Environmental ‘Nobel Prizes’ Announced: “The Goldman Environmental Prize recognizes the perseverance – and the very concrete accomplishments – of grassroots activists throughout the world. The prize is considered by many to be environmentalism’s highest honor, established in 1990 by Richard and Rhoda Goldman (Richard Goldman founded Goldman Insurance Services in San Franciso, and Rhoda Goldman was a descendant of jeans-maker Levi Strauss). Winners are nominated annually by environmental organizations, and chosen by a panel of former prizewinners and other activists. Each winner or team of winners receives a no-strings-attached award of $125,000. This year’s crop was honored in a ceremony in San Francisco on April 19.

Below is a list of the winners followed by the first in a series of interviews with the 2004 Goldman winners discussing their victories and defeats, their plans for the future, and their mystifying, inspiring optimism. ” — AlterNet