Filter By:
Type
State
Priority
Posted On
Search Results
Reflections from my Legislative Program Internship
As the Minnesota Legislative Program Intern for Clean Water Action, I delved into the democratic process more than I ever had before. Prior to this, of course I voted. I read the news but I had not realized how much my knowledge of state affairs was lacking. My presence at the capitol covering committee meetings and hearings opened a window that I hadn’t known existed—one that showed me the public’s role in government.
Initially, taking notes at these meetings seemed like a daunting task. With my laptop balanced on my knees I tapped furiously against the keys, trying to transcribe complex and
Raw Deal
There’s only one way to describe the recent revenue package (HB 118 & 542) that passed the Pennsylvania State Senate and is supported by Governor Wolf, which trades off enacting one the nation’s weakest severance taxes on natural gas drilling for inclusion of the most damaging set of environmental provisions we’ve seen in a long time, a raw deal. Is this situation giving you a feeling of déjà vu? It’s probably because our state legislature has made sticking anti-environmental provisions into bills meant to deal exclusively with the state budget an annual tradition because they know these
People Are Going Wild About Reducing Plastic Pollution
Catch up on the Plastic Free July news from Berkeley...
Flame Retardant Bills are on fire-pun intended!
As the summer kicked off in June and many went on vacation, the Joint Committee on Public Health was hard at work setting up hearings and listening to testimony. This legislative session has started with a lot of hope for the Children and Firefighters Protection Act; it passed the Senate unanimously last session and Clean Water Action and allies are determined to see it pass both the Senate and the House this time around.
The Children and Firefighters Protection Acts were heard by the Public Health Committee early on in the committee’s 8 month stretch of scheduled hearings. On June 6 th the
What is an activist?
I recently had the privilege of speaking to the Savvy Women’s Alliance a great group of women focused on non-toxic living. They asked me to focus on an unusual (for me) topic: “What is an activist? How do I become one?” Such good questions! In case you’re wondering too, here’s what I told them:
When you think of an activist you might conjure up images of people hanging banners, chaining themselves to trees or living in tents as part of Occupy. All of these are activism, but lots of activists have never done any of these things. To me, activism means using your influence to change something