2020 Green Tie Awards

Thanks to you, we raised over $54,000 for our annual Green Tie Awards! After reading about the event and watching video highlights below (and all of the rest of the video content on our YouTube channel), please scroll to the bottom to check out our generous sponsors who helped make this and our ongoing work possible.

Unlike past years, when we gathered at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh in May, the pandemic forced us to put on our first ever virtual Green Tie event on October 7. Over 1,800 people watched it live, way more than can normally attend in person, exposing our work and our awardees’ work to new eyeballs.

We were also honored to be joined by Sen. Cory Booker, Gov. Roy Cooper, and more great guests who helped us celebrate our environmental champs. If you watched our broadcast or wish you had, please fill out this survey to help us plan for next year!

Cory Booker

Sen. Booker called in with an urgent message: “We may be fearful, but we’ve gotta turn our fear into fight. … We’ve gotta turn our agonizing into organizing and mobilizing because we need a pro-environment majority in the North Carolina state government.”

Roy Cooper

Gov. Cooper joined us to express his hope that our legislative Green Caucus will soon be a majority caucus to help him protect people from polluters.

2020 Representative of the Year - Brian Turner

In his three terms representing Buncombe County, Rep. Turner has maintained a perfect mark on our scorecard, and is a consistent environmental champion for our state. This year, he sponsored several bills to combat the harmful presence of PFAS “forever chemicals” in our waters, and he has been one of the mountains’ biggest advocates for the last six years. He said, “I want to be sure that every person who visits or lives in North Carolina is able to breathe easy, relax, and enjoy the view.”

2020 Senator of the Year - Harper Peterson

In his first term representing New Hanover County, Sen. Peterson wasted no time going to bat for his constituents and our entire state. He earned a 100% score for being a vocal advocate for preventing PFAS pollution and holding Chemours accountable, as well as raising awareness about the dangers of coal ash and poultry waste. In his remarks, he expressed optimism that we can unite our state around common environmental goals.

2020 Defender of the Environment - Sen. Jay Chaudhuri

Wake County Sen. Chaudhuri has earned a 100% score in each of his two terms so far. As a rising leader in his caucus, he has focused on challenging big energy and polluters, while advocating for expanded, affordable renewable energy solutions. In 2019, Sen. Chaudhuri led the successful fight against the Duke Energy rate hike bill. He noted his first speech as a senator was to advocate against algae-eating mussels as a solution to Jordan Lake pollution.

2020 Jane Sharp Lifetime Achievement Award – Rep. Chuck McGrady

Rep. McGrady is finishing his fifth and final term representing Henderson County, after having recently been appointed to the state Board of Transportation. He has been a champion in his chamber and his caucus, advancing clean air, clean water, and public lands protections for the people of North Carolina. He led the fight for both good measures, like the landmark 2014 coal ash bill, and against some of the worst proposed measures, which he stopped from becoming law.

Before his decade in the legislature, Rep. McGrady volunteered his time and skills to protect our natural resources. He served a term as the first and only Republican president of the national Sierra Club, along with stints as chair of the North Carolina and Georgia chapters. Rep. McGrady has also led the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the Environmental and Conservation Organization of Henderson County, and the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy. As part of this work, he brought North Carolina’s hugely popular Dupont State Forest into public ownership.

2020 "The Joe" Award – Sen. Floyd McKissick and Sen. Terry Van Duyn

We already miss former Durham County Sen. McKissick, who has taken his fight for energy consumers to his new perch on the state Utilities Commission, where we know he will continue advocating for a transition to clean energy which benefits our most disadvantaged communities. His 13 years as a legislator earned him an 81% lifetime score, with a perfect grade in both 2018 and 2019.

Buncombe County Sen. Van Duyn will be leaving the Senate at the end of this, her third term, but we know that, like her public service prior to seeking elected office, she will continue being a strong champion for the people of North Carolina. Her six years in the Senate earned her a lifetime score of 98%. She sponsored bills to protect our natural resources and to hold polluters accountable for their actions.

Rep. Rachel Hunt
Rep. Brandon Lofton
Rep. Carolyn Logan
Sen. Natasha Marcus
Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed
Rep. Derwin Montgomery
Rep. Ray Russell
Rep. Kandie Smith
Rep. Raymond Smith
Rep. Julie von Haefen