Amir Nadav
Eagan, MN
High school junior Amir Nadav initiated and led a campaign to reduce Minnesota students’ exposure to dangerous diesel exhaust. His efforts culminated in the passage of statewide legislation that banned excessive bus idling in front of schools and directed schools to relocate air-intake valves away from bus parking zones. Nadav and his co-leaders circulated petitions, organized a rally of students on the capitol steps, appeared on news programs, and personally lobbied for and won endorsement of the bill from both Republican and Democratic leaders in the legislature. “The presence of student activists revitalizes the sometimes rather dull, bureaucratic baby-boomer monopolization over political decisions that impact the environment,” he noted. “The days of lazy teens are over.”