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Sponsored by the
Utah Department of
Environmental Quality
Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel for Environmental Defense Fund, likes to think we all can make a difference. Take the moms and docs who rallied for clean air, or professors like Arden Pope whose studies help policymakers better understand the health impacts of air pollution, or the voters of Colorado who passed a renewable energy standard. And, then there’s the DEQ scientists like Colleen Delaney.
Vicki Patton,
Environmental
Defense Fund
“Some change the course of history through integrity,” Patton told Department of Environmental Quality employees in late September. “In 1998, when I first started at the Environmental Defense Fund, we were in the midst of a debate about haze pollution in national parks. One of the critical, pivotal voices came from Colleen Delaney. No one trusted the data. It was Colleen who pressed ahead and broke the logjam. It was her efforts that led to the success of the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP).”
Delaney couldn’t be more pleased to be recognized from such a notable attorney who has garnered success of her own.
“I worked with Vickie for a number of years on the WRAP,” said Delaney. “It was an intense collaborative process where we reached consensus from a variety of groups representing environment, industry, state and tribes. We focused on results. It was a tremendous effort to try to do business in a different way, and to find solutions instead of fighting with each other. This laid the groundwork for future collaborative processes to solve regional issues,” she said, adding, “Vickie was a strong advocate for the environment, but would also listen to the other stakeholders and seek to find common ground.”
Patton, who spoke to DEQ as part of a speaker’s forum inspired by an employee development committee, also commended Moms for Clean Air, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Pope for engaging Utahns in the debate over clean air.
“The power of information can change the debate over public policy,” Patton said.
Pope, an economist at Brigham Young University, has published numerous studies that show the correlation between particulate pollution and mortality rates. His work has influenced the Environmental Protection Agency’s tougher standards on air pollution standards.
Prior to working for the Environmental Defense Fund, Patton worked in EPA’s Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C. where she authored part of the Clean Air Act Handbook, co-authored articles on regional haze and has been active in climate change and greenhouse gas issues.
In Colorado, she rallied voters to pass a renewable energy standard, requiring the state’s largest utilities to obtain 3 percent of their electricity from renewable energy resources by 2007 and 10 percent by 2015. Legislation for a renewable portfolio standard failed to pass into law earlier in 2004.
Xcel energy was initially one of the skeptics. Now the energy company has come around, Patton said. “The people of Colorado changed the course of history.”
Patton, herself, played an important part in one of the most important environmental decisions of all time. On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government has authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. For more information on the ruling, visit: http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_1120/.
“We do face grand challenges at the confluence of energy and environment.” Patton said. “We know we can solve these challenges. We have scientists to provide us with breakthrough solutions, the moms and dads, the docs, who want to be engaged. Working together we can solve the challenges and change history.”
Patton’s speech, in its entirety, can be viewed at: http://eqinnerweb.eq.ex.state.ut.us/Employee_development/archived_web_casts.htm