Willie Corduff

Willie Corduff, 53, of Rossport, Ireland, mobilized his small farming village to stop Shell Oil from building a gas pipeline that would cross the land of more than two dozen farmers. Worried about the health and environmental impacts, Corduff and his neighbors launched a campaign to stop the project and even spent three months in jail for blocking access to their property. Their campaign paid off — a court recently ordered Shell to redesign the project.