Phil and Lora Clarke, Community Sustainability Advocates
I’m a community sustainability advocate, and I’m a Climate Steward.
Photo by Ingrid Bostrom
“If each of us takes up the cause in our respective community, we have the power to move everyone toward a climate-safe future.”
About Phil and Lora
Phil and Lora Clarke reject the idea that environmental advocacy sits solely on the shoulders of younger generations.
Phil, a recent graduate of the Community Environmental Council’s Climate Stewards course, is applying his newfound knowledge to make the Valle Verde retirement community, where the Clarkes live, more sustainable. “I took the course to learn how to make this campus greener,” he explains.
The Clarkes’ journey began in the 1970s at Cal State Los Angeles, where their love for each other blossomed alongside a mutual love for nature. In their youth, they joined the anti-nuclear protests at Diablo Canyon Power Plant and became active with the Sierra Club. Over the years, they helped lead the West Los Angeles Sierra Club chapter while building their careers, Phil in health care and Lora in higher education.
Since retiring in 2008 and moving to Santa Barbara, the couple has carried the activism that first sprouted on their college campus into their lives on the Valle Verde campus.
