Environmental Policy Lobbyists and Advocates

Environmental protection requires the efforts of advocates and lobbyists to introduce or revise legislation. From the federal government down to small towns across America, environmental laws and regulations are an integral part of the fabric of government. Many nonprofit and for-profit organizations have lobbyists and attorneys who work to help government and land use officials craft legislation involving environmental protection. According to Environmental Health Perspectives, a monthly journal, lobbying is a necessity for anyone hoping to attract political backing on key environmental issues: “We have to lobby and deal directly with Congress to get them to consider the ideas we think will make good environmental policy,” explains Bill Roberts, environmental director for the Environmental Defense Fund and the organization’s chief lobbyist. “Just writing a report or producing a think piece is not going to do it.”

The Environmental Health Perspectives piece continues, “Lobbying—the practice that seeks to alter legislation or administrative action on political issues—is big business. It is impossible to find out how many groups are lobbying specifically on environmental issues, but, overall, nearly 3,000 organizations, most of which represent businesses of some kind, have Washington, D.C., offices. In the last quarter of 1992 alone, the house clerk listed more than 6,000 registered lobbyists. Supported by tens of thousands of support personnel, these individuals lobby on behalf of 40,000 registered clients, which include doctors, senior citizens, foreign governments, religious organizations and environmental public interest organizations and industries affected by environmental issues … Organizations that lobby in the environmental policy area fall generally into three groups: industries and their trade associations, such as Monsanto and the Chemical Manufacturers Association, which operate on a profit motive and have a vested interest in energy and environmental issues; not-for-profit public interest groups, such as EDF and Greenpeace, which depend on foundation grants or public subscriptions and are concerned about the environment’s welfare; and scientific and research organizations that want to advance science with regard to environmental issues … Generally acknowledged as the most powerful social movement in America today, environmentalism has tremendous support at the grassroots level. Some 6,000 environmental groups are active at the local level … Lobbying involves both an inside and an outside game, environmentalists believe. “Grassroots lobbying is just as important as what goes on in Washington,” explains Dan Weiss, a Sierra Club spokesperson. “Politicians need to get re-elected. You have to have people back home in the districts who can turn the issues into votes.”  

“At the national level, lobbying on the issues are 12 major environmental organizations with a wide range in experience, size, style, and philosophy. The mainstream Sierra Club (650,000 members), for example, prefers grassroots action, while the more radical Earth First (15,000 members) shuns the strategy of lobbying Congress directly and prefers to use 1960s-style protest and street theater to further its agenda. The EDF (150,000 members) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (125,000 members) prefer legal action and employing lawyers to lobby and litigate. Greenpeace (1.4 million members) has built its powerful organization by emphasizing direct action rather than lobbying Congress. To fashion solutions to a staggering number of environmental issues, legislators need information, and that is where lobbyists play an important role in the political process.”