Deedee Heyward Barbara Geltosky and Jill Josselyn (POrtland GC)taken in Canon Office Building rotunda

Barbara Geltosky, Natalie Jones, Kristine Kinegery (US army) Barbara Geltosky NAL 2014

Every year several members of the Gardeners trek to Washington DC right before the Flower Show to attend the National Affairs and Legislation Conference. This year Deedee Heyward and Barbara Geltosky took the most sustainable train to Washington for an action packed four days along with sixteen other members of Zone V. The meeting starts with a field trip- this time it was the outdoor rooms of the Roosevelt memorial and the striking design of the Martin Luther King memorial on the Tidal Basin; much of the Mall has been decimated by years of neglect and misuse but the Trust for the National Mall is doing restoration work.

On Tuesday there was an education day with speakers who are all leaders in their various fields.It was a diverse group, including the widow of Gerry Garcia, Deborah Koons Garcia, who made a beautiful movie “Symphony of the Soil”, David Goldston of the Natural Resources defense Council , Kristine Kingery, who told us about the Army’s Net Zero program and Sally Yozell from NOAA, which we know from weather forecasts but which does so much more.

The theme of the meeting was clean air and clean water and climate change. All of the speakers urged us to speak up and not be daunted- these are bi partisan issues and its important to tell your legislators what you think! The also said we should participate in polls, so our opinion is counted. Katie Heins, president of GCA reminded us of the GCA purpose statement, and also asked for our participation in the Save the Redwoods campaign. She mentioned some clubs had not yet participated so she is keeping track of the response! Many GCA Vice Chairs who work hard all year writing reports on the current issues introduced speakers and gave current updates on topics such as Climate change, The Clean Water Act and Billboards. Tuesday evening we had a wonderful tapas Zone Dinner and got to catch up with the ladies from Pittsburgh and Wilmington.

On a snowy day we took busses to Capitol Hill where we met in the historic Cannon Caucus room; we were told the room has had bad acoustics since it was built at the turn of the last century. There we heard from more speakers on the topics of conservation, energy and climate change. They included leaders and experts such as John Podesta, now counselor to President Obama, who is working on energy and climate change, David Yarnold, the president of the Audubon Society, and Bryan Walsh, who wrote the Time feature the “Plight of the Honeybee” this summer. All the speakers mentioned how in some way climate change was causing untold problems, from the severe weather, forest fires and species extinction due to changing habitats, to the lose of arable land for crops. That made it all the more motivating for us to let our legislators know what matters to us: supporting the EPA’s clean air rules was one such issue particularly emphasized: we asked legislators not to try to undermine the EPA by using the Congressional Review Act, and not to cut funding for EPA programs. Permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation fund, support of the Shaheen Portman energy legislation and ratification of the law of the Sea Treaty were some other “asks”.

On Thursday the group journeyed back to Capitol Hill to visit with our legislators. We had a productive meeting with Senator Casey and two of his aides: they told us they are re- sponsoring the Frack act, which regulates fracking chemical disclosure under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Senator Casey’s aides also informed us that the waste from the Duke Energy Dan River coal ash spill has since been transported to Western Pennsylvania, and they are monitoring the situation. We also had a very brief meeting with one of Senator Toomey’s aides, who said they are reading up on climate change. We also spoke to our congressmen or aides about various bills in the house, with limited success, but at least we were heard. We returned home tired but energized and motivated!

Barbara Geltosky
NAL Vice Chair Energy Sources
Conservation Chair
The Gardeners