During the past year as AGU's Congressional Science Fellow, I strove to reconcile my political interests with my commitment to Earth science.  One of the more compelling ideas I encountered came directly from Sen. Tim Wirth (D-Colo.), for whom I worked: "All politics is local."  I was initially surprised to hear this message from a member of the U.S. Senate, a national institution that deals regularly with national and global issues.  I now see, however, that it represents a profound insight into American politics, and furthermore that it offers useful advice to the Earth science community.  The local level is where national policy touches people's lives.  When their lives are affected, their political will solidifies, and they mobilize into a political force.  Local politics thus presents a channel by which geoscientists throughout the United States can promote Earth science nationally.

The fellowship afforded me three perspectives on the influence of local politics in Congress: working directly on legislative issues, functioning as part of Congressional staff, and observing the political process from the inside.  My legislative work focused on a bill that regulates the transportation of hazardous materials (see my midyear report, "Scientists Must Listen to be Heard," in Eos, September 15, 1987, p. 754).  I discovered that effective policy formulation requires very broad input, from laymen as well as experts.  Technical analyses show that nuclear waste is a relatively safe subset of hazardous materials compared to chemical and petroleum products.  Yes many citizens feel that their homes and families are threatened by shipments of nuclear waste moving through their communities.  These fears are expressed loudly to Congress, which often responds to subjective risk perceptions before objective risk analyses.

(I also learned that patience is indeed a virtue in politics.  After overcoming many hurdles, the bill that I managed still has a long way to travel through the legislative gauntlet.  As of this writing, the bill is yet to be reported out of the Senate Commerce Committee.  I am anxiously watching -- now from the sidelines -- for its continued progress.)

The influence of local politics became obvious in my role as a staff member for Senator Wirth.  At staff meetings, Wirth repeatedly admonished us not to forget that we work for the people of Colorado.  The staff followed this directive by eschewing sole reliance on Washington information sources.  We studied Colorado newspapers, spent hours on the telephone with Coloradans, and used constituent mail to gage public sentiment.  Information on local politics was shared among the staff and readily provided to Senator Wirth.

Local politics also arose during the many national debates that I watched from within Capitol Hill.  I watched the Senate deal with a variety of issues involving scientific questions, such as plutonium production, nuclear waste disposal, AIDS, drug testing, the budget and trade deficits, clean air, and strategic defense.  Regardless of the issue, those aspects that directly affected constituents usually received the most attention and often became the focus of Congressional debate.  An impressive example was Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court.  People felt that their lives would be intimately affected, and expressed their feelings in a flood of mail and phone calls to Senate offices.  Senators responded with one of the most heated debates in recent history.

"All politics is local" -- The maxim not only describes my observations in Congress, it also provides a valuable message for Earth scientists.  It points the way toward a productive relationship between science and politics.  All of us in AGU work on scientific problems that have local political impacts: groundwater contamination, nuclear waste disposal, earthquake and volcano hazards, offshore oil drilling, mineral exploration, acid rain, remote sensing -- The list goes on.  All of us conduct research that can play a role in local politics and thereby in national politics.

Like it or not, science functions in a political environment.  Whether we depend on public or private funds, the people who are paying the bill want to know how our work is affecting them.  We must explain why research in Earth science is important, particularly in the coming days of tight federal budgets.  We can educate the public by participating in PTA decisions on teaching curricula, field trips for primary and secondary school students, town meetings on environmental problems, election campaigns and referenda, or the reporting of geoscience in the popular press.  Whatever the means, increased visibility in the local political arena will help Earth science thrive.

L. Jeff Lefkoff, AGU Congressional Science Fellow, 1986-1987.

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