Laurie David is an environmental activist and film producer who advocates for electric vehicle adoption, stronger emission laws, and a switch to weather-dependent energy. She was previously married to writer and actor Larry David.

She has written multiple environmentalist books and was a producer for the documentary An Inconvenient Truth featuring former Vice President Al Gore. ¹

Personal Life

Laurie David is the ex-wife of actor and writer Larry David. She was born in Long Island, New York on March 22, 1958. She attended Ohio State University and met Larry David in 1986 while booking talent for “Late Night with David Letterman.” ² They were married in 1993, and in 2007 after two children and 14 years together, they divorced. ³

Career

Talent Coordinator

Laurie David was a talent coordinator for “Late Night with David Letterman” for about four years before leaving to start her own talent management company. She represented comedians and writers, most notably comedian Chris Elliot. ⁴

Producer

David produced An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary about former Vice President Al Gore‘s environmentalist activism campaign, and Fed Up, a documentary about causes of obesity in America. An Inconvenient Truth won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary. ⁵

Author

The Solution is You: An Activists Guide was David’s first book. Published in 2006, the book talks about environmental extremist ideas and ways to become an activist with an afterword by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ⁶

The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming is Laurie David’s second book. This book, published in 2007, was made as a “kid-friendly” way to teach kids about environmentalist activism. ⁷

In 2021, David published a second environmentalist tome, titled Imagine It! A Handbook for a Happier Planet. The book calls for environmentalist changes to the food system and clothing production and calls for the elimination of plastic products. ⁸

Activism

Laurie David focuses on environmental activism. She is a trustee of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) along with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She also started NRDC Los Angeles Leadership Council, NRDC Environmental Action Center, the Detroit Project, stopglobalwarming.org, and the Stop Global Warming virtual march. ^{9 10 11}

National Resources Defense Council

Laurie David has been a trustee on the board of the NRDC for over 20 years and has worked with actor Leonardo DiCaprio to create the David Family Environmental Action Center and the Leonardo DiCaprio e-Activism Zone. The David Family Environmental Action Center was a museum with exhibits showing timelines of significant environmental events that doubled as a retail shop which sold clothing, accessories, and outdoor gear made from recycled materials. ¹²

David is the founder of NRDC Los Angeles Leadership Council, a California focused group that tries to influence politicians to increase investment in weather-based power sources like solar panels and wind turbines while asking demanding for greater restrictions to car emissions and usage. This group, along with NRDC, advocates for the California Climate Crisis Act which would require California to have the same air quality in 2040 as it did in 1990. ¹³ The group helped NRDC lobby California politicians to create a law which bans the use of flame-retardant chemicals in furniture and is working with NRDC to get rid of pesticides in California. ¹⁴

The Detroit Project

The Detroit Project was an effort between Laurie David and environmental activist and co-founder of the Huffington Post Arianna Huffington, to advocate that Congress pass laws which would force automakers to create vehicles with lower emissions, higher fuel efficiency, and use power units like batteries. ¹⁵

The Project created ad campaigns criticizing the use of SUVs. The campaign pushed that SUVs are significantly more harmful to the environment than “medium-sized” cars, and that the extra gas being purchased meant that more money went to “not-so-freedom-loving governments in the Mideast.” ¹⁶ The project was supported by people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and influenced politicians like then-U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA). ¹⁷

Stop Global Warming

Stopglobalwarming.org was a website created by Laurie David to promote the Stop Global Warming Virtual March. This was a campaign done in 2007 with singer Sheryl Crowe in which the two went around the country giving presentations on global warming. They showed clips from the David-produced documentary An Inconvenient Truth and tried to convince people to promote awareness for environmentalist ideologies. The website has been unchanged since the virtual march in 2007. ¹⁸

Fundraising

David holds a biannual Hollywood fundraising event called “Earth to L.A.” that raises money for the National Resources Defense Council. In 2012, she put on the event with the goal of raising $2 million for the NRDC. The event included master of ceremonies Tom Hanks, and performances by Jack Black, Willie Nelson, and Larry David. ¹⁹

Controversies

Wetlands Permitting

In 2009, Laurie David was fined by the Chilmark township conservation commission for paving over wetlands in Martha’s Vineyard. A stone path built on her property was found to be in violation of the Wetland Protection Act which prohibits building on wetlands without receiving a permit to do so before construction begins. In 2005, she committed the same offence when building a fire pit, a barbecue area, and a children’s theater stage in a wetlands area without a permit. ²⁰ David’s contractor took the blame for the incident claiming that David had no knowledge of the situation. ²¹

