Monday, 14 Apr 2003

Good As Goldman

It ain't easy being an activist in these eco-challenged, conflict-stricken times, but seven remarkable women and men from around the globe have shown they've got what it takes. They're being honored tonight with the world's most prestigious environmental award: the $125,000 Goldman Prize. This week, in a special edition of Grist, we bring you interviews with the prizewinners, who share their struggles, their triumphs, and how they stay motivated in a mad, mad world. Today, read about Odigha Odigha, who is fighting to protect the last remaining rainforests of Nigeria -- a campaign that forced him to spend years hiding from the country's hostile regime. And hear the story of Julia Bonds, a seventh-generation West Virginian who has dedicated her life to battling the mountaintop-removal mining that is devastating Appalachia -- only on the Grist Magazine website.

Wild Thing, I Think I Lost You

In a major blow to wilderness advocates in Utah and around the country, the Bush administration on Friday announced its intention to suspend new wilderness reviews of federal lands in the West and to remove protections from nearly 3 million acres in Utah that had been under consideration for wilderness status. The Interior Department, in settling a lawsuit filed by the state of Utah, put a halt to Clinton-era policies that had encouraged the Bureau of Land Management to protect land while it was being assessed for wilderness qualities. The administration plans to cap at 22.8 million the number of acres eligible for future wilderness protection. This change could open up millions of pristine acres to mining, drilling, and road-building. Enviros are up in arms. "What they're saying is these wilderness-quality lands throughout the West will continue to be degraded and continue to lose their eligibility for wilderness," said Jim Angell of EarthJustice, an environmental law firm. "It's just appalling."

Crop Rotation

Iowa may soon play host to the world's largest wind farm, after Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) on Friday signed a measure that removes regulatory hurdles to clear the way for the project. MidAmerican Energy Co. expects to start construction in September of a 200-turbine facility in northern Iowa that would pump out 310 megawatts of electricity. Vilsack touts Iowa's prospects for becoming "a national leader in wind-energy production," and he hopes this project will open doors for wind-turbine manufacturing in the state. In other alternative-energy news, the U.S. Interior Department today plans to launch an initiative to spur geothermal-energy development in the West, particularly in California, Nevada, and Oregon.

Battle Dreary

Kashmir, once renowned for its lush landscape and abundant wildlife, has for decades served as a battle zone between India and Pakistan, and all the turmoil has taken a heavy toll on the region's environment as well as its people. "Cross-border bombardment is damaging the forests and wildlife beyond imagination," said Farooq A. Niazi, head of the Jammu Kashmir Human Rights Movement. And illegal logging is rampant, often instigated by soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Since 1947, when Pakistan broke off from India, forest cover in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir has diminished by two-thirds. Snow leopard populations in the region have shrunk dramatically, migratory birds no longer return to the area, and other animals, including black bears, ibex, striped hyenas, and lynx, are suffering as well. "It's an environmental disaster," said Sardar Anwar Khan, president of the Pakistan-controlled Azad Jammu Kashmir.