{{Short description|American environmentalist (born 1971)}} '''Michael Brune''' (born 24 August 1971) is an American environmentalist. He became the youngest executive director of the Sierra Club at age 38. The board of directors hired him in January 2010, after Carl Pope stepped down.<ref>[http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=154481.0 Sierra Club Announces New Executive Director] (Press Release)</ref> He held the position for 11 years.
== Biography == Michael Brune graduated from West Chester University in 1993 with B.S. degrees in both Economics and Finance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sierraclub.org/michael-brune/bio |access-date=20 September 2023 |title=About Michael Brune |date=n.d.}}</ref>
Prior to the Sierra Club, Brune was the executive director of the Rainforest Action Network for seven years. He also worked as an organizer for Greenpeace.<ref>[http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/01/sierra_club_new_leader.html Sierra Club Names its New Leader] at ''Washington Post''</ref>
In 1999, while working at the Rainforest Action Network, Brune ran a successful campaign to get Home Depot stores to stop purchasing and selling wood from old-growth forests. ''Time'' magazine listed this as its top environmental story of that year.<ref>[http://www.alamedamagazine.com/media/Alameda-Magazine/July-August-2009/Speak-Softly-and-Carry-a-Big-Green-Stick/ Speak Softly and Carry a Big Green Stick] from ''Alameda magazine''</ref>
Brune is a regular contributor to the ''Huffington Post'', a progressive website founded by Arianna Huffington, as well as Daily Kos. In 2008, he published a book called ''Coming Clean -- Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal''.<ref>[http://www.sierraclub.org/comingclean/ ''Coming Clean'': About the Author]</ref>
In 2014, Brune was confirmed as the Hillary Institute of International Leadership's Hillary Laureate in recognition of his work on climate change issues. He was then awarded, jointly with Amazon Watch's Atossa Soltani, the four yearly Hillary Step prize.<ref>[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56f9fe3c40261d5bd4ebf628/t/5705e08786db436541babc17/1460002952545/Hillary_Step_Press_Release_June_5th_2015.pdf Hillary Step Prize Awarded] - Hillary Institute Press Release</ref>
In August 2021, the Sierra Club announced that Brune was resigning as executive director, effective as of the end of the year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Brune Stepping Down as Sierra Club Executive Director |url=https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2021/08/michael-brune-stepping-down-sierra-club-executive-director |website=Sierra Club |date=13 August 2021 |access-date=28 September 2021}}</ref> Following an essay by Brune condemning Sierra Club founder John Muir as a racist,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sierraclub.org/michael-brune/2020/07/john-muir-early-history-sierra-club | title=Pulling Down Our Monuments }}</ref> a number of long-time members resigned from the Sierra Club and removed the organization from their estate plans.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://chaparralwisdom.org/2022/07/06/deserting-nature-for-identity-politics-why-im-resigning-from-the-sierra-club-after-52-years | title=Deserting Nature for Identity Politics. Why I'm Resigning from the Sierra Club After 52 Years | date=6 July 2022 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.sierraclub.org/michael-brune/bio Biography at the Sierra Club]
{{Greenpeace |state=expanded}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brune, Michael}} Category:Sierra Club executive directors Category:Living people Category:American environmentalists Category:American non-fiction environmental writers Category:1971 births