Environmental Lobby Day 2010
On Jan. 19, more than 400 citizens from Olympia and other parts of Washington state converged for Environmental Lobby Day 2010. As a new member of WashPIRG, I was a bit nervous to attend this huge event with so many strangers. I’d never considered the possibilities of what learning how to lobby would mean for me in my future as an anthropologist in the Arctic. I didn’t even have a chance to catch my breath before I was instantly thrown into the mix with the rest of the citizens of the 22nd district where I currently reside. Off we went to the capitol building to speak with our representative, Sam Hunt. Moving in a great wave of citizenship headed by the aspiring replacement to Mr. Hunt, Stew Henderson, I began to feel like I was part of something great. There was that sense of community I’d become so obsessed with, that sense of what can be accomplished when humans work together for the greater good. I saw many of my classmates from Earth Stewards at Evergreen, a sure sign that we were all engaging in an act of stewardship for that which had no voice, the environment. During our time with Rep. Hunt, we were informed that the Safe Baby Bottle Bill was well on its way to being passed in the House and moving on to the Senate, though sports bottles, infant formula containers, and water bottles weren’t covered in the bill. The other two bills that were the focus of the day, the Clean Water Act and the bill to cease further cuts to the Environmental Protection budget, were still pending.
Later that morning, I attended a couple of workshops on various things which were of importance to my participation as a member of WashPIRG and a prospective lobbyist. Being the avid writer that I am, I made it to the workshop hosted by Seattle WashPIRG’s Irene Jeon on writing letters to the editor. What struck me the most about this particular workshop was how a letter to the editor needn’t be doused in technical jargon to be effective. It only had to be kept simple and relevant to the audience of the publication, since most average folks don’t speak scientific data or political rhetoric. I was also surprised to learn that mailing in letters wasn’t nearly as effective as phone calls and e-mails to elected officials. During this workshop, we also conducted “hill drops,” which involved delivering letters and packets of information on behalf of the Environmental Priorities Coalition to legislators who weren’t able to meet with their constituents. I had the pleasure of accompanying Linda Irvine of Whidbey Island, who’d testified that morning at the hearing for Clean Energy Efficiency Financing. Their goal was to provide loans for residents in order to make their homes more energy-efficient. The money saved from this reduction in energy costs would then go into an account which would be utilized to repay the loans. Having spent the last two years in an apartment that was anything but energy-efficient, I was relieved to know that even people of my particular economic status had options for reducing their carbon footprint.
The workshop on how to testify at a committee hearing was another one which would be of tremendous benefit to me. Hosted by the Earth Ministry’s Executive Director, Leanne Barris, and Program Director, Jessi Dye, this workshop covered how to say what needed to be said in three minutes or less. Though I’d become a fan of rambling tangents in my “old” age of 35, I appreciated the need to get to the point and keep the facts brief. You could have a formal written testimonial to read from, though that may put off the legislators having to listen to you. You could cover a couple of key points, or you could make it more personal and offer a story about your reasons for testifying. It’s also okay to admit you’re nervous, as long as you remain calm and respectful. After all, there are human beings involved here, not robots. The process of lobbying is ongoing. Much like exercise, it’s something which needs to be done regularly in order to see results. You don’t build muscle without resistance. Nothing worthwhile is ever going to be easy.
At the end of the long day, I had such a headful of ideas that I could scarcely include them here. I felt as if solutions to the problems facing humanity today were within the realm of the possible, that hope was an innate part of taking action on behalf of the environment. Lobby Day was but a step on a long journey for all of us, but a journey into a brighter future where we the people can practice better stewardship for our home planet.
