得獎者群像（由左至右順時鐘方向）：瑪姬•尤金理察、科契拉茲、Goldman高曼（獎項的共同創辦人）、狄卡瓦荷，葛魯索、畢、和蘇克拉。（照片提供：環保金人獎主辦單位）

　　然而長遠看來，環保人士需要的不只是憤慨。他們需要希望──並且是堅強而牢不可破的希望。這些才是支持本屆環保金人獎得主的動力。這7位得獎人來自全球各地，分別是橫跨非洲、亞洲、歐洲、北美、中南美和島嶼國家的草根環保人士；在2004年這紛紛擾擾的一年裡，眾多壞消息並未打擊到他們的信念；畢竟，大部分的例子都是往更糟的方向發展。在他們長時間為環保與環境正義戰鬥的期間，這些人曾經被公開羞辱過、被關進大牢、被迫藏匿起來，他們面對過貪污的政府、外國勢力的佔領、和數十年的內戰。例如哥倫比亞的運動人士葛魯索，即因軍事暗殺而失去多位夥伴。「假如我們有些人得死，那麼我們有些人就得繼續走下去。」她說：「儘管發生了許多事，我們仍盡力在每一種情況下都能快樂。」

　　環保金人獎表彰堅忍不拔（而且要有非常具體的成果）的全球草根運動人士。這個獎項是公認的環保人士最高榮譽，由理查•高德曼和洛達•高德曼1990年於舊金山所創立（理查•高德曼在舊金山創立高曼保險服務公司，洛達•高德曼是牛仔褲製造商李維•史特勞斯的後代)。得獎者都是每年由環保組織提名，再由前一屆的得主組成的討論小組和其他運動人士所選出來的。每位得獎者或得獎團體都可以得到12萬5千美元獎金，沒有任何附帶條件。2004年的表揚典禮在4月19日於舊金山舉行。

　　在這一次的Grist Magazine系列特刊，邀請了2004年環保金人獎得主們談談他們的勝利和挫敗，他們未來的計劃，他們的困惑，還有激勵人心的樂觀。

The environmental movement often runs on the adrenaline of outrage, and the past year has provided more outrages than most. The White House has taken aim -- and fired -- at some of our most powerful environmental laws. Multinational corporations continue to exert undue influence on, and in some cases write, regulations meant to govern them. There are new signs that humans are changing the global climate, and that species are vanishing -- perhaps even faster than we had thought. Environmental groups large and small are in full battle mode: Join us! Stop the assault!

The winners: (clockwise from left) Eugene-Richard, Kochladze, Goldman (cofounder of the prize), De Carvalho, Grueso, Bee, and Shukla.
 Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize.

But for the long haul, environmentalists need more than outrage. They need hope -- a kind of unflappable, adamantine hope. That's what sustains the winners of this year's Goldman Environmental Prize. These seven grassroots environmentalists come from across the planet -- Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South and Central America, and island nations -- and this year of terrible news hasn't shaken their faith. After all, most have persisted through far worse: In their long battles for environmental protection and justice, these men and women have been publicly humiliated, jailed, and forced into hiding. They've faced corrupt governments, foreign occupation, and decades of civil war. Colombian activist Libia Grueso has lost colleagues to paramilitary assassins. "If some of us have to die, that means that some of us have to continue," she says. "We make every effort in every instance to be happy, despite the things that occur."

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 will be honored in a ceremony in San Francisco on April 19.

In this Grist special series, we talk to the 2004 Goldman winners about their victories and defeats, their plans for the future, and their mystifying, inspiring optimism.