Ed Begley Jr. Resigns Environmental Posts

Actor-environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. has resigned as chairman of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board of directors and from another board, saying he was discouraged by the lipservice paid to environmental issues and exhausted by the bureaucratic demands of his unpaid jobs.

“I’ve become my own worst nightmare,” Begley wrote in his letters of resignation. “A petty bureaucrat shuffling papers as the ancient forests are destroyed.”

The 46-year-old actor resigned from the conservancy and from the Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Commission late Monday. He could not be reached for comment.

Six months ago, Begley, who gained acting fame for his role in the popular TV drama “St. Elsewhere,” was elected chairman of the state-chartered conservancy board, which runs a powerful parklands acquisition program in the Santa Monica Mountains, which includes mountain parcels in Ventura County.

Because his personal life and habits often reflected his environmental commitment, Begley was uniquely positioned to craft the sometimes-inevitable compromises needed in the environmental movement without being branded a sellout, said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy.

The actor drives an electric car, uses solar power extensively in his Studio City home and often bicycled to Downtown Los Angeles to attend meetings on environmental issues.

“I now officially resign . . . and sincerely wish the very best to all of you who have the time and the patience to wade through all this . . . and actually accomplish something,” Begley wrote. “I’ll still be getting around by bike, bus or rail, checking my solar panels, growing my food and hiking through the last bit of undeveloped hillside while it lasts. God bless you all who have the strength to continue.”