Kimberly Wasserman (Kimberly Wasserman Nieto) is an American environmentalist and grassroots leader As director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), she is a recipient of the 2013

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 leading the successful lobbying campaign for the passage of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance that resulted in the closing of the Crawford and Fisk coal-fired power plants. Wasserman was raised in Little Village, Illinois. She entered the world of environmental activism in 1998 after her three-month-old son suffered an asthma attack despite having no family history of asthma. After researching the connection between

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

and

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

, she turned her attention to the coal-fired plants in her neighborhood and became involved with LVEJO. LVEJO is an organization that advocates for

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

in Little Village and throughout Chicago. Wasserman started as a community organizer for LVEJO for seven years and has been an executive director since 2005. In 2002, LVEJO first mobilized politically against the emissions coming from the two plants. They organized the collection of signatures to get a referendum on the 2003 City Hall ballot requiring the two plants to either drastically reduce pollution or shut down. While they weren't able to get the immediate support from their aldermen, after a ten-year battle to sway their opinion, they were ultimately successful. On February 28, 2012, it was announced that the Fisk and Crawford plants would be permanently shut down.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasserman, Kimberly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American environmentalists American women environmentalists Goldman Environmental Prize awardees 21st-century American women