Creating An Effective Political Strategy for NC's Environmental Community

Background.
The past two years have seemed much like the proverbial best of times/ worst of times for the conservation community in North Carolina. The 2002 Legislative Session witnessed the passage of the most visionary environmental/ health legislation in decades, the NC Clean Smokestacks Act, in nearly unanimous votes of the House and Senate. At the same time, rollbacks to environmental protections that were years in the making, such as the Swift Creek water quality protections, by the same legislative body make the Clean Smokestacks Act seem more like an anomaly rather than a turning point for environmental progress in North Carolina.

Polls tell us that North Carolinians share our support for improving air and water quality, preserving forests and farmlands, and enforcing our environmental laws. The difficult reality we face, however, is that the majority of our elected officials in the Legislature do not believe that environmental protection should be a top priority concern. Perhaps even worse, legislators believe they can sponsor blatantly anti-environmental bills with no fear of adverse political consequences for their actions. So long as active citizens and the environmental community's professional lobbyists are spending their time talking to legislators who mostly don't care about our concerns, significant environmental victories will continue to be rare.

A plan for elevating environmental concerns in the NC Legislature.
The environmental community in North Carolina needs a new political strategy to increase our effectiveness in the Legislature.

• First, we must assure that our current environmental champions are re-elected to office and increase in influence.
• Second, we must elect more environmental champions to the Legislature.
• Finally, we must "hold accountable" (i.e. beat) those legislators who sponsor anti-environmental bills.

Protecting our environmental champions.
Sen. Eric Reeves (D-Wake), who voted pro-environment 100% of the time in 2003, won his race for re-election by just 476 votes in 2002. Other environmental champions in the Legislature such as Rep. Jennifer Weiss (D-Wake) represent districts that can easily "swing" either way on election-day. Some of these legislators are targeted by anti-environmental special interest groups because they actively champion progressive conservation initiatives. It is essential that we retain the visionary environmental leaders who represent us in the NC Legislature. As our current champions gain seniority in the Legislature, their political clout and power will grow.

Electing more environmental champions.
Experience tells us that a small number of legislators who care about environmental protection can make a big impact in the Legislature. For example, the tenacious support of Senator Steve Metcalf and Rep. Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) for the NC Clean Smokestacks Act made a huge difference in how the Legislature views air quality issues. Rep. Joe Hackney (D-Orange) has played a leadership role in numerous environmental issues during his tenure and has helped to educate the entire Legislature about our concerns. Several freshmen legislators such as Rep. Ray Rapp (D-Madison) and Rep. Bonner Stiller (R-New Hanover) are already exercising effective leadership by sponsoring pro-environmental bills.

If the environmental community can increase the number of "true champions" who support our goals, even if it is by a relatively modest number, we will dramatically increase our effectiveness in the Legislature. Electing new champions will allow us to "go on the offensive" and have more progressive environmental bills sponsored each year. It will give us more leaders who we can count on to fight and stop anti-environmental assaults. Electing more champions will also help bolster the allies we already have who often feel isolated. We will not have to go to the same five or six legislators every time we need a good bill introduced, which wears down our legislative allies.

Holding anti-environmental legislators accountable.
The fundamental reason why there are so many anti-environmental bills sponsored each year is that elected officials do not believe they will pay a political price for these actions. They will, however, reap the benefits of serving the speciall interests that support such bills. One of the most powerful things the environmental community can do to improve our clout in the Legislature is to help defeat one or two of the legislators who sponsor anti-environmental bills. Not only would defeating an anti-environmental legislator mean there is one less vote against us in the General Assembly, it would cause every legislator to think twice before sponsoring or even voting for an anti-environmental bill, because they know they could be targeted in the next election.

Developing an effective political strategy for the NC conservation community.
The Conservation Council of North Carolina has formed a Political Action Committee (called C-PAC) to help re-elect environmental champions, elect more champions and hold anti-environmental legislators accountable on Election Day. The Conservation Council of NC is committed to building a strong political committee with leadership from North Carolina's grassroots environmental community and state-wide organizations. The C-PAC will be the political action committee of North Carolina's environmental community.

C-PAC raises money for endorsed candidates, provides volunteer support for targeted campaigns, and educates voters about candidates. This is an important election year, and until campaign finance reform is achieved, our impact will be measured in dollars. Our goal is to raise $100,000 for 2004 to implement this plan, support endorsed candidates, and actively engage in target races. By leveraging political funding on behalf of the environment, C-PAC will help build the political clout of the environmental community, and ensure sound environmental decision-making.

Conclusion.
The conservation community needs more allies in the Legislature. Elected officials must also understand that sponsoring and voting for anti-environmental bills will have adverse political consequences. Until this becomes the reality, the environmental community will be viewed as politically marginal in the Legislature. Implementing a strategy to elect more allies and hold legislators accountable will require a coordinated effort by leaders of grassroots and state-wide organizations and environmental funders. The political action committee of the Conservation Council of NC can provide the structure and staff support for this effort. The implementation of an effective political strategy will be a major step forward in gaining the respect that environmental concerns deserve among North Carolina's elected officials.