Welcome from J. William Futrell, President, ELI

[Linda Breggin <breggin@eli.org>]

J. William Futrell, President, Environmental Law Institute

Welcoming Remarks

 

Welcome to the on-line dialogue: "Libraries As a Community Resource for Environmental Information." ELI is very pleased to be a part of this effort. Not only are we addressing critical capacity building issues through this Dialogue but we are using a forum that has tremendous potential for involving the public in environmental policy and decision making.

The subject of this Dialogue could not be more important. Participation by communities across the country in Environmental Protection Agency decision making, and environmental issues in general, is critical. For too long, the communities that are often most heavily impacted by environmental policy decisions have not been part of the policy development and implementation processes.

ELI has worked for over 30 years on capacity building, domestically and internationally. Finding ways to provide communities with information they need to participate more fully and effectively in the environmental issues of concern to them is a critical aspect of our capacity building work. We are eager to hear from you about whether collaborations with public libraries across the country and further development of EPA's web site could help provide information to communities and, if so, what specific steps should be taken.

We have assembled an outstanding group of panelists and participants who represent a wide range of view points and perspectives. We very much look forward to hearing your thoughts on these important capacity building issues and would also welcome your views on the effectiveness of using on-line dialogues to discuss the viability of new initiatives in the capacity building area.

We thank you for joining us