Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

President Obama’s highly anticipated Climate Action Plan was released earlier this week, the centerpiece of which focuses on cutting carbon emissions from new and existing coal fired power plants. Such plants are responsible for nearly 40% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Other components of the plan focus on investing in renewable energy technologies, fortifying…

Congratulations to Evgenia Chirikova and Oscara Olivera for recently being awarded the 2013 James Lawson Award, administered by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. The award ceremony took place at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. The award is named after James Lawson, a key leader from the US Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and…

Thuli Makama, an environmental attorney from Swaziland, was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2010 after winning a landmark case to include environmental NGO representation in the Swaziland Environment Authority, reinforcing the right to public participation in environmental decision making. For the past several months, Makama has been living in Oregon while completing a fellowship with…

By organizing hundreds of local villagers to peacefully occupy marble mining sites in “weaving protests,” 2013 Goldman Prize recipient Aleta Baun stopped the destruction of sacred forestland on Mutis Mountain on the island of Timor. Tell us about the Mollo people, your way of life and your spiritual connection to the land. Our livelihood is…

Humberto Rios Labrada was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2010 for the influential role he played in revitalizing Cuba’s farming industry. By encouraging a return to crop rotation and seed diversity, Rios helped decrease Cuba’s dependence on chemical fertilizers and increased the productivity and sustainability of Cuba’s farms. Today, Rios is expanding his work. He…

Interim Executive Director of the Goldman Prize Lorrae Rominger recently had the opportunity to meet with Jane Scurich, Director of Administration and Development at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers. For the last several years, the Conservatory has hosted a semi-permanent exhibit featuring the Goldman Prize recipients. Rominger and Scurich visited the display, which is currently…

2013 Prize recipient Jonathan Deal is leading a campaign to raise awareness about fracking, especially in places like New York, California and Illinois where fracking interest is on the rise. Last month, Deal wrapped up a five-week US tour which he spent gathering first-hand information about fracking from industry consultants, politicians, scientists and local citizens…

Unfazed by powerful political opponents and a pervasive culture of violence, 2013 Goldman Prize recipient Nohra Padilla organized Colombia’s marginalized waste pickers to make recycling a legitimate part of waste management. What was it like growing up as a recycler in Colombia, and how did you become a leader in the fight to transform the…

At the 2013 Goldman Prize award ceremony in Washington, DC, John Goldman (son of the late Richard and Rhoda Goldman and Vice President of the Goldman Environmental Foundation) gave a stirring speech about the risks that Goldman Prize recipients regularly face and the great accomplishments they have achieved in spite of these risks. Specifically, Mr.…

2013 Goldman Prize recipient Kimberly Wasserman led local residents in a successful campaign to shut down two of the country’s oldest and dirtiest coal plants — and is now transforming Chicago’s old industrial sites into parks and multi-use spaces. Describe the community of Little Village and how it shaped your path to becoming a community…