Me leading the charge

Last Tuesday, Colorado Environmental Coalition was involved with the first “Convene for Green Lobby Day” in a number of years—and it was a huge success! I was so tremendously impressed with the dedication and knowledge exhibited by the citizen lobbyists who participated. Colorado Environmental Coalition and our partners sent out a flurry of emails and phone calls to recruit participants and on March 13th a small army of environmentalists gathered for an early morning breakfast and a quick briefing covering the issues they would lobby and basic lobbying procedures. During the briefing, volunteers asked a number of astute and nuanced questions, which was truly impressive. Once the briefing concluded, it was off to the capitol to bend the ears of Colorado’s legislators!

I had the privilege of leading a group of voters from Lakewood and Arvada in their efforts to lobby an electronic waste recycling bill and to express their opposition to legislative attempts to wrest authority on oil and gas development from local governments. After a few Golden Dome stalking tips on how best to track down their legislators, my volunteers hit the ground running. It was great to see all of them step up to the plate and make their voices heard. They secured commitments on e-waste, and after some back and forth with a couple elected officials regarding local control, were successful on the oil and gas issue as well.

After spending most of the legislative session in committee hearing rooms populated with paid lobbyists and attorneys representing industry groups and other special interests, it was great to see citizens speaking directly with their representatives about the importance of environmental issues. I was so impressed with how many people took time out of their busy lives to ensure their elected officials know that Coloradans care about the environment and conservation.