legacy.environmentaldefense.org/pubs/EDF-Letter/1992/Ap -
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Published on: 5/16/2003
Last Visited: 2/1/2004
EDF People: Stephen J. Levitas
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Steven J. Levitas is an attorney and the Director of EDF's North Carolina office, where he has specialized in issues involving water and wetlands, and toxic air pollution.
Anyone who has been lucky enough to sample Steve Levitas's seafood terrine, fish muddle, or shrimp-and-grits knows one good reason why the Raleigh lawyer-chef, as Director of North Carolina EDF (NCEDF) is determined to save what's left of the Carolina wetlands and clean up the celebrated Pamlico Sound.
PHOTO: Lawyer-chef Steve Levitas selects a King mackerel at his local fishmarket.Protecting coastal water quality that fish need to thrive is a high priority for Levitas.Photo by John Rosenthal)
Levitas, 37, was schooled in law at Harvard ('82 cum laude) and in cooking by the late Bill Neal, nationally acclaimed Southern chef and author.In 1987, while practicing law in Raleigh and cooking in his spare time, Levitas attended an environmental benefit--a musical celebrating the Carolina coast."That event had a real impact on me," he recalls, "particularly as a new father.I have come to see preserving the environment as a moral obligation we have to future generations."
As chance would have it, a week after the benefit, EDF approached Levitas about opening an office in North Carolina."I certainly hadn't planned on an environmental career," the former trial lawyer admits, "but EDF's timing was pretty good."Levitas, an Atlanta native, has loved the natural world all of his life--the product of childhood summers in the north Georgia mountains and his study of the Romantic poets.
Add to that Levitas's longstanding interest in politics and public policy.At 11 he worked for his uncle, former Congressman Elliott Levitas, in his campaign for the Georgia legislature.At 16 he made his inaugural trip into downtown Atlanta with his new driver's license to drive voters to the polls in Andrew Young's first congressional campaign.
And he is quick to point to his marriage to the energetic Elizabeth Mills as an important source of his environmentalism.Betsy is a longtime environmental activist from a like-minded Georgia family.
In the nearly five years since Levitas joined the EDF staff, North Carolina membership has grown from 700 to about 9,000, and the impact of the five-person office's work is evident from the mountains to the sea.Just last month, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission approved an innovative plan, largely developed by Levitas and NCEDF scientist Dr. Douglas N. Rader, for reducing nutrient pollution in coastal river basins.
In recent years, excess nutrients--from both wastewater and agricultural runoff--have killed huge numbers of fish and caused epidemics of fish disease in North Carolina's coastal waters."To begin solving this problem," says Levitas, "we wanted to figure out how to get the most environmental bang for the buck."
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"The industry and EPA have converted a narrow exemption into a loophole big enough to drive bulldozers through," Levitas says, "and we hope to prevail in court."
Two major new initiatives on Levitas's agenda are a Southern Appalachian Air Quality Project, to combat the harmful effects of air pollution and acid rain on the Southeast's high-elevation ecosystems, and a joint program with national EDF staff to spur demand for environmentally sound paper products."Of the 50 largest pulp and paper mills in North America, 32 are in the Southeast," observes Levitas."Changing the market for paper products holds the greatest promise for eliminating the devastating environmental harm caused by these mills."
Through it all, Levitas makes a point of preserving time for hikes with his children (Jake is pushing 6 and Emmy just turned 3), poetry, and, of course, the cookstove and cutting board.Levitas does love low-country cooking, and the heat of the kitchen seems to suit him just fine.
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