Campaign Finance Reform
Support for public financing of elections at the state and national level has been a constant for the Foundation. We believe that special interests unduly influence public officials who should be accountable to the general public. We have provided Public Campaign, a leader in the “clean money” effort, with more than $1 million in grants to support its work in both legislative and initiative efforts and in defense of successful public financing models in Arizona and Maine.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Legislation
In addition to our early support for zero-emission vehicle technologies and our current work in the San Joaquin Valley, we branched into petroleum reduction and renewable energy issues. We also worked as part of the coalition to pass landmark greenhouse gas emissions legislation in California, AB 1493 (Pavley); it was signed into law in 2002. Regulations to implement the bill will be critical to its ultimate success, so we have remained engaged with other environmental organizations in reviewing drafts and lobbying the California Air Resources Board for tough standards.
Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies Groundbreaking
On January 28, 2004, Steve and Michèle Kirsch celebrated the groundbreaking of the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies at DeAnza College in Cupertino, California. This landmark center will be the first of its kind on a college campus west of the Mississippi. The Foundation's $2 million lead gift for the building was, at the time it was made, the largest gift ever to a California community college. The linkage among education, environmental design and the College's Silicon Valley location made this a key, early Foundation grant.
www.kirschfoundation.org
Steve Kirsch has been working in the Internet world for close to 30 years. The Foundation's website, therefore, plays a critical role in our work. The website holds the history of the Foundation, provides information about all grantmaking and lobbying activities and educates visitors about issues of concern to Steve and Michèle Kirsch. Though the site was groundbreaking when first designed in 2000, we engaged in a major upgrading in 2004. The redesign included a news-focused home page and reorganization of the public policy content as we have substantially increased the scope of our lobbying over the past five years.
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The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy.”
• Theodore H. White,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author |
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Protester at campaign finance reform rally in Raleigh, NC, in 1999.
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