Diane Wilson (born October 17, 1948) is an American

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

, an anti-war activist, and an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. In 1989, she was a shrimp boat captain in Calhoun County, Texas, and she saw an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

article saying that the county had the most toxic waste disposal of all

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in America. Texas produces the most amount of

chemical waste Chemical waste is any excess, unused, or unwanted chemical. Chemical waste may be classified as hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, universal waste, or household hazardous waste, each of which is regulated separately by national government ...

than any other state in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, with the majority of the

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

concentrated on the state's

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

. Wilson began a campaign against

Formosa Plastics Formosa Plastics Corporation () is a Taiwanese plastics company based in Taiwan (formerly called "Formosa") that primarily produces polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins and other intermediate plastic products. It is the corporation around which inf ...

, a Taiwanese chemical company then building a

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

(polyvinyl chloride) facility near her town, with tactics including several hunger strikes and sinking her own boat to draw attention to the matter. In 1994 she won " zero discharge" agreements (meaning no liquid effluent discharge into the environment) from Formosa and

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

. Wilson has also protested at meetings concerning the

BP oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill was an environmental disaster off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. It is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum ...

, as well as protesting in support of victims of the 1984 Bhopal, India, Union Carbide gas leak. She is a co-founder of the anti-war organization CODEPINK. In 2005 a documentary was made about her, titled ''Texas Gold.'' It won several awards, including "Best Documentary" at the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Short Film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

Festival. She has received the "Hellraiser of the Month" award from '' Mother Jones'' magazine, and a number of other awards, including National Fisherman Magazine Award, Louis Gibbs' Environmental Lifetime Award,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Environmental Action (LEAN) Environmental Award, Giraffe Project, Jenifer Altman Award and the

Bioneers Bioneers, under its parent foundation, Collective Heritage Institute, is a non-profit environmental and social justice advocacy organization based in New Mexico and California. Founded in 1990, the organization's philosophy says that there is val ...

Award. In 2006, she was honored with the Blue Planet Award from Ethecon Foundation, one of the comparatively very few ' grass-root' foundations for "more than 20 years of commitment to environmental issues, even putting her life at risk." In 2013, Wilson participated in the movement to close Guantanamo Bay, calling for Obama to release the prisoners that had been declared for release, give the men a fair trial, and end indefinite detention. Most notably, she stood in solidarity with the hunger strikers by fasting on salt and water for 58 days. Her fast ended on June 26, 2013 on

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is an list of minor secular observances#June, international observance held annually on 26 June to speak out against the crime of torture and to honor and support victims and ...

after jumping the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

fence at a Close Guantanamo protest (with groups including

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, and Witness Against Torture) in an attempt to deliver a letter to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Wilson was charged with unlawful entry and handed over to local authorities. In 2019, she was a

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

to a suit
''Waterkeeper v. Formosa''
against Formosa Plastics for violations of the Clean Water Act resulting in discharges of pollution along the Texas coast. Along with other volunteers, she collected millions of nurdles that served as evidence in the case. The suit was settled for $50 million in October 2019. In 2023, Wilson was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Books

* 2005: ''Nobody Particular: One Woman's Fight to Save The Bays'' by Molly Bang () * 2006: ''An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas'' by Diane Wilson () * 2008: ''Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus'' by Diane Wilson () * 2011: ''Diary of an Eco-Outlaw: An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth'' by Diane Wilson ()

References

External links

*
Diane Wilson's blog
*Portrait of Diane Wilson
"Texas Gold" (2008)
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

an
on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Diane 1948 births Living people People from Calhoun County, Texas American environmentalists American women environmentalists American anti-war activists Activists from Texas Goldman Environmental Prize awardees