Diane Wilson

Who is Diane Wilson?

Diane Wilson is an environmental activist, anti-war activist, and author. In 1989 she was a shrimp boat captain in Calhoun County, Texas, and she saw an Associated Press article saying that the county had the most toxic waste disposal of all counties in America. Wilson began a campaign against Formosa Plastics, a Taiwanese chemical company then building a PVC 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 from Formosa and Alcoa.

Wilson has also protested at meetings concerning the BP oil spill, 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 Short Film 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 Environmental Action Environmental Award, Giraffe Project, Jenifer Altman Award and the Bioneers Award.