[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 144 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1748-E1749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF CHRIS TREPAL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 13, 2012

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Chris Trepal, who is 
retiring from the Earth Day Coalition, one of the major forces in 
Northeast Ohio to promote environmental education, protection, and 
advocacy.
  In the late 1980s, as the nation coalesced around how to best 
acknowledge the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Day of 1970, Chris 
was a parent, educator, and volunteer for the Sierra Club. Called by 
Governor Richard Celeste, Chris attended an organizing meeting at 
Cleveland State University and was moved to action to fight for the 
environment. Along with Scott Sanders, Chris co-founded the Earth Day 
Coalition in 1990 and until her retirement was co-director with 
Sanders.
  In the last 23 years, Chris has been a visionary who organized the 
``Annual EarthFest'' and ``Walk or Bike for the Earth.'' Every spring 
at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the EarthFest has been the largest and 
longest-running environmental education event in the State of Ohio. It 
is widely attended and is the place-to-be for non-profits and leaders 
who want to promote their causes.
  For more than 10 years, Chris worked with the region's best 
environmental education experts, naturalists, and interpreters to 
establish the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve, formerly Dike 14. 
Officially opened in February 2012, the Preserve is 88 acres of wild 
lands along Lake Erie in the heart of Cleveland with almost 300 species 
of birds who live and migrate on the site along with butterflies and 
mammals such as the red fox, mink, coyote, deer and others. Chris led 
the Earth Day Coalition's efforts to convene and be the fiscal agent 
for the collaborative effort to establish the Preserve.
  Chris is a founding member of the City of Cleveland's Air Pollution 
Advisory Committee, created by city ordinance. She has worked on clean 
air issues such as Diesel Hot Spots, idle reduction, and reining in 
mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants and the proposed City of 
Cleveland waste incinerator (which was stopped, based in part on the 
Earth Day Coalition's advocacy).
  Chris Trepal is the recipient of numerous awards for the work she has 
done over the years, including: Conservationist of the Year by the 
Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District; Outstanding 
Conservationist Award by the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo; Award for 
Outstanding Service by the Lee-Seville-Miles Citizens; Greater 
Cleveland Woman of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Cleveland; 
Certificate of Environmental Achievement from the National Awards 
Council for Environmental Sustainability; Golden Spruce Award from the 
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission; and the Excellence in Education 
Award from the Better Business Bureau.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in celebrating the many 
achievements of Chris Trepal as she makes the transition from her 
successful career as co-director of the Earth Day Coalition to the next 
phases of her life in retirement and wishing her much success in her 
next endeavors.

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