Lorna Salzman ( née Lorna Jackson, born 1935) is an American environmental activist, writer, lecturer, and community organizer. She was a candidate for the 2004 presidential nomination of the

Green Party of the United States The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democracy, grassroot ...

Biography

Salzman was born in 1935 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and raised in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She completed a BA at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1956. In the early 1960s, Salzman began community organizing with her husband

Eric Salzman Eric Salzman (September 8, 1933 – November 12, 2017) was an American composer, scholar, author, impresario, music critic, and record producer. He is known for advancing the concept of "New Music Theater" (in his compositions and his large ...

against

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

as a founder of the North Brooklyn Heights Community Group, and in the late 1960s, as a founder of the group Citizens for Local Democracy. In 1970, she attended the first public meeting of Friends of the Earth U.S., became a volunteer in 1972, and in 1975 became employed as the first representative for the Mid-Atlantic region. During this time, she began to focus on issues related to

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

, and in 1975, participated in a campaign that successfully stopped the transportation of radioactive waste through New York City in 1976. She worked with FOE staffer Pamela Lippe on local campaigns opposing nuclear power in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, Long Island and

Montague, Massachusetts Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,580 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area. The villages of Montague Center, Montague City, Lake ...

, corresponded with scientists in the nuclear physics field, and wrote to the ''

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' is a nonprofit organization concerning science and global security issues resulting from accelerating technological advances that have negative consequences for humanity. The ''Bulletin'' publishes conte ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. After Friends of the Earth, Salzman worked for the

New York City Department of Environmental Protection The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's water supply and works to reduce air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. Under a 1.3 billion do ...

as a natural resource specialist, and became involved in

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

in New York. In 1989, as a member of the 10 Key Values Green movement, Salzman wrote the essay "Is the Left Green Network really Green?", which critiques several positions of the LGN and is considered by professor

Greta Gaard Greta Gaard is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, activist, and documentary filmmaker. Gaard's academic work in the realms of ecocriticism and ecocomposition is widely cited by scholars in the disciplines of composition and literary criticism. Her t ...

to have "crystallized the first step in a debate between Left Greens and 10KV Greens over who would be allowed to determine the defining characteristics of "Green."" Salzman was a founder of the New York Greens, a predecessor of the

Green Party of New York The Green Party of New York is the affiliate of the Green Party of the United States in the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1992 and is a part of the Green Party movement. The Party has had ballot access at various points in its histo ...

, and unsuccessfully ran as a

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate for political office several times, including for the U.S. House of Representatives and the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. In 2004, she unsuccessfully ran for the Green Party presidential nomination. She is a member of the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wi ...

Honors and awards

In 2000 she received the international Earth Day Award from the Earth Society Foundation for her committed environmental work.

Personal life

She was married to

until his death in 2017. Their two daughters are poet Eva Salzman and composer/songwriter Stephanie Salzman.

References

External links

Collected Writings of Lorna SalzmanOfficial Campaign Web Site - Lorna Salzman
(2002, ''

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Salzman, Lorna Living people Candidates in the 2004 United States presidential election 21st-century American politicians Female candidates for President of the United States Cornell University alumni American environmentalists American women environmentalists New York (state) Greens Green Party of the United States politicians 21st-century American women politicians Year of birth missing (living people)