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski was joined by Forbes' chief content officer Randall Lane and Know Your Value’s Daniela Pierre-Bravo to shine a light some of the trailblazing women over 50 who are doing pivotal work in the push for a sustainable environment. They include:

  1. Dr. Sylvia Earle, 85: The renowned oceanographer has been called a “Hero of the Planet” by Time magazine, among her many accolades. In 1979, she walked untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth than any person before or since. Later, she was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), and today she is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and the founder of Mission Blue, an nonprofit that works to protect the ocean.
  2. Lisa Jackson, 59: In 2009, Jackson – a chemical engineer – became the nation’s first Black administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2013, she left the EPA to become Apple’s first head of environment, policy, and social initiatives. She leads the company’s renewable energy strategy, use of greener materials and progress towards resource conservation.
  3. Winona LaDuke, 61: A Native American land rights activist who lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota and who twice ran as Ralph Nader’s vice presidential candidate on the Green party ticket (1996 and 2000). LaDuke founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project, which works to buy back land that non-natives have acquired. She is also the executive director of Honor the Earth, an organization dedicated to education about native land and raising funds to support native communities.
  4. Katherine Lucey, 61: A former investment banker who worked on Wall Street (in the energy sector) before becoming a social entrepreneur, Lucey works to bring clean energy to communities in Africa. In 2010, she founded Solar Sister, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that trains women on how to use and distribute clean energy solutions — like solar-powered radios, fans, lights and water filters — to their communities.

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To find out more about the women over 50 who are fighting to protect the environment, go to Forbes.com.