We can’t afford the luxury of being advocates without figuring out how to fix the problem. It’s time to put yourself in
The Line of Fire
By Long Island Soundkeeper Terry Backer CONNECTICUT STATE ASSEMBLY (Democrat, 121st District)
What are the politics of water? Where is the greatest threat to the
environment? And what will it take to stem the flood of regressive political actions in the increasingly complex battleground of courts, shifting laws, international trade agreements, executive orders, and state and local rulemaking?

Waterkeepers come from all different walks of life with different family and
economic histories, political leanings, and regional conceptions of the world. There is, however, a common thread among Waterkeepers that sticks out like a bright red fiber on a gray flannel background. That commonality is a commitment to protect our life-sustaining environment and enhance the place where we all live. Waterkeepers also share the idea that their individual efforts will coalesce together into a blanket of protections across the nation and world. Waterkeepers share the methods and tools they deploy to achieve the goals of a clean, productive, and livable world. These long-standing tools, created by government, are threatened by polluters with an aggressive political agenda to shelve them away. In order to help stem the tide, environmentalists need to be more diverse in their approach to getting things done, or not done, as some cases may be. It is time for Waterkeepers and people of a similar ilk to take the plunge into being citizen legislators.

Waterkeepers can respond or act proactively to applications, proposals, and dramatic events that impact our waters with creativity and the tools our laws provide. They now, however, have to fight the battle on many fronts including a changing political landscape at all levels of government. The political landscape is always in flux. Laws that provide protection for our natural life support system can be erased or weakened by legislative changes or executive orders that often go unnoticed by the public. The streams of bills on federal, state, and local levels are refreshed each session cycle; some are positive, some have possibilities, and others are hurtful. The Clean Water Act and other federal bodies of law are under constant attack from various interest groups. Executive orders can nullify the effects of protective measures and in many cases the citizens are none the wiser.

A Waterkeeper’s greatest asset is the people’s desire for a world with clean air and water. Most polls show that the public overwhelmingly supports strong environmental laws including provisions for citizens’ empowerment, as in the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act. Enlightened laws like these make it possible for Waterkeepers to do their job. The public supports protection and enhancement of the environment. But in the daily toil of life, the public misses the cleverly veiled attacks on protections. In legislatures across the country, the climate that promotes the rolling back of protections is at an all time high. The environmental protections passed into law in the 1970s would not even get a reading in the Congress of today.

Entering my seventh term as a State Legislator in Connecticut, and being Soundkeeper for Long Island Sound, I have some perspectives on the legislative process. In a word or two - it ain’t easy. Anyone who has made the transition from either direction (coming from a policymaking wing of government to being a Waterkeeper, or from a Waterkeeper to government) will instantly recognize the different ground rules and responsibilities for the different roles. Performing both duties concurrently adds to the complexity. No longer afforded the luxury to say I love or hate any proposal, I am now compelled to ask deeper questions. Whatever I decide can’t be singularly ideological; it must be functional. Producing legislation that will pass on the floor, be signed by the Governor, and work as law is both the
burden and opportunity facing a citizen legislator.

This means stepping into a crossfire. It is a task and a challenge that would cause Solomon to pull his hair out.

When you’re a public servant as well as a Waterkeeper, you do not fit in well with the "group-think" of your peers. In simple terms, you’re neither in nor out. To the enviros, you have compromised too much; to industry and to government, you are a kook in a canoe. So why in the world would any Waterkeeper want to run for office? It’s simple: when properly done you have more of the wheel in your hands to steer the ship where you know it needs to go.

Many years ago I came to understand that as a Waterkeeper born and raised on Long Island Sound, the fate of the Sound was not crafted on my lobster boat or even in our Soundkeeper office, but one hundred miles north in the State Capitol. The Capitol is where laws are written in pencil, to be erased and redrafted at the will of those elected. I understood the threat that faced our hard-earned environmental protection tools and laws. Waterkeepers fight pollution squarely based on the rule of law. And Waterkeepers can only use the laws that the government allows us to have. That is not to underestimate the power and value of citizens lobbying, but what can take years to do from the outside can often be accomplished in a matter of minutes from the inside. The ability to head off a bad idea on the elevator between the third and fifth floors is invaluable in terms of both recourse and objectives. I would venture to say that some of the best work I have done for the Sound is what never happened, was never seen – a battle that never needed to be fought.

During the last general election, many ballot propositions across the nation proposing spending on local parks or environmental infrastructure improvements were overwhelmingly successful. The Trust for Public Land calculates that nationwide this past November, voters approved seventy five percent of conservation ballot measures. The success of these measures is a clear indication that when the public knows what is needed, they respond favorably.

In some cases, however, these high profile ballot issues may mask the insidious gnawing away of the broader habitat and environmental protection that is taking place in Washington D.C. and in State Houses. Americans support well-reasoned and workable environmental protections, but often fail to track performance after they have cast their vote. None of us has the time to study in depth all the things that come from a legislature, so bills with nice-sounding names can deceive many a voter. The best place to help kill these bills, or fight for good ones, is to be one of the people writing the policy and making the law. As with all things political, there are pluses and minuses, balances to be struck, and compromises to be made. If you choose this course, be willing to pay the price.

A Waterkeeper/Legislator has a balancing act to achieve that often leaves friends in the environmental movement perplexed. It doesn’t take long before words like "co-opted" are heard after your name. As a Legislator, you have a much larger picture to look at. Nothing can be taken on face value. As a legislator, you have to get fifty percent plus one vote to win anything, a requirement advocates are not bound to. To do that, you have to develop the necessary political skills of give and take. Like most things, politics are as much about personal relationships as they are about ideas. In essence, it’s about being trusted by your colleagues – even those who don’t share your vision. You’ll find soon enough that John Muir was correct when, in a way of speaking, he said, that when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything in the universe. This is true in the web of social, economic, and political issues that a legislator faces everyday. You can no longer look at things as singular, but rather as a component of a larger social fabric. However, if thoughtfully done, using facts, informed persuasion, and doing your homework, you can become the person in the legislature who is considered the "expert" by your peers. If you reach that status, the road can open before you. Yes, it will take compromise. (I believe I used to call it "selling out.") Accomplishing goals may come in small increments, but after all, you can’t swallow a watermelon whole - you have to cut it into small pieces.

All in all, I believe it is time for more Waterkeepers and citizens who share our vision to make this move. Just remember, no one is one dimensional. You bring your opinions and ideas with you, even ones that may offend people who have supported you and your organization for years. You are going to tick someone off, but the outcome for our living planet is more important than your organization losing a member or two. I have had frustrations and headaches, victories and painful losses, made friends and lost friends, but I have been where I needed to be to protect the environment. My father, God rest his soul, always said the other half of life is being in the right place at the right time. Its time for more Waterkeepers and other thoughtful people to be seated in the decision-making bodies of our nation[s]. The time is right and critical.