Rock the Earth Announces 10th Annual 2015 Planet Defender Award Winners

Rock the Earth, a national nonprofit environmental organization that partners with the music industry, today announced the winners of the 10th annual Planet Defender Awards. Planet Defender Awards pay tribute to the exceptional individuals and groups working to protect Earth and inspire others to action. The awards are based on nominations from the community and Rock the Earth's national volunteer network. Announced during Earth Month, the awards recognize winners in three categories: artist, community leader and grassroots activist.

The 2015 Planet Defender Award winners:

• Artist: Xavier Rudd
• Community Leader: L. Hunter Lovins
• Grassroots Activist: Tim DeChristopher

"The 10th annual Planet Defender Awards highlight the work of exceptional individuals who have dedicated themselves to defending the planet every day. They stand with others like them who spend countless hours and endless energy advocating on environmental issues," said Marc Ross, executive director and founder of Rock the Earth. "This Earth Day, we honor Xavier Rudd, L. Hunter Lovins and Tim DeChristopher with Planet Defender Awards, and thank them for their inspiring commitment to protecting the Earth."

Planet Defender Award - Artist - Xavier Rudd
The 2015 Planet Defender Award (Artist) recognizes Xavier Rudd for his outstanding work in educating and activating his fans around critical environmental issues and social justice campaigns.

Rudd is a singer-songwriter, musician and activist who shares his vision for a better world through his music. He works tirelessly to educate and spur his fans to action around an array of causes such as protection of the Great Barrier Reef, renewable energy, protection of forests, illegal fishing, climate change and the health and welfare of Aboriginal people.

Rudd is an iconic voice in Australian music and combines uplifting music with thought-provoking lyrics. Front man for a band aptly named United Nations, many of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality and environmentalism.

Artist category winner, Xavier Rudd, stated, "I'm honored to receive the Planet Defender Award. My music has always come from my passion for land and culture and the strong spirit that exists in my homeland. For me, it's always been about more than just the music. It means a lot to me to be recognized and understood."

Planet Defender Award - Community Leader - L. Hunter Lovins
The 2015 Planet Defender Award (Community Leader) recognizes L. Hunter Lovins for more than 30 years of work in advocating sustainable development.

Lovins is President of Natural Capitalism Solutions (NCS,) a Colorado non-profit that educates senior decision makers in the business case for a Regenerative Economy. NCS, helps companies, communities and countries implement more sustainable practices profitably.

Trained as a sociologist and lawyer (JD), Lovins is a professor of sustainable business management at Bard College and Denver University, and the chief insurgent of the Madrone Project. Named a Master at the Chinese De Tao Academy, she recently helped launch the Institute for Green Investment in Shanghai. Lovins has consulted for scores of industries and governments worldwide, including International Finance Corporation, Unilever, Walmart, the United Nations and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as sustainability champions Interface, Patagonia and Clif Bar. She has briefed heads of state, leaders of the numerous local governments, the Pentagon and about 30 other countries, as well as the UN, and the U.S. Congress.

Lovins has worked in sustainability policy since 1972 and was instrumental in creating the fields of Economic Renewal, Green Development and Sustainable Management. She has helped create several sustainable business MBA programs and is currently professor of Sustainable Business at Bard MBA. Time Magazine recognized her as a Millennium Hero for the Planet, and Newsweek called her the Green Business Icon.

Lovins stated, "It is deeply humbling to receive this award. I'll do my best to live up to this awesome obligation. It is, however, an award to which all people who live on the planet should aspire. We're in a horse race with catastrophe, capable of ending life, as we know it on the planet. But we are also capable of transforming our economy to one in service to life. We have all of the technologies we need to solve all of the problems facing us. We know that doing so would be a job creation engine that would drive unprecedented prosperity and wellbeing. Let's build, in Bucky Fuller's words, a world that works for 100 percent of humanity."

Planet Defender Award - Grassroots Activist - Tim DeChristopher
The 2015 Planet Defender Award (Grassroots Activist) recognizes Tim DeChristopher for his profound acts of civil disobedience to garner awareness and drive action on behalf of environmental protection and climate justice.

DeChristopher believes deeply in the critical role of civil disobedience in social movements throughout history and in the importance of employing those tactics in today's environmental movement. His acts of civil disobedience have garnered national attention for government auctions of public land leases in the final days of the Bush administration as retold in the award-winning documentary, Bidder 70. In addition to his work on advocating for climate justice, DeChristopher has expressed the need for employing civil disobedience to end mountaintop removal mining in his home state of West Virginia.

Grassroots activist, Tim DeChristopher, said, "I'm honored to receive this award alongside such awesome visionaries as Xavier Rudd and Hunter Lovins. Every day there are more of us standing up for climate justice, and we will continue to rise up in the face of the these challenges."

Previous Planet Defender Award Recipients

		Artist		Community Leader		Grassroots Activist
2014		John Butler		Bill McKibben		Dr. Anthony R. Ingraffea
2013		Linkin Park		James Hansen		Caroline Cannon
2012		Willie Nelson		Amory Lovins		Lynn Henning
2011		Pearl Jam		Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.		Josh Fox
2010		Bonnie Raitt		Laurie David		Louie Psihoyos
2009		Incubus		Van Jones		Jessy Tolkan
2008		Dave Matthews Band		Andrew Winston		Karen Cragnolin
2007		Barenaked Ladies		Carl Safina		Karen Dolan
2006		Jack Johnson		Rocky Anderson		Jason Rutledge

About the Planet Defender Award Design
Chris Nordin, of the Furnace Design Studio and The Glass Academy, designed and created the beautifully rendered Planet Defender Awards. The Furnace Design Studio is one of Metro Detroit's most renowned glass studios, producing work for a worldwide clientele with a focus on highly crafted glass manufacturing. The Glass Academy provides students with a unique opportunity to cultivate skills in the glass arts: glassblowing, stained glass, lampworking and neon using state-of-the-art equipment and top-notch instruction from local artisans.

Tweet this:
Congrats to @xavierrudd @hlovins @dechristopher, winners of @RocktheEarth Planet Defender Awards #earthday2015 http://bit.ly/1yOHtvs

.@rocktheearth announces 10th annual Planet Defender Awards honoring those who protect the planet #earthday2015 http://bit.ly/1yOHtvs

.@xavierrudd wins Rock the Earth's 2015 Planet Defender Award for his environmentalism. #earthday2015 http://bit.ly/1yOHtvs

Rock the Earth's 2015 Planet Defender Award goes to @dechristopher for his grassroots activism. #earthday2015 http://bit.ly/1yOHtvs

.@RocktheEarth announces @hlovins as winner of this year's Planet Defender Community Leader Award! #earthday2015 http://bit.ly/1yOHtvs

Editor's note: Planet Defender Awards photo opportunities and interviews available upon request.

About Rock the Earth
Rock the Earth is a national nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting and defending our natural resources through partnerships with the music industry and the worldwide environmental community to ensure a sustainable and healthy planet for all. Thanks to generosity and support of a network of music industry partners and the world wide environmental community, we are able to carry out grassroots organizing, education, and legal action to mobilize public support and empower social change. Please visit www.RockTheEarth.org for more information.

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