Our December meeting is one not to miss! Not only do we have Chuck O’Neal but we are giving out our annual Sierra Club awards to environmental movers and shakers in Central Florida. Chuck graduated from Duke University with two majors – Mathematics and Public Policy. He has a lifelong attachment to Florida’s natural resources and beauty. Chuck ran for the Florida Senate in 2016, having previously served as Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and as First Vice President of the League of Women Voters of Florida. In 2020, Chuck was elected Director at large for the Florida Rights of Nature Network and thereafter was elected by the Board to be its Chairman.

In May of 2020, Chuck assumed the role of Chairman of the Right to Clean Water Political Committee which campaigned for passage of the Rights of Nature charter amendment among Orange County’s population of 1.4 million citizens. On November 3rd, 2020, the Right to Clean Water charter amendment passed with over 89% of the popular vote. This made Orange County, Florida, the largest municipality in the United States to pass a Rights of Nature initiative. It also demonstrated that in a time of increased antipathy between the political parties, there is one thing upon which we can agree – Nature needs the highest level of protection, a rights-based form of protection.