Selma Rubin

Selma Rubin (March 28, 1915 – March 9, 2012) was an American environmentalist and environmental activist. She was called a co-founder of Earth Day. Many of the grassroot organizations she co-foundered are still thriving today like the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), the Community Environmental Council (CEC), the ACLU, SBCAN, and the Fund for Santa Barbara among them.

Biography She was raised in Toledo, Ohio, and served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. She and her husband, Bill, moved to Santa Barbara, California, from Los Angeles in 1964, where she took a position as an accountant. In 1970, she successfully led a voter campaign to preserve the Gaviota Coast of California from a proposal to build 1,535 condos in the area.

She and another activist, Anna Laura Myers, collected more than 12,000 signatures for a ballot initiative, which easily defeated the proposal. Rubin spearheaded a compromise for the Gaviota Coast, which allowed for much of the area's preservation, as well as the construction of the El Capitán Canyon Resort and a campground. She Rubin co-founded the Community Environmental Council, one of the world's first environmental organizations, in 1974. She also co-founded the Environmental Defense Center in 1977.

Selma Rubin died at her home in Santa Barbara, California, on March 9, 2012, aged 96.