Pat Todd's Environmental Advocacy

I'm pleased to see that the News Journal has recognized Pat Todd for her advocacy for recycling and renewable energy. Pat was a driving force behind the bottle bill that was adopted in 1982. More recently, she was instrumental in making statewide recycling a reality in Delaware. She was a part of a delegation of environmentalists who made the case to Jack Markell that he should veto the Un-Bottle Bill passed in 2008, and use the opportunity to push for a statewide curbside recycling. She helped forge a deal that ended the old container deposit system to pass the new law, which she is working to implement as a member of the Recycling Public Advisory Committee.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the old deposit law might never have passed were it not for her dogged determination thirty years ago. And when the time came to push for statewide recycling, Pat did all she could (which is quite a lot) to build a consensus for the new law. Her leadership and moral authority on the issue were critical to success on the issue.

Pat helped make the Delaware League of Women Voters an effective and omnipresent voice for sound environmental and energy policy in Legislative Hall. And she is part of an ongoing effort to foster closer collaboration among environmental advocates in Delaware. She has this knowing smile that lets you know she has seen it all before, but has never, and would never, let cynicism get in the way of her efforts to make Delaware a safer and cleaner place to live.