Each year we honor California leaders who have made a difference for the environment. Join us for the 2018 Political Leadership Awards 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 25 with the theme "A River for All." You'll get to meet and honor (from left):

Sometimes we all need to be reminded the profound difference one person can make -- and to be inspired to chart our own course. Jeannette Merrilees loved Crystal Cove State Park and for years led a Sierra Club task force to protect it from a proposal for a luxury resort that would restrict access to beachgoers. 

Many Southern Californians may not be aware of something happening in their own backyard. A billion-dollar desalination plant, the most expensive and environmentally-damaging way to secure Orange County's future water supply, is planned for Huntington Beach. 

Scott Pruitt's got a polluting problem. Ever since he became head of the EPA, he's only cared about helping out polluting industries, not our families' health. And now he's using a strategy right out of the tobacco industry's playbook.

All are invited to a free screening of the Sierra Club film "Reinventing Power: America's Clean Energy Boom" starting at 6:30 p.m. June 5 at Ahrya Fine Arts theater in Beverly Hills. Sierra Club Executive Producer Michael Brune; the film's director at Transit Pictures, Tony Valentino; and executive producer Amber Valletta will be on hand to talk about the issues raised in the film.

John Robinson. Sierra Peaks Section Banquet, January 25, 2015. Credit: Bob Cates

John W. Robinson was a native Californian, born and raised in Long Beach. He died April 24 at age 88.