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2013 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 749
Commending Gerald P. McCarthy.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 18, 2013
Agreed to by the Senate, January 24, 2013

 

WHEREAS, Gerald P. McCarthy, Executive Director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment since it was established in 1977, is commended for his outstanding service to the Commonwealth and his fellow citizens; and

WHEREAS, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Manhattan College, Gerald “Jerry” McCarthy earned a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Washington; and

WHEREAS, while a captain in the United States Air Force, Jerry McCarthy served as a program manager at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque; and

WHEREAS, Jerry McCarthy began his service to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia when he was named by Governor Linwood Holton in 1970 as the founding director and subsequently the chairman of the Virginia Council on the Environment, coordinating the conservation efforts of state agencies; and

WHEREAS, Jerry McCarthy was named the Executive Director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment, a nonprofit grant making foundation, when it was created in 1977 for the purpose of improving the quality of Virginia’s environment from funds a company otherwise would have paid for polluting the James River with the pesticide Kepone; and

WHEREAS, the Endowment has awarded approximately 1,250 grants totaling nearly $27 million since it was founded, investing in creative and innovative solutions to environmental issues by providing funding to improve environmental education and awareness, fund scientific research and pollution monitoring, bring together businesses and environmental groups to have dialogues on key issues, conserve natural areas, provide grants for farmers to reuse wastewater, establish and support conservation organizations, improve water quality and the Chesapeake Bay fisheries, and launch the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at the University of Virginia to settle disputes without litigation, among other things; and

WHEREAS, including matching funds required by grants, funding from the Endowment has totaled approximately $70 million; and

WHEREAS, Jerry McCarthy has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and to implement Article XI of Virginia’s Constitution, which states that “it shall be the Commonwealth’s policy to protect its atmosphere, lands, and waters from pollution, impairment, or destruction, for the benefit, enjoyment, and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth”; and

WHEREAS, Jerry McCarthy has served the citizens of the Commonwealth in numerous other capacities, serving on or advising at least one state board or commission during every Governor’s term since his appointment by Governor Linwood Holton in 1970 as the founding director of the Virginia Council on the Environment, including his service as a member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program, advisor to the Commission on the Future of Virginia, member of the Governor’s Environmental Education Advisory Commission, and chair of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Environmental Technology Advisory Board; and

WHEREAS, Jerry McCarthy has won numerous awards and accolades for his work to promote conservation; and

WHEREAS, after a highly successful and productive tenure, Jerry McCarthy will retire in 2013 after 35 years as the Executive Director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Gerald P. McCarthy for his distinguished service as the Executive Director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment, which has benefited citizens throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, on the occasion of his upcoming retirement; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Gerald P. McCarthy as an expression of the General Assembly’s gratitude for his many valuable contributions to improving environmental quality in the Commonwealth.