Silicon Valley's Eco-Warrior

In August 2006, when the California State Legislature passed what has been widely touted as the most important global warming law in the United States, the environmental community cheered the dawning of a brighter, more hopeful future for the planet. In a display that won key votes throughout the state, venture capitalists, economists, industry bigwigs, and environmental advocates had joined forces in support of the legislation, which mandates a 25 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. In the days and weeks leading up to the vote, few advocates met with more business owners, corporate executives, and legislators than Bob Epstein, an NRDC trustee and Silicon Valley entrepreneur who in 2000 co-founded Environmental Entrepreneurs to advance economically beneficial solutions to environmental problems. For his leadership in the passage of the groundbreaking law, the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers honored Epstein with its first-ever KPCB Prize for Greentech Policy Innovators.