PA Environment Digest Blog: Environmental Defense Fund To Receive Dickinson College Rose-Walters Prize For Environmental Activism

On May 1, Dickinson College announced the Environmental Defense Fund will receive The Sam Rose ’58 and Julie Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism.

This annual $100,000 prize is awarded to individuals or organizations significantly impacting responsible action for the planet and its people.

EDF will be honored in recognition of its decades of work on environmental issues and the launch of MethaneSAT, a global methane emissions monitoring program.

Representatives from EDF will accept this prestigious award during Dickinson’s Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 18.

With more than 3.5 million members, supporters and activists, EDF creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

Working across the globe, EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to turn solutions into action.

It works for progress on methane pollution, clean electricity, clean transportation, forests, fisheries and oceans, healthy communities, fuels and feedstocks, agriculture, water, food, carbon markets and other critical environmental challenges.

EDF pioneered groundbreaking corporate partnerships, including Walmart’s successful effort to cut a billion metric tons of climate pollution and GM’s plan to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

In 2023, the organization helped secure commitments from 50 oil and gas companies, representing 40 percent of global oil sales, to reduce their methane pollution by 90 percent by 2030.

In 2024, EDF launched MethaneSAT, a satellite to measure and map methane pollution and help usher in a new era of climate accountability.

It was a primary advocate for the overhaul of America’s chemical safety laws in 2016 and the passage of historic climate investments in 2022.

The Rose-Walters Prize recognizes EDF’s many accomplishments and provides opportunities for Dickinson students and faculty.

During the 2025-26 academic year, EDF staff will visit Dickinson for a multi-day residency.

Previously, the Rose-Walters Prize has honored climate advocates including Elizabeth Kolbert, Mark Ruffalo, Bill McKibben and Lisa Jackson and organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Resource Links - EDF In PA:

-- MethaneSAT-EDF Successfully Test Methane Detection Technology To Be Used To Document Methane Emissions From Onshore Natural Gas Production In North America [PaEN]

-- EDF: Federal Pipeline And Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Proposes Vital Standards to Enhance Safety, Cut Methane From Nation’s Pipeline Network [PaEN]

-- Environmental Defense Fund, Moms Clean Air Force To Hold Public Meetings In 3 Northwest PA Counties On A Project To Test New Methods Of Locating Abandoned Conventional Oil, Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- EDF: Pennsylvania Has 55,000 Oil/Gas Wells At High Risk Of Being Abandoned; 51,000 Wells At Risk Of Being Transferred To Low Solvency Owners; Current Conventional Well Owners Abandon 561 Wells A Year, On Average [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits [PaEN]

-- EDF Blog: What A Catastrophic Natural Gas Leak In Pennsylvania Means For Our Climate And Health [PaEN]

-- EDF: New Report Shows 22% Growth In PA's Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Mitigation Industry In 3 Years [PaEN]

-- AG Shapiro Joins 15 Other States, EDF Asking Court To Require EPA To Set Methane Pollution Standards For Existing Oil & Gas Operations [PaEN]

-- EDF Analysis Finds PA Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Are Double Previous Estimate [PaEN]

-- PEC, EDF: Senate Bill 790 Includes Dramatic Reductions In Health, Environmental Protections From Impacts Of Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling [PaEN]

-- PEC, EDF: Conventional Oil & Gas Bill Will Reverse, Weaken Environmental Protection Standards For Fracking [PaEN]