To fashion solutions to a staggering number of environmental issues, legislators need information, and that is where lobbyists play an important role in the political process. Policy makers need to see all the available information for democracy to function well. Forty-three percent of the house members have served less than five years. Newspapers can't give them the substantive detail they need. Congressional staffers are overworked and underpaid.
Lobbyists help fill the information vacuum.
Congressional sources say it doesn't take long before they figure out which industry, environmental organization, or scientific group is giving them good information and which isn't. McElroy says that the best lobbyists are those who can go to Capitol Hill and present both sides of an argument. It's wise to acknowledge when the other side presents information that has some merit to it. If you do, congressmen will come to trust you, listen to you, and seek your advice. Honesty does pay when it comes to playing the lobbying game.