PROVIDENCE, RI: Clean Water Action announced their 2025 Environmental Champions. They will be honored at the organization’s annual Breakfast of Champions, happening on Friday, May 9th at 9:30am at the Edgewood Yacht Club in Cranston.
“While the Trump administration attempts to tear down protections for our environment, these local leaders are continuing the everyday fight for a cleaner, healthier, more just future here in our state. I am so excited to honor this year’s awardees at the Breakfast of Champions,” said Emily Howe, Clean Water Action’s RI Director.
The 2025 awardees are as follows:
David R. Gerraughty Award for Lifetime Commitment to the Environment – Dr. Hans Scholl: Dr. Scholl has been a longtime advocate and leader for progressive legislation in Rhode Island. An active member of Climate Action RI’s Politics Team and the Yes to Wind Campaign as well as the PolComm Team of the Environment Council of Rhode Island, he maintains a public accounting of pending environmental legislation that is used by grassroots activists across the state, ensuring that organizers know how and when to influence the progress of bills in the Rhode Island General Assembly. Additionally, his work highlighting the dangers of artificial turf polluting underground water supplies, rivers, and the Bay is particularly noteworthy.
Legislative Champion - Rep. Megan Cotter: Rep. Cotter is a longtime environmental champion in the legislature. In 2024, she fought to secure $12 million in the Green Bond for the preservation of green open spaces in Rhode Island. She also leads by example and is an avid bicyclist while knocking on doors in her community.
Reuse and Recycling Award - Warren Heyman and Jim Corwin with the RI School Recycling Project: Warren Heyman and Jim Corwin have partnered with schools across RI, through the RI School Recycling Project, to reduce waste in cafeterias and empower kids to be recycling, reuse, and composting leaders, sometimes working alongside Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable program.
Environmental Justice Leader - Pawtucket City Councilman Clovis Gregor: Councilman Gregor led an inspiring campaign to save Morley Field in Pawtucket, drawing attention and media eyes to inequities in green space access.
Steadfast Advocacy Award - Barry Schiller: Barry Schiller is being honored for his decades of passionate advocacy for mass transit and RIPTA.
For tickets and more information about the Breakfast of Champions, please visit: cleanwater.org/ri-breakfast.
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Since the organization’s founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking, and people power to the table.