Activist, 76, to Be Honored for Environmental Work
Dr. Emil Lawton, a longtime activist with the Sierra Club, will be named Southern California Jewish Environmentalist of the Year, Los Angeles officials said Monday.
Lawton, 76, a former leader of the Los Angeles Sierra Club, is expected to receive the honor during a City Council meeting Feb. 12. The award is the first of its kind to be granted by the Coalition on the Environment for Jewish Life, said Adi Liberman, chief of staff for Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and coalition chairman.
The announcement came in anticipation of Tu Bish’vat, the Jewish holiday celebrating nature, Liberman said.
For 30 years, Lawton was a Sierra Club member and leader who made sure that many political leaders paid more than just lip service to environmental causes, Galanter said.
Under his leadership “you had to be truly committed to the environment to get the Sierra Club’s endorsement,” Galanter said. “And he followed your record after you were in office.”
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