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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned environmental activist Mark Massara is joining Dot Eco LLC - the group backed by Al Gore, The Alliance For Climate Protection, Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation -- as Chief Policy Officer. In this critical role, Massara will oversee policy development and legal concerns for the new top-level domain

"Mark's result-oriented approach is synonymous with our mission to effect real change. His lifetime of activism is known and respected in the environmental community, and we are proud to be aligning our efforts with this force of nature," said the founder of Dot Eco LLC, Fred Krueger.

The environmental community can be assured that there will be sound ground rules and enforceable policies for individuals and businesses who register a .ECO domain name. Massara's dedication to promoting legislation that defends the environment indicates the kind of strength and integrity that Dot Eco LLC wants the .ECO top-level domain to promote.

"Climate protection is single most important pressing worldwide issue humanity faces. Sierra Club is working with Al Gore to meet the challenge, but we will only be successful with legislation, funding and action. I am thrilled to be working with Dot Eco LLC, who realize the enormity of the task at hand and the immediate need this critical undertaking," Massara said upon his appointment.

Massara is an environmental attorney and professor specializing in California coastal protection, conservation, water quality, beach access and development issues. Massara has represented dozens of environmental organizations, working closely with the California Coastal Commission and local, state and federal governmental agencies over the last 20 years to ensure that the California coast is adequately protected.

Massara gained a reputation in the surfing and environmental communities in 1991, when as counsel for Surfrider, an environmental organization focused on protecting the coast, he won a lawsuit against two pulp-mill companies near Eureka, California that were dumping 40 million gallons of toxic effluents per day into the ocean. The penalty was the second largest collected for Clean Water Act violations. In 2007, his efforts resulted in the California Coastal Commission's denial of Pebble Beach Company's plan to cut down over 18,000 trees on the Monterey Peninsula.

Also in 2007, Massara was instrumental in the State of California denying a 14-story high floating liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal that would have been located offshore of the Cities of Malibu and Oxnard. In 2008, Massara played a key role in the protection of San Onofre State Beach, which had been threatened by a proposed toll road highway that would have destroyed one of California's most cherished State Parks.

Massara founded Surfers Environmental Alliance and the National Association of Surfing Attorneys, and partnered with Ken and Gabrielle Adelman to create a California coastline photographic survey. He is on the board of Vote the Coast and Coastal Advocates, and serves on the advisory board of Save the Waves Coalition. He writes on coastal and environmental legal issues for surfing magazines, Coastwatcher and other publications.

Massara started in environmental activism at the age of 8. He was living in Santa Barbara when a Union Oil offshore rig leaked 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil. He and his father threw hay bales on the beach and collected dead and dying birds.

The Smithsonian Institution has declared Massara an "ocean hero."

.ECO will be established for individuals to express their support for environmental causes, for companies to promote their environmental initiatives, and for environmental organizations to maintain their websites in a namespace that is more relevant to their core missions. By charter, a majority of the profits of the .ECO initiative will be distributed to support environmental causes.

Last week, Jim Dufour of Scripps Institution for Oceanography joined the group as its Chief Environmental Officer.

About Dot Eco LLC

Dot Eco LLC was founded in 2008 by Fred Krueger, Minor Childers and Clark Landry to secure, operate and promote the .ECO top-level domain in order to promote environmental initiatives and awareness. Dot Eco LLC will be applying for the .ECO top-level domain through the ICANN gTLD application process in early 2010.