Marshall L Saunders
Marshall L Saunders (1939 - December 28, 2019) was a leader and spokesman for social change. He raised funds and served on the board of a microfinance organization, spoke to thousands about climate change, and he advocated for Congress to adopt policies to reduce poverty. He used his personal wealth to found the Citizens' Climate Lobby, an advocacy organization focused on the challenge of climate change and other organizations.
Early life[edit]
Saunders was born in Waco Texas to Lucille and Marshall Saunders. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1961, where he studied Latin America economic development. He worked as a smokejumper in the Pacific Northwest and served in the U.S. Navy, which led him to San Diego. After working for Shell Oil Co., he became a real estate broker in 1968, discovering he was a good salesman. He met and married his future wife, Pam Spence, and they settled in Coronado, California. They have two children, a son Britton and a daughter Lucy.[1][2] [3]
Civic leader[edit]
Saunders inherited wealth due to his family’s business, Big Red, a soft drink line popular in Texas. His wealth enabled him to set up organizations like Grameen de la Frontera, a micro-credit organization and the Citizens' Climate Lobby.[4]
Microfinance[edit]
In 1985 Saunders joined the Rotary Club in Coronado, California and served until 2000. In the late 1980's he heard of microfinance and was attracted the idea of "building community, giving people dignity and standing in the process." He joined he board of the Foundation for International Community Assistance and served for 4 years, raising $750,000 for microcredit lenders in 16 countries. Saunders served on the microfinance organization, Grameen Foundation USA's development committee. There he helped raise funds for fifty other Grameen banks in South America. Also Saunders served on the board of Cash Poor, an organization that helped Grameen banks of Southeast Asia.[1]
Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth[edit]
Saunders saw Vice President Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth in 2006. He told friends he was shocked. He perceived that climate change would negate the energy and wealth he had devoted to humanitarian work. After learning Gore was training people to present the slide show version, he enrolled in the three day training and committed to 10 talks a year. Calling Rotary Clubs, he was soon giving a presentation a week.[2] Over the next 10 months Saunders gave presentations to over 2,700 people. [5]
RESULTS[edit]
In 1994 Saunders attended a RESULTS conference. Returning home he became a local group leader, wrote letters and got editorials published. At the Utah Rotary District 5420 conference in June 2019, Saunders explained in an interview how he got letters in the paper.[6] His efforts, along with others, resulted in Congressional AIDS expenditures of $550 million, more than the $220 proposed by the President.[1] Saunders spent 12 years volunteering with RESULTS, which has had major successes building support in Congress for policies targeting the basic needs of the poor.[7]
Citizen Climate Lobby[edit]
Based upon his experience with RESULTS Saunders founded the Citizens' Climate Lobby in 2007. After learning of the threat posed by climate change, Saunders realized he had to educate members of Congress about the issue. Since he had been lobbying the Congress for 15 years on hunger and poverty issues and micro-credit, the next logical step he said was "There’s got to be an organization that teaches ordinary people to lobby the Congress on environmental issues and climate issues.”[4]
The organization has grown to over 400 chapters. The organization enables citizens to be effective lobbyists, helping them to persuasively advocate for climate policies, most recently a revenue-neutral carbon tax.[7] The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) was introduced in 2019 and is based on the group's policy plan, a carbon tax and dividend designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions.[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Motlagh, Rebecca (December 4, 2003). "Coronado Man Finds Satisfaction In Helping Others". Coronado Eagle & Journal. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Geoffrey, Johnson. "Friendly persuasion". Rotary. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ↑ "Lucille L. "Lillie" Thomsen Saunders".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Manson, Bill (January 27, 2010). "Global Warming Is Crap!". San Diego Reader. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
- ↑ "Marshall Saunders". Citizen's Climate Lobby. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ↑ "2019 District Conference: Marshall Saunders". Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bornstein, David (May 29, 2013). "Lobbying for the Greater Good". Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ↑ Stecker, Tiffany (December 30, 2019). "Climate Change Lobby Group's Founder Dies at 80". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
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