Photograph by Robert G. Sanchez

Matt Petersen works shoulder-to-shoulder with Mikhail Gorbachev, who founded the advocacy group Green Cross International in Geneva in 1993. Petersen is president and C.E.O. of its U.S. affiliate, the Los Angeles–based Global Green USA, which partners with government agencies to promote sustainable development and awards designers for green building. A Golden State native from Modesto, Petersen began his career as a campaigner (for Dukakis in 1988 as well as political races in California). As a graduate student at USC, he ran Americans for a Safe Future, a group that protested the building of a nuclear waste dump near the Colorado River. record caught up with Petersen just two days before his wife, Leila, gave birth to their son, Aidan Michael.

Q: An environmental-advocacy group based in Los Angeles—sounds like an oxymoron. Why there?

It’s a challenge to catch people’s attention about the environment in Los Angeles, but it has a pragmatic side to it, too—”If you can do it here, you can do it anywhere” is our attitude. We’re also located here because of its proximity to the media and entertainment community and because California is a leader, not just nationally, but globally, on environmental trends.

How did you become interested in the environmental movement?

I grew up in Modesto, which, along with other Valley cities—Fresno, Sacramento—has become synonymous with sprawl. My dad tells a story of when I was five years old and we were at a park. I guess there was litter on the ground, and I said, “Dad, we gotta do something about our planet!” So, as he tells it, my awareness came earlier than I remember. Really, it was related to my work in politics, especially when I campaigned in 1992 for Tony Beilenson [California congressman, now retired] who was a strong advocate for the environment.

When did Global Green begin working on sustainability and design issues?

It started in 1995 when we launched a partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Our mandate was to develop their environmental commitment, to be stewards of God’s resources, as they would put it—lowering energy bills for low-income families. We also held a conference of sorts with green-building experts like Bill McDonough [architect] and Ray Anderson [C.E.O. of Interface Carpet]. That grew into our greening-affordable-housing initiative; then we began partnering with cities to develop sustainable building programs. The idea of recognizing designers for green building evolved from this.

What’s it like to work with Mikhail Gorbachev?

He’s an amazing man. I met him in 1994 at our first major series of events. I remember thinking his soul just comes up through his eyes and grabs you. He firmly believes that environmental protection is the greatest challenge of this century. Seeing the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster affected him very deeply. On a personal level, he’s always got a great joke and provokes interesting conversation. Every time you talk to him, he ends up sitting at the edge of his chair.

Did you go to the U.N. environmental summit in Johannesburg?

Yes. One thing we proposed while there was shifting fossil fuel subsidies to a $50 billion solar venture fund, to drive down the cost of solar energy technologies so designers can integrate them into buildings more readily. It got a lot of attention—the Dutch government’s very intrigued, and others, as well.