Private Jet

David received the nickname “Gulfstream Liberal” after admitting that she uses a private jet to fly from her home in California to her second home in Martha’s Vineyard. When pressed David said, “Yes, I take a private plane on holiday a couple of times a year, and I feel horribly guilty about it. I probably shouldn’t do it. But the truth is, I’m not perfect.” ²² David still advocates for people to stop driving SUVs while she flies on a private jet because she believes “everybody has to look at his or her own footprint and do the best they can.” ²³

1. Rosman, Katherine. “Meet Laurie David: Hollywood’s Newest Political Power Broker.” ELLE, June 22, 2022. https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a11252/laurie-david/.
2. Rosman, Katherine. “Meet Laurie David: Hollywood’s Newest Political Power Broker.” ELLE, June 22, 2022. https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a11252/laurie-david/.
3. Staff, The Week. “Who Is Laurie David?” The Week, January 8, 2015. https://theweek.com/articles/493493/who-laurie-david.
4. Staff, The Week. “Who Is Laurie David?” The Week, January 8, 2015. https://theweek.com/articles/493493/who-laurie-david.
5. “The 79th Academy Awards: 2007.” Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2007.
6. David, Laurie. “The Solution Is You! : An Activist’s Guide : David, Laurie : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/solutionisyouact00davi/mode/2up.
7. “The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming.” Goodreads. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1290581.
8. David, Laurie. “Imagine It!: A Handbook for a Happier Planet: Paperback.” Barnes & Noble, April 6, 2021. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imagine-it-laurie-david/1138688769.
9. “Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie David Open NRDC Environmental Action Center, Part of Conservation Group’s Drive for Mass Activism.” Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie David Open NRDC Environmental Action Center, Part of Conservation Group’s Drive for Mass Activism, January 22, 2004. https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/leonardo-dicaprio-laurie-david-open-nrdc-environmental-action-center-part.
10. David, Laurie. “Remembering ‘the Detroit Project.’” HuffPost, November 17, 2011. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/remembering-the-detroit-p_b_30331.
11. “Leadership.” Be a Force for the Future. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.nrdc.org/leadership.
12.  “Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie David Open NRDC Environmental Action Center, Part of Conservation Group’s Drive for Mass Activism.” Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie David Open NRDC Environmental Action Center, Part of Conservation Group’s Drive for Mass Activism, January 22, 2004. https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/leonardo-dicaprio-laurie-david-open-nrdc-environmental-action-center-part.
13. “Climate Change.” NRDC’s work to combat Climate Change’. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.nrdc.org/issues/climate-change.
14. “West.” Be a Force for the Future. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.nrdc.org/west.
15. David, Laurie. “Remembering ‘the Detroit Project.’” HuffPost, November 17, 2011. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/remembering-the-detroit-p_b_30331.
16. David, Laurie. “Remembering ‘the Detroit Project.’” HuffPost, November 17, 2011. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/remembering-the-detroit-p_b_30331.
17. Rosman, Katherine. “Meet Laurie David: Hollywood’s Newest Political Power Broker.” ELLE, June 22, 2022. https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a11252/laurie-david/.
18. Jewell, Wendy. “Laurie David.” The MY HERO Project, August 7, 2014. https://myhero.com/Laurie_David_07.
19. Rosman, Katherine. “Meet Laurie David: Hollywood’s Newest Political Power Broker.” ELLE, June 22, 2022. https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a11252/laurie-david/
20. Staff, PageSix.com. “Laurie’s Vineyard Violation.” Page Six, May 30, 2009. https://pagesix.com/2009/05/30/lauries-vineyard-violation/.
21. Staff, PageSix.com. “Laurie’s Vineyard Violation.” Page Six, May 30, 2009. https://pagesix.com/2009/05/30/lauries-vineyard-violation/.
22. “Ed Pilkington Interviews Laurie David, US Green Campaigner.” The Guardian, November 18, 2006. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/nov/18/weekendmagazine.usnews.
23. Elliot, Dorinda. “A Conversation with Laurie David.” Condé Nast Traveler, November 19, 2007. https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2007-11-19/a-conversation-with-laurie-david.