Blueprint for Going Green: How a Small Foundation Changed the Model for Environmental Conservation

How one organization took on industrial pollution—and the lessons for our new century 

In 1977, one forward-thinking judge took an ecological disaster—the poisoning of the James River by Allied Chemical—and turned it into a great environmental-protection legacy. The $8 million payment made by Allied would go on to fund the game-changing Virginia Environmental Endowment.

Blueprint for Going Green provides an insider’s account of the remarkable results of this landmark ruling and the foundation it spawned. Over the following decades, the VEE helped to grow the fledgling environmental movement in Virginia into a powerful force for protecting the state’s water quality and conserving its landscape. This inspiring story reveals how a small group can make a profound difference by engaging in public policy work, funding science to advance public policy, and helping to build a lasting and effective citizen-led environmental movement. 

Finalist for the Southern Environmental Law Center's Phillip D. Reed Environmental Writing Award

Gerald P. McCarthy is the founding and former executive director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment.