Adam Werbach was born in Tarzana, California, the second son of a psychiatrist father and therapist mother. His strong environmental conscience was nurtured by his parents, who were both activists in the Sierra Club. Werbach became a Sierra Club member himself at age 13 and formed the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) at age 19, composed of 300,000 members. He served two years on the Sierra Club's Board of Directors as a member of the Club's national membership committee and volunteer development committee. Then on May 18, 1996, at the age of only 23, Werbach was elected president of the Sierra Club.

It was David Ross Brower, 60 years older than Werbach, who ran the campaign for Werbach to be elected president by the 15-member board, which in turn is elected by the Sierra Club membership at large. As the youngest president ever to lead the Sierra Club...