Gilroy – Environmental activist Joan Spencer has been named a 2005 Clean Air Champion by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Spencer is the only winner from Santa Clara County.
“I’m surprised and I’m very happy,” said Spencer, who’s on the environmental oversight committee for the Gilroy Unified School District. “We’re always looking at different ways to promote clean air and other green technology so our families and children will grow up healthier.”
Spencer, a respiratory therapist, received the award for her efforts to promote solar-powered technology and improve Gilroy’s hiking trails, and her support of Gilroy’s ordinance that bans wood-burning fireplaces in new homes.
“Clean Air Champions are everyday people who are exceptionally motivated to change their own communities and make them healthier,” said Luna Salaver of the BAAQMD. “Joan Spencer has done much to improve the air quality in her community and we are pleased to honor her with this award.”
