Comment on C8 lawyer given 'Alternative Nobel Prize'

C8 lawyer given 'Alternative Nobel Prize'

By Ken Ward Jr. A lawyer who has spent years fighting DuPont Co. over the company's toxic C8 pollution has been named among those to receive this year's Right Livelihood Award, an international honor that is sometimes known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Rob Bilott, an attorney for residents whose drinking water was poisoned by DuPont's C8 emissions, was recognized "for exposing a decades-long history of chemical pollution, winning long-sought justice for the victims, and setting a precedent for effective regulation on hazardous substances." The Stockholm-based award committee said that Bilott had used "innovative litigation, scientific understanding, and extraordinary perseverance" to achieve "one of the most significant victories for environmental law and corporate accountability of this century." "At a time when environmental regulation is under serious threat of being watered down in the United States and elsewhere, Bilott successfully won compensation for his clients and continues to call for better regulation of toxic substances," the awards committee said in its announcement earlier this week. Named for a Buddhist concept that focuses on ethical and honest work, the Right Livelihood Award was created in 1980 by the Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull to recognize the efforts of those who were taking on the challenges facing humanity more directly -- pollution, the danger of nuclear war, human rights abuses -- that he felt were often not adequately addressed by the Nobel Prizes. "The Right Livelihood Award is not an award for the world's political, scientific or economic elite, but an award for the people and their work and struggles for a better future," the award website says.

 

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