News Room
2004 Brower Youth Awards Environmental Rollbacks Fire Up Young Activists
National Award Honors Outstanding Student LeadersSubmitted by Earth Island Institute
August 10, 2004
If there is a bright spot in the rollbacks in environmental protection over the last four years, it is that more young people have become involved in challenging them. From protesting logging and road building in America’s public forests, to calling for action on global warming, to protecting habitat for beleaguered wildlife, student leaders are proving themselves formidable organizers and lobbyists.
Earth Island Institute today named six student leaders to receive the Brower Youth Award, the nation’s most prestigious award for young environmental activists. The award, in its fifth year, is named for David Brower, the firebrand environmentalist who inspired a growing conservation movement from the 1950s until his death in 2000 at age 88. Brower founded the San Francisco-based Earth Island Institute in 1982 to incubate new projects and leaders in environmental advocacy.
The Brower Youth Awards carry a $3,000 prize. The six awardees will travel to California, where they will be honored at a public ceremony in Berkeley, California on September 30. Environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill, founder of Circle of Life, and youth advocate Van Jones, founder and director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights will host the ceremony, with a performance by activist and hip-hop musician Michael Franti.
“This year’s winners represent a new generation of leadership,” said David Phillips, executive director of Earth Island Institute. “At a time when our top elected leaders have shirked from protecting the environment, these young people are saying ‘bring it on.’”
The 2004 Brower Youth Award winners are:
Lily Dong, 16, South Pasadena, California
As a seventh grader, Lila began what became a 4-year campaign to protect the last remaining undeveloped area in her city, which will open this fall as the Arroyo Seco Woodland and Wildlife Park.
Hannah McHardy, 18, Seattle, Washington
Hannah led demonstrations protesting timber giant Weyerhaeuser Corporation’s destruction of old growth forests and hand delivered 2,000 letters to Weyerhaeuser’s CEO at the company’s headquarters. She successfully lobbied the state to reform logging practices on state-owned lands. She and her classmates also convinced their high school to switch from using virgin fiber paper to 100 percent recycled.
Billy Parish, 22, New York, New York
As a student at Yale, Billy started The Climate Campaign to take aim at global warming. He mobilized students on more than 130 campuses to take action to change their state governments’ and schools’ energy policies to reduce global warming emissions and bring alternative energy technologies into the main stream.
Eugene Pearson, 21, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Eugene and his colleagues on the student council turned the tables on rising college fees by requiring that their money be spent to “green” the University of Colorado. Under the agreement, all new buildings must run on 100 percent renewable energy, making CU-Boulder’s green building standards the strongest of any university in the country.
Shadia Wood, 17, Newport, New York
At age seven, Shadia attended a kids’ conference on toxic waste where she learned that New York’s Superfund, established to clean up the state’s worst toxic sites, was going bankrupt. She became a leader in Kids Against Pollution and spent the next nine years lobbying to restore Superfund. She even opened a lemonade stand on the steps of the Capitol to raise money for the fund. Last year, Governor George Pataki signed the bill to refinance Superfund, with Shadia and her fellow lobbyists looking on.
Christina Wong, 21, Sacramento, California,
A student at University of California at Berkeley, Christina founded a local chapter of the League of Conservation Voters and helped re-engage students in politics on this historically active campus. Christina also recruited student interns to dedicate a month of their summer vacation to registering voters in “swing states” as part a national campaign aimed at electing environmentally friendly candidates to office.
Brower Youth Award winners are available for interviews. For more information on the 2004 Brower Youth Awards winners, including photographs please visit www.earthisland.org/bya
About Brower Youth Awards
Now in its fifth year, The Brower Youth Awards were conceived by Earth Island Institute to recognize and celebrate a new generation of leaders following in the footsteps of David Brower, the legendary environmental activist who died in 2000 at age 88. Environmental leaders age 13-22 who live in the U.S. and Puerto Rico are eligible to apply. An independent selection committee reviews the applications, selecting six winners annually. Earth Island staff provide support and resources to all winners of the Brower Youth Awards to encourage their ongoing development as leaders. Information about the program and the application process can be found at www.earthisland.org/bya
About Earth Island Institute
Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 to incubate new leaders and campaigns that address urgent and emerging environmental issues. Today Earth Island’s network includes more than 30 projects in more than 25 countries. Since its creation, Earth Island has spawned a number of leading environmental organizations, including the Rainforest Action Network, International Rivers Network, the International Marine Mammal Project, Bluewater Network, and Urban Habitat Program. To learn more about Earth Island Institute and its unique organizational structure, please visit www.earthisland.org
About David Brower
David Ross Brower was born in Berkeley and lived there throughout his life. An avid mountaineer, Brower made more than 70 first ascents and served in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II. His love of wilderness climbing led him in 1952 to become the first executive director of the Sierra Club, a post he held until 1969. Brower went on to found Friends of the Earth, the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Island Institute, the Brower Fund, and the Fate and Hope of the Earth Conferences. He was three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and received numerous international awards for conservation. Books by and about David Brower include Encounters with the Archdruid, by John McPhee; For Earth’s Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower, by David Brower; Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run: A Call to Those Who Would Save the Earth, by David Brower and Steve Chapple.
David Brower is subject of the new documentary from Loteria Films, “Monumental: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America,” to be released fall 2004. www.loteriafilms.org
For more information contact:
Contacts: Susan Ives, 415.381.4250, 415.987.6764
Mikhail Davis 415.788.3666 ext 112