Today, Angeleno mark! Lopez and five other brave people from around the world were awarded the most prestigious environmental award in the world, the Goldman Environmental Prize (aka. the 'Green Nobel'). The award recognizes ordinary people like you who do extraordinary things to stand up to corporate power, often risking everything to keep their local communities and ecosystems safe from harm.
In 2016, Peruvian farmer Máxima Acuña won the Goldman Prize for her tireless work stopping extractive giant Newmont Mining from building a gold mine in her backyard. Over 160,000 SumOfUs members have asked Newmont to leave Máxima alone after repeated harassment over the last two years. Together, we raised resources for her support and legal fund. And finally, we all cheered and stood by Máxima as she won the award last year.
Given SumOfUs’ mission is to fight for people over profits, we want to be the first to introduce you this year’s winners. Without further ado, here they are. You can click on their photos to learn more or send them a personal message.
MARK! LOPEZ, United States
mark! Lopez took on one of the biggest manufacturers of industrial and lead batteries in the world after it polluted his community in Los Angeles’ Eastside for more than 30 years.
Exide batteries had operated a lead and industrial battery smelter in the heart of mark!’s community, earning multiple health and safety violations along the way. Neighbourhood dust samples contained more than 50 times the acceptable levels of lead and arsenic, posing dangerous health risks to the local community.
mark!’s incredible organizing work eventually forced the plant to close, leaving an important question unanswered: who would clean up the heavy metal contamination in LA’s Eastside?
After tireless door-knocking and outreach, mark! built so much popular support that the Governor of California was forced to commit $176.6 million to decontaminate homes, one of the largest environmental cleanups in California history.
RODRIGO TOT, Guatemala
An Indigenous leader in Guatemala’s Agua Caliente, Rodrigo Tot led his community to a landmark court decision that recognized land titles for the Q’eqchi people and kept several mining companies from restarting a destructive nickel mine in his community.
RODRIGUE MUGARUKA KATEMBO, Democratic Republic of Congo
Rodrigue Katembo put his life on the line to stop a British oil company from drilling for oil in Virunga National Park. As a park ranger, Rodrigue exposed bribery, corruption and violence, and forced UK-based SOCO International to withdraw and preserve this UNESCO World Heritage Site for future generations.
PRAFULLA SAMANTARA, India
An iconic leader of social justice movements in India, Prafulla Samantara led a historic 12-year legal battle against a massive, British-operated open-pit aluminium ore mine. To save India’s breathtaking Niyamgiri Hills and the endangered Bengal tiger that call them home, he walked, biked and travelled for miles to build resistance to this destructive mine among the Indigenous Dongria Kondh until finally winning in India’s Supreme Court in 2016.
UROS MACERL, Slovenia
Uroš Macerl, an organic farmer from Slovenia, successfully stopped French-owned cement company Lafarge from spewing hazardous industrial waste all over his community. Uroš rallied support and took his fight all the way to the European Comission. Against all odds, Uroš forced the plant to shut down in 2015.
Click here to learn more about Uroš’ fight with Lafarge Cement, and thank him for his tireless work.
WENDY BOWMAN, Australia
For almost 7 years, 84 year-old Wendy Bowman fought to stop Chinese-owned mining company Yancoal from expanding an open cut coal mine. Bowman took her fight all the way to the New South Wales Court of Appeal, and didn’t give up until she stopped the mine in its tracks.
As always, thanks for all that you do,
Angus, Emma, Toni, and the team at SumOfUs
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