I don’t know about you but I am not a thrill-seeker.  I don’t especially like spontaneity or flying by the seat of my pants.  As many modern women know, the only way that I can create the illusion of balance is to be organized.   My family, friends and job generate enough excitement, and I find life to be pretty good when I know what is going to happen and when it is going to happen.  You might say that I am – wait for it – boring. 

Good thing that I am not alone.  Most businesses are most successful when they have a bit of certainty.  That is why I am so excited about the Pesticides Registration Improvement Renewal Act (PRIA) reauthorization that just got signed into law.  I know, you haven’t heard about it.  PRIA is not as sexy as reversing climate change or getting a car to run on nothing but smiles but, let me assure you, we have all been better off because of its existence in the past few years.    

This is what you need to know about it: PRIA is all about stability. Stability in funding for the government, stability in science for the public, and stability for companies who are trying to get products to those market shelves.  To elaborate a bit, PRIA makes sure that new chemicals being sold to your family are safer.  We are talking about the stuff underneath your kitchen sink, like cleaning products.  PRIA gets these new products to the market in a more predictable time frame and this gives incentives for companies to pull those older, outdated chemicals.  It also makes industry provide the Environmental Protection Agency with a stable source of funding so they can get the job done in the most responsible and expedient way possible. 

One of the best parts about this bill is that NRDC worked with the industry folks, like the Consumer Specialty Products Association and BASF, to come to an agreement that everyone could live with.  I have to admit that when my boss asked me to take over this issue for him, there was a high “ick” factor.   Me?  Work with the industry?  One of the reasons I left Capitol Hill for the environmental community (besides the insanely reasonable work hours) was so I didn’t have to meet with or engage the “dark side”.  But I am always telling my 4 year old to play nice, so working with industry was a way to practice what I am preaching.  Times are a changing and in a world where Congress isn’t even able to pass the spending bills that they are directed to handle by the freaking Constitution, we all have to entertain the possibility that the best way to get something done may be to look for some common ground with some [note: throat clearing ] “non-traditional” allies.  

The weird thing is that this experience was great and I think that the entire coalition of unlikely bedfellows really feel like this program makes a difference.   I hate to sound like I have a school-girl crush, but I am hoping that this fluke relationship with the dark side can become something more.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want NRDC to become permanently hitched to the industry.  In fact, we are probably going to disagree most of the time but it would be nice to look for some other places where we can work together.   

It would be great to get more “boring”, stable bills enacted into law that will protect my family – and yours. 

Heather