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Four
generations of environmental leaders attended the 2003 Brower Youth
Awards ceremony on September 25 in Berkeley, California. David Brower
even showed up to say a few words.
David C. Brower and his cousin Rosemary Olsen - David R. Brower’s
grandchildren - introduced Award recipient Thomas Nichols, 14, who has
been restoring the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Thomas works to restore
the river’s cottonwood trees while protecting the native beavers who
had been eating them. Previous restoration plans involved killing
beavers. Ceremony host Van Jones highlighted Thomas’s work as an
example of the need to see beyond false choices citizens are presented
with today: “We’re being told that it’s ‘either/or,’... but these young
leaders are showing us ways to have ‘both/and.’”
Onstage, recipient Illai Kenney, 14, of Georgia quipped, “I want you
all to know that I’m running for Governor of California.” After a
rousing speech that showed the influence of her work with civil rights
leaders, Illai announced the formation of the League of Future Voters.
Illai received a 2003 Brower Youth Award for environmental justice work
as a co-founder of Georgia Kids Against Pollution. She was the youngest
delegate to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Andrew Azman, 22, of Boulder, Colorado, reminded the audience that the
diesel engine was designed to run on vegetable oil; his work to promote
biodiesel helps fulfill Rudolph Diesel’s original vision of farmers
growing both food and fuel. As founder of CU Biodiesel, Andrew
convinced the University of Colorado and the City of Boulder to refit
their diesel buses and trucks to burn biodiesel.
Brower New Leaders Initiative co-director Mikhail Davis introduced
recipient Whitney Cushing, 17, of Homer, Alaska, and reminded the
audience that David Brower worked tirelessly to stop the Alaska Oil
Pipeline. Whitney’s parents met while working on the pipeline and
Whitney’s work to preserve the rest of Alaska shows that at least some
good came of that environmental defeat.
John Sellers of the Ruckus Society introduced recipient Rachel Ackoff,
18, of Claremont, California, who works to educate local leaders and
citizens on the dangers posed by global trade. Rachel organized and led
trainings for over 150 students and adults to prepare them to work for
a system of trade that protects environmental and human rights
standards. Ackoff’s work is part of the worldwide Global Justice
movement that stopped the expansion of the World Trade Organization in
Cancún in September. (See page 34.)
Following an exhibition by activist dance troupe Dream, recipient
Andrew Hunt, 22, of Bethesda, Maryland, said that his work organizing
students from schools across Maryland into a unified force to lobby in
the state capital didn’t take nearly so much talent. “Anyone can do
this, it doesn’t take much, you don’t need rhythm, you don’t need
agility… you just need to care.” Maryland students’ lobbying created
a new state park at Chapman Forest and convinced the state to emphasize
rail transportation in its request for federal funding.
At the ceremony’s end, recipients urged the audience to elect political
leaders that share our commitment to protecting nature and public
health.
The ceremony followed a week of activities that began with a trip to
Yosemite, where Award recipients learned about Dave’s life and the
history of the environmental movement, and spent a night in the
backcountry with Earth Island’s Bay Area Wilderness Training. The
week’s activities kicked off ongoing leadership development for
recipients as part of the Brower New Leaders Initiative. As part of
BNLI, Brower Youth Award winners will attend and speak at the Bioneers
Conference and the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in the
coming year.
“Sometimes when a great visionary passes on, it’s like a shooting star
that burns brightly then fades away,” said host Van Jones. It is clear
that David Brower’s light has not faded, and that the coming generation
has many new stars to light up the sky.
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