Over the years, I have heard many versions of the organize v information debate, and I grow very frustrated when it seems that environmental groups can find resources to help people organize but not to build technical expertise and offer technical assistance. To impact environmental policy decisions in a postive way people really need both!
I'm convinced that there is no chance of effective organizing without a good information base. And I believe that Glenn is right in pointing out that there are times when good information channeled to the right people can, in fact, be very potent and effective, almost of itself. (My favorite example is the "housewife" who had to point out to the "experts" at a state permitting agency that the application for a proposed hazardous waste facility had been submitted on the wrong USGS quad map.)
I would hope one of the results of this dialogue would be additional assistance from EPA and librarians around the country in helping people find information that fits in both categories to some extent.
No, I'm not proposing that EPA designate staff to take on organizing community groups, but I do think that they -- and librarians -- can promote much-needed public participation by pointing people to information like the new public participation handbook (http://www.epa.gov/permits/publicguide.htm) that helps them understand their rights, opportunities and responsibilities in a decision-making process. Information that makes it easier for someone to track down others who have been involved in a similar issue would also be enormously helpful on the "organizing" end.
On the technical assistance side, I believe the more info that EPA and others can make readily available -- through the web and inter-library loans -- the better. As can be seen from the diversity of viewpoints in this discussion, there is need for info written to many different audiences -- from the total novice to the experienced data user looking for particular monitoring info.
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