Larry Howe-Kerr, Director, Office of Social Justice, Diocese of Pueblo - Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo, an industrial, working-class town home to a once-immense steel mill and a massive chemical weapons stockpile, has more than its share of environmental challenges. Larry Howe-Kerr has tackled many of these problems as a representative of the Catholic Church. He helped organize the community to demand and win monitoring of air pollution from the steel mill. In another victory, he encouraged the state and EPA to divert environmental fines into nearly $1 million in community projects. Howe-Kerr collaborated with the community and government to force a change in the method of destroying the three-quarters of a million chemical weapons stockpiled in Pueblo. Instead of being incinerated, the weapons will be disposed of by a safer, more environmentally friendly biological method. Recently, Howe-Kerr played a role in intense negotiations with the state power company that led to the company’s $300 million investment in pollution controls, energy efficiency and development of alternative energy.

Larry Howe-Kerr
Office of Social Justice, Diocese of Pueblo
1001 N. Grand Ave.
Pueblo, CO 81003
Phone: 719-544-9861
Fax: 719-544-5202
Email: lhowe-kerr@dioceseofpueblo.com