Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 09/26/2008 - A service commemorating and celebrating the life of Philip E. Clapp will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, October 10 at the Friends Meeting House in Washington, DC.  The Meeting House is located at  2111 Florida Ave NW.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Zen Mountain Monastery; P.O. Box 197; Mt. Tremper, NY 12457.



Previously Released Statement (9/17/08): Phil Clapp, deputy managing director of the Pew Environment Group, died on September 17, 2008, in Amsterdam. The following statement is from Rebecca Rimel, president and chief executive officer of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

"Phil was a true visionary about environmental issues, their consequences and the most effective means to address them. He was masterful at communicating complex scientific matters in ways that would resonate with both the public and policymakers. His impact is immeasurable.

The highly productive partnership that Phil and Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, developed more than a decade ago yielded so many significant victories for the environment. Their collaboration led to the founding of the National Environmental Trust (NET), an organization that absolutely transformed environmental advocacy, and later to NET's merger with the Pew Environment Group in 2008. 

Having Phil as a colleague was an incredible gift for all of us at Pew. He brought tremendous enthusiasm, creativity and incisive intellect to every discussion, and he had an uncanny ability to light up a room and use his trademark humor to ease even the toughest negotiations. Phil never missed a detail, whether in contributing to the design of our new building in Washington or devising a winning advocacy campaign. The opportunity to work with him has been a great privilege.

Phil will long be remembered for his extraordinary skill at framing the way issues are debated in government and the media. He brought a new level of sophistication to informing and involving the public in the key environmental concerns of our time. Phil was perhaps most visible as a leading strategist in the campaign to address global climate change, where his knowledge, expertise and political savvy made him a formidable champion. In addition, he was instrumental in holding the line against deregulation in 1995 that would have rolled back critical food safety protections, and helped drive bipartisan legislation in 1996 to update our nation’s drinking water act.

We are experiencing this loss with profound sadness.  We will deeply miss Phil's friendship, boundless energy and quick wit.  He was a vital leader in the environmental community, and we know that his death will be felt keenly by the many people he worked with around the world. On behalf of the board of The Pew Charitable Trusts and Phil's colleagues throughout Pew, I would like to express our deepest condolences to his family and friends."

Letters of condolence can be sent to Vivian Clapp, c/o Mathew Todaro; The Pew Charitable Trusts; 1200 18th St. NW, 5th Floor; Washington DC 20036-2506 (ClappFamily@PewTrusts.org).