If you want to talk about a wider spectrum of issues ranging from air pollution to toxic groundwater, go to ConnPIRG, the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group. Consumer Activist Ralph Nader inspired the PIRG network 25 years ago, and in 40 states and on hundreds of college campuses nationwide, PIRGs now fight for environmental, consumer, and political reforms. ConnPIRG is a national leader in earth issues. Although Connecticut's environmental policy stands tougher than most around the country, especially with its clean air and water restrictions, the policing of those laws is weak, says Steve Gurney, ConnPIRG's legislative director and staff scientist. And it's not the staff at the Department of Environmental Protection who is necessarily to blame.
Management is another area entirely.
Annually, ConnPIRG identifies at least five issues to attack. Experience has taught ConnPIRG to discern which ideas have legislative support, Gurney says. We try to influence the legislative process so that it is working the best, not necessarily for us but for the public interest and democracy. In that dozen years, four as a representative and the last eight as a senator, Nickerson has been part of what he calls a revolution in restructuring Connecticut's tax system. It was obvious in the late 1980s that Connecticut's tax structure was unsustainable, he says.