washington, usa / melbourne, australia
“green nobel prizes” to go to three
individuals nominated by friends of the
earth
Three winners of the International “Nobel
Prize for the Environment” that will be
awarded next Monday, April 14, are
individuals from the United States and
Australia who were nominated by Friends of
the Earth groups.
Among the seven recipients of the 14th
annual Goldman Environmental Prize – to be
presented in San Francisco on April 14 and
Washington, D.C., on April 16 – are three
women who have been working closely with
member groups of Friends of the Earth
International, the world's largest grassroots
environmental network.
They are an Appalachian woman defending
her West Virginia (USA) community against the
devastating practice of mountaintop removal
coal mining and two Aboriginal elders from
the Australian desert blocking construction
of a federal nuclear waste dump.
For the area “Islands and Island Nations,”
the 2003 Goldman Environmental Prize winners
are: Eileen Kampakuta Brown and Eileen Wani
Wingfield, Australia (Two winners share the
Island Nations award this year).
Aboriginal elders Eileen Kampakuta Brown
and Eileen Wani Wingfield from the “Kupa Piti
Kungka Tjuta” (Senior Aboriginal Women from
Coober Pedy) are at the forefront of the
campaign to block construction of a nuclear
waste dump in their South Australian desert
homeland. Since the British nuclear bomb
tests of the 1950s, South Australia’s
traditional Aboriginal homelands have been
one of the testing and dumping grounds for
the world’s nuclear industry, causing asthma,
birth defects and cancer as well as poisoning
the environment and wildlife. Now, Brown and
Wingfield are leading their communities in an
international campaign to say “Irati Wanti” —
“the poison, leave it. “
For the area “North America,” the 2003
Goldman Environmental Prize winner is Julia
Bonds, West Virginia, USA. A coal miner’s
daughter and native West Virginian, Julia
Bonds is leading the campaign to stop
mountaintop removal coal mining.
This highly destructive “strip mining on
steroids” is ravaging communities throughout
Appalachia, turning river valleys into mining
waste dumps, driving up asthma rates and
forcing whole communities to abandon their
homes.
The Goldman Environmental Prize is given
annually to grassroots environmental heroes
from six geographic areas: Africa, Asia,
Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North
America, and South and Central America. The
prize includes a no-strings-attached award of
$125,000.
ATTENTION EDITORS: Detailed biographical
information and photographs of all of the
winners are available FROM THE GOLDMAN
ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE. Broadcast-quality video
of the winners in their home countries will
be available on an embargoed basis. Advance
interviews and tapings prior to the April
14th announcement can be arranged with some
recipients. Prize winners will be in San
Francisco April 14 and for an East Coast
awards ceremony in Washington, D.C, on April
16 and 17.
For more information please contact:
The Goldman Environmental Prize, San
Francisco. Tel: +1-415 788 9090.
www.goldmanprize.org
Philip Cohen, communications officer
Friends of the Earth Australia:
Bruce Thompson, Tel: + 61-39 419 8700
www.foe.org.au
Friends of the Earth USA, Washington:
Jon Sohn, Tel: +1-202 783 7400
www.foe.org
Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, in Australia:
Tel: +61-8 86723413
www.iratiwanti.org
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