If Dick Pombo was on Twitter, he would get a #fail.This past congressman devoted his entire political career to savage our planet’s environmental resources. He’s best known for attempting to cease the Endangered Species Act, because, according to him, it put “rats and shellfish” before people. Really, Dick? I would think you would be all for saving rats and spineless creatures…
The name of the act he was trying to pass was ironically called the “Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act” and if it would have passed, we could have said good-bye to every single endangered animal by 2015.
Somehow this past Congressman was able to gain enough support to pass legislation that stopped habitat protections from being operated on 150 million acres of wilderness and that lifted a 25-year moratorium on drilling for oil off the shores of the U.S.
In politics and when building coalitions, you’ll be lucky if you never run into the Pombo’s of the world. These people often have a lot of power and somehow manage to get support. It’s easy to get enraged when dealing with someone that’s fighting for very opposite ideals.
When dealing with people like Pombo, do some research and figure out what key messages are going to convince people that the opposition is wrong. Instead of listing 1,356 reasons why species need to remain protected, have a few well-crafted messages that speak to values that we all can relate to (see: sustainability, humanity, protection).
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