Citizen engagement and action is, or should be, at the heart of our democracy. But many citizens are easily discouraged from civic engagement and action in an era when deep-pocketed interests all too often trump what is, or should be, in the public interest.
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| Great egret photo courtesy of John Strawbridge. |
This sense of discouragement can be aided and abetted by the busy lives so many of us lead at work and at home. It can seem both hard to help make a difference in public policy and find the time to even try.
However, to paraphrase Margaret Mead, never, ever, doubt the power of citizen action to make a huge difference on behalf of Pennsylvania’s environment.
All one has to do is look at how the actions of thousands of citizens from across the state brought to a rapid halt House Bill 1576, a bill that would undermine the ability of our wildlife management agencies to protect the wildlife of Pennsylvania.
House Bill 1576 was scheduled for House floor votes last week. The bill had a powerful armada of extractive and corporate interests behind it, including the natural gas industry, coal industry, oil industry, large development interests and others. This armada had large stores of lobbyists throughout its fleet, and its ships had easy passage during its journey thanks to hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions and free hospitality provided to legislators.
The conventional wisdom was that the HB 1576 armada could not be stopped in the House.
Supporters of the legislation thought they had at least 80 votes in the House Republican Caucus and at least 30 votes in the House Democratic Caucus, which would add up to smooth sailing in the 203-member House.
Now, thanks to the work of thousands of citizens from across Pennsylvania, the armada is now stalled and its sails are hanging limp.
PennFuture has helped lead a diverse coalition of environmental, conservation, hunting, angling and recreation organizations opposed to HB 1576. This broad coalition has generated thousands of e-mails, phone calls, letters, office visits and letters to the editor across the Commonwealth.
My experience is that when all these corners of the conservation community are in the same boat and paddling with determination, with indispensable help from citizens across our ranks, we can carry the day and even stop an armada.
Last Monday afternoon, legislative leaders started counting the votes for and against HB 1576. House Republican leaders were surely stunned to discover that less than half of their 110 members were willing to vote yes. House Democratic leaders found that there were perhaps only 13-15 firm yes votes in their caucus among their 93 members.
As a result, the House Republican leaders last week pulled HB 1576 from the list of bills to be voted and the legislation remained stalled and on the sidelines this week.
It is clear that support for the bill's provisions that weaken our ability to protect Pennsylvania's threatened and endangered species, and designate wild trout streams, has eroded thanks to the efforts of thousands of citizens and the work of many statewide organizations and local clubs and chapters.
Our efforts have been assisted by legislative supporters on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Keith Gillespie, R-York has been an invaluable ally in the Republican Caucus all the way back to his passionate opposition to HB 1576 in the House Game & Fisheries Committee in November. House Republicans from southeastern Pennsylvania proved to be a strong and decisive bloc against the bill.
On the House Democratic side, we had a legion of strong opponents to the bill, led by Reps Greg Vitali, D-Delaware and Steve McCarter, D-Montgomery.
We know that the armada is now regrouping, so all who support conservation and wildlife need to be vigilant and keep working hard. If you have not yet urged your House member to oppose HB 1576, please do so. If you have, please be persistent and ask your friends to join the fight as well.
