I’ve Fought for the Climate Since the ’80s. All I’ve Worked for Is Being Undone

I didn’t arrive late to the climate change party — in fact, I was invited by Don Henley himself. In the late ’80s, my husband, Chevy Chase, and I were gifted a book from Don: The End of Nature, by Bill McKibben. That book cracked something wide open in me.

Chevy and I met in 1980, and I was already activated. By 1983, somewhat buried articles about how much energy we use and how much we throw away here in the U.S. made me feel I had to do something.

I felt compelled to educate myself and do whatever I could to share what I learned. I gravitated toward like-minded moms in Pacific Palisades and we began building what became The Center for Environmental Education. Dr. Tom Lovejoy — the man who literally coined the term “biodiversity” — and Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, are just two of the several dedicated and brilliant people who joined our board.  

I joined boards, including Californians Against Waste (CAW), with whom I worked to pass the historic bottle bill. I joined the L.A. NRDC advisory board (before they opened an office in L.A.), the EMA board and many others. Before cycling off the Friends of the Earth, U.S., board after 30 years in November 2023 while serving as chair for the second time, I, my vice chair and other board members recruited nine young, diverse, women leaders who could carry the torch further than I ever could.

Dr. Lovejoy kindly wrote the foreword for my book, published by Scholastic in 1995, Blueprint for a Green School, which outlines the most sustainable and healthy practices for teachers, administrators, maintenance staff, students and parents. Schools across the country ordered copies. I consider it my proudest contribution to the movement.

I went to see the truth up close: the Amazon, the Arctic, the Galápagos Islands, Antarctica. The planet was whispering, then shouting, Pay attention.

And I did.

But now, I look around and watch so much of that work being unraveled, ignored or worse — erased. The frontline activists I stood beside, the educators, the policy warriors — people like me — feel crushed with sadness and frustration. Given the current administration’s suspicion of climate activism, its dismantling of the Department of Education and its willingness to impose its radical ideology on schools, I fear that my book will be purged from school libraries. Why are U.S. citizens turning their backs on science? 

I turned to Chevy the other day and said, “Imagine if all your work just … vanished. Fletch. Caddyshack.  All four Vacation movies. SNL. All of it — gone. No legacy, no punchlines, no one left quipping, ‘I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not.’”

It’s hard not to let that ache sink in. But I don’t let it linger long.

Chevy and I were lucky enough to go on a Nat Geo-Lindblad Expedition to the Arctic, along with other “explorers” such as Rosalynn and President Jimmy Carter, Ted Turner and the inimitable Madeleine Albright. Chevy spent the entire week hilariously trying to impress her. When I found a quiet moment with Madame Secretary, I told her, “My husband definitely has a crush on you.” She loved it. She was wicked smart and disarmingly warm. She could talk about anything and make you feel like you were right there with her — at the table, in the know.

I think about her often. About how fiercely and unapologetically she owned her power. And I remind myself:

I know my power, too.

And I’m still using it.

This story appears in the April 2025 Sustainability digital issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to see the rest of the issue.