Ms. Nam-Krane Goes To Washington

Last week, at the invitation of Environment Massachusetts, I accompanied three other Massachusetts mothers on a trip to D.C. to talk to Senator Scott Brown about our concerns about the impact of environmental regulations in Mass., specifically the attempt by Rand Paul to roll back one of the centerpiece regulations of the Clean Air Act. (For God's sake, what is wrong with these people? Why isn't anyone pointing out that many of the regulations they want to overturn were sponsored by the Nixon administration? Or that Goldwater would be sick over an Office of Faith? But I digress...) 

Brown seemed nervous when we arrived. He knew we were coming, and I'm sure he assumed we were Democrats. (He would have been correct.) I didn't like the way he answered the concerns of two of the other mothers, particularly the one whose son has a bad case of asthma and misses two to three weeks of school every year. I also didn't like the way he kept volleying to Solyndra and the problems with siting alternative energy sites. Those are important issues, but they had nothing to do with what we were talking about. I was reluctant to speak — there didn't seem to be any point.

However, there were two other visitors from Mass. that gave me an opening: a young woman who had just graduated from UMass (not sure which one) and a representative from a chemist's association. They wanted to talk about funding for higher education and the sciences. My oldest is a student at UMass-Boston, and she's studying biology. I had to speak, for her and her younger siblings.

I'm not proud to say that I plead with him to do what he could for the environment, education and science in our state, but he seemed to hear it. I could be offended that he wanted to lecture me about the debt, but since most of the conversations I'm in have some level of disagreement, I'm not. When he said that a problem with environmental regulations was that the U.S. shouldn't make a move before India and China, I did speak up though. (You're not surprised that I think we should take the first step if they don't, right?) I daresay the Senator scoffed at me and wished me luck with the Prime Minister (I presume of China).

I disagreed with him, but I didn't think he was monstrous. Afterwards, he cordially asked me why we were in D.C. When I told him it was to visit him, he advised that we go knock on Kerry's door as well. We didn't, but we did pay visits to Capuano, Olver, Frank, Lynch and Tsongas. Unfortunately, the only one who could see us was Tsongas, who doesn't represent any of us. But that's okay — she is sharp, "on" and seemed to have a biting sense of humor — I approve.

Who else talked to us? The legislative aides. Brown's aide spent a good deal of time listening to our concerns about the bill, and while he couldn't make any promises, he said that he would advise that Brown vote against it. Mercury, he said, was not open for debate — and confirmed that again when we asked him directly. 

People, we will take our victories where we can get them these days.

I am a Democrat — Bleeding Heart, Ultra-Liberal Member of the Professional Left — but at the end of the day, Brown is our Senator and we are all from Massachusetts. I'm pretty sure I'm pulling the lever for a Democrat next year, but honestly, I'd get a little bit of a kick out of having a Lodge Republican representing our state. (Remember Republicans before the '80s? They weren't crazy, even if I didn't agree with everything they said.) Brown is not a Lodge Republican right now, but he's also not a Tea Party Republican. He can do better, but it's in the realm of possibility that he could do better.

Let's hope he does.

For another perspective on our visit, please read my friend's blog.