Re: [GreenYes] EPA's arrogance

[Kking61101@no.address]

Thank you very much. Laurie is the woman that I spoke to with the EPA and 
DCCA is the agency that has awarded us the grant. I also asked Laurie for 
materials and she said she could not provide me with anything. 

I probably shouldn't have posted that on GreenYes, but I feel as though it is 
the EPA's responsibility to teach children about the environment, especially 
to that large of  a number of children. Even though it is on a weekend, I 
feel that a governmental agency (especially the EPA) should be jumping at an 
opportunity of this magnitude. The woman that I spoke to (the Environmental 
Education Coordinator) said she has done educational things before for a much 
smaller number of kids, but is not willing to do this simply because it is a 
weekend. I feel that I and most other people would rather pay the EPA to 
educate 5,000 kids as opposed to a classroom of 25. She was also not willing 
to give me any information on activities or even so much as donate some 
pencils made from recycled blue jeans and currency which they give out to 
classrooms. I was very nice and extremely frustrated with her attitude by the 
time I got off the phone and felt very betrayed as this is our government 
that operates on our tax dollars. 

What frustrated me the most was not that she wouldn't do an educational 
activity because it is a weekend, but that her whole demeaner was negative 
and she was not willing to do so much as offer ideas or activities. She said 
that the EPA does not concentrate their efforts on recycling and she could 
not help. I explained that the recycling was one component of the program and 
it is just the catalyst that has opened the door for this program, which will 
provide education about all areas of environmental responsibilty. I thought 
that the EPA would be a wonderful source of information for the children on 
many issues that affect the environment and our future. 

I have since spoken to someone in the Chicago office (thanks to my posting on 
GreenYes) who assured me that most of the people who work for the EPA are 
dedicated and she will see what she can do.