The morning started off with a meeting at Hill & Knowlton Stratigies, a lobbying firm that represents the natural gas industry. The meeting started off with an informational talk about what lobbiest did and why they did it. The main theme of this talk was money. We were told that money controlled the government and while it could not necessarily buy votes, it held the power to gain access to those with power. It gave the class a less... idealistic view on government and the process of how laws get passed in this country. A great importance was given to the idea of the grassroots movement and the power a group of people could have on a significant or important issue.
After the talk the group was graced with a visit by Norman Mineta who served as Transportation Secretary and Commerce Secretary and served in both the Clinton and Bush administration. He told his story about being interred as a Japanese-American during World War II and spoke to the group about the future and the importance of connections and hard work.
After a quick break, we were given a presentation about hydro-fracking by one of the lobbists. The presentation, however, was cut short by the Q&A given by the DC Greeners. We asked tough questions about the risks and dangers (both to the environment and to the human population) involved in hydrofracking to counter-act most of the positive outcomes that were being given by the firm. The overall impression that the lobby firm gave to us was that with any energy source there "couldpossiblymaybe" be risks and the positive outcomes that were guarenteed far outweighed the negative.
After a quick debreifing, some students expressed that they felt...manipulated by the meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment