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San Luis Obispo’s Rochelle Becker has joined a former vice president, a New York Times reporter, and a California Assemblyman and Congressman who have helped raise awareness of global warming as a recipient of the Sierra Club’s 2007 environmental awards. The awards were given out at the Sierra Club’s Annual Dinner in San Francisco on September 29.

One of 24 recipients of awards in various categories of service to the environment, Becker received the Environmental Alliance Award in recognition of her work in raising awareness of issues related to nuclear power. The Chair of the Diablo Canyon Task Force for the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Becker has dedicated herself to nuclear power issues for three decades, most of that time as a leader of San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace. She founded the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility in January 2005, and was named to the Sierra Club’s national Radiation Committee in 2006.

“With nuclear energy being peddled by the industry as a false panacea for global warming, the work of the Club and its allies on this issue has never been more critical,” said Becker.

“Replacing nuclear power plants with renewable domestic energy sources and redirecting nuclear subsidies to energy efficiency and new technologies is part of the investment in a smart energy policy. I am honored to be receiving this award, and look forward to working with my colleague son this issue in the crucial months ahead.”

Honored along with Becker was former Vice President Al Gore, who has spent 30 years making the world aware of the dangers of global warming and received the Sierra Club’ stop honor, the John Muir Award. Tom Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, received the David R. Brower Award, which recognizes a professional journalist for stories pertaining to the environment. Fabian Nunez, speaker of the California Assembly, received the club’s Distinguished Achievement Award for pushing through the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the strongest measure ever enacted in the United States to curb global warming. California Congressman Mike Thompson, who represents the first congressional district, received the club’s Edgar Wayburn Award. Thompson helped pass legislation last year that guaranteed protection for 431square miles of wilderness in Northern California.

For more information on the Sierra Club awards program, visit www.sierraclub.org/awards