Selma Rubin (March 28, 1915 – March 9, 2012) was an American

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advo ...

. She was called a co-founder of Earth Day. Rubin was a member or adviser for more than forty organizations spanning more than 57 years. Many of the grassroot organizations she co-foundered are still thriving today like th
Environmental Defense Center (EDC)
th
Community Environmental Council (CEC)
th
ACLUSBCAN
and th
Fund for Santa Barbara
among them.

Biography

She was raised in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1943 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. She and her husband, Bill, moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

, from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 1964, where she took a position as an accountant. Rubin had been involved in some activism prior to 1969. However, the turning point for her came during the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, which began on January 28, 1969, and became the largest

environmental disaster An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.Jared M. Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', 2005 This point disti ...

in U.S. history at the time. The spill, which lasted for eleven days and polluted the

Santa Barbara Channel The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Southern California Bight and separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura Cou ...

with almost 100,000 barrels of crude oil, killed thousands of seabirds and other aquatic wildlife. She, along with thousands of other volunteers, responded to the spill, which galvanized her environmental activism. A community stalwart, she served on 42 nonprofit boards since she arrived in Santa Barbara in 1964. In 1970, she successfully led a voter campaign to preserve the

Gaviota Coast The Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California is a rural coastline along the Santa Barbara Channel roughly bounded by the city of Goleta, California, Goleta on the south and the north boundary of the county on the north. This last undeve ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from a proposal to build 1,535 condos in the area. She and another activist, Anna Laura Myers, collected more than 12,000 signatures for a

ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...

, which easily defeated the proposal. Rubin spearheaded a compromise for the Gaviota Coast, which allowed for much of the area's preservation, as well as the construction of the El Capitán Canyon Resort and a campground. She Rubin co-founded the Community Environmental Council, one of the world's first environmental organizations, in 1974. She also co-founded the Environmental Defense Center in 1977. Selma Rubin died at her home in

, on March 9, 2012, aged 96.

References

External links

Interview of Selma Rubin
part o
Environmental Activism in Los Angeles
interview series, Center for Oral History Research, UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles. *Beezhan Tulu from Living Web Films] made a documentary about Selma Rubin. The film "Selma Rubin And Community Of Life" was selected by Santa Barbara International Film Festival. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Selma 1915 births 2012 deaths American women environmentalists American conservationists People from Santa Barbara, California People from Toledo, Ohio Activists from Ohio Activists from California United States Navy sailors WAVES personnel 21st-century American women