For Immediate Release:
April 17, 2024
Chair Peter Criswell Presents Ulster County Lifetime Achievement Award to Legislator Manna Jo Greene in Recognition of Decades of Environmental Advocacy
(Kingston, NY) – As part of the Legislature’s April Session recognizing Earth Month, Chair Peter Criswell paused deliberations to acknowledge Legislator Manna Jo Greene for a lifetime of environmental advocacy and activism and present her with an Ulster County Lifetime Achievement Award.
Legislator Greene has long been an advocate for the planet, nature, and sustainability, and has remained at the forefront of topics concerning power generation, ecology, waste management, and carbon emissions both in our county, state and country. Manna began her advocacy for the environment in the 1980s where she began examining sources of environmental contaminants in both the waste stream and industrial pollution. In 1985 Greene earned her BA in biology from SUNY New Paltz, and in 1989 was awarded her Masters in Environmental Studies from Bard College. Thereafter Greene founded what is now Sustainable Hudson Valley, an organization that continues to advocate and advance sustainability in all levels of society.
In 2000, Manna was tapped to be the Environmental Action Director at Clearwater, and organization founded by Pete and Toshi Seeger dedicated to cleaning up the Hudson River, and for twenty-three years led a statewide coalition of environmental organizations to address issues such as General Electric’s contamination of the Hudson River, Indian Point leaking radioactive material into our ecosystem, banning fracking in New York State and other major victories for our planet.
“In honoring Legislator Greene with a Lifetime Achievement award, we celebrate her tireless dedication to environmental advocacy and her profound impact on our community. The impact she has had on every Hudson Valley resident throughout her career protecting the environment is incalculable. From her work forcing General Electric to address decades of PCB pollution in the Hudson River, to the closure of Indian Point, to developing recycling programs across our County, Manna has made our water cleaner and air healthier. We are proud to serve alongside her in the Legislature and join her in her steadfast advocacy for environmental justice,” said Chair Peter Criswell (District 7 – City of Kingston).
“This award really goes out to all the people I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the years from my work with the UCRRA and Clearwater who make environmental action possible. I want my grandson Emmett and all generations to follow to have a safe environment with a restored climate and to be able to live in with clean water, breathable air and each and every one of us can do our part right here in Ulster County,” said Legislator Manna Jo Greene (District 19 – Marbletown & Rosendale).
Legislator Greene has served in the Ulster County Legislature representing Rosendale and Marbletown since 2014, and currently sits on the Energy, Environment & Sustainability Committee as well as the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency Reform Committee.
