By Barbara Sheehan • Posted on July 12, 2024

Since June 2023, I have been part of the Laudato Si’ Circle at Our Mother of Consolation Parish in Chestnut Hill and am advocating for a bill, HB 652, in the Pennsylvania Legislature that aims to raise environmental justice permitting standards.

Advocating for environmental justice seemed to our group to be the most appropriate political action, following the teachings of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ (on the care of creation). In Laudato Si’ and the subsequent apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, the Pope urges us to remind our political and church leaders that the care of creation must be a priority.

But lately I’ve been having doubts about whether we could get this bill passed on our own. It seemed like an uphill battle, and I wondered if our time might not be better spent on other projects.

But on the morning of May 6, fate intervened. An email from the environmental organization Clean Water Action announced a statewide lobby day for environmental justice in Harrisburg!

We were invited to join others across the state lobbying legislators to support HB 652 and two other environmental justice bills: HB 2238, which restricts the use of PFAS (perfluorinated alkyl and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) chemicals, and SB 767, a water assistance program for low-income households.

Early in the morning of June 4, six members of our parish boarded a bus with a group of about 35 activists from the Philadelphia area and headed to the State Capitol in Harrisburg.

I distributed “Laudato Si” stickers to our small group to recognize Catholics’ commitment to environmental justice. Two staff members from the Sisters of St. Joseph Center for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation and a Sister of St. Joseph wore their light blue T-shirts with the congregation’s logo.

The group on our bus included many young adults associated with Clean Water Action, as well as representatives from community groups in Southwest Philadelphia where water, air and soil pollution are critical issues. According to CWA organizer Maurice Sampson, this was the most diverse group they’ve ever had for a lobby day.

He had prepared a list of 19 state representatives and senators to meet with the Philadelphia representatives. He had made appointments with each of them and had identified five or more supporters for each appointment.

Unfortunately, my first three appointments yielded little more than a walk through the halls of the Capitol and a few photo ops in the offices of my local state representatives, namely Christopher Rabb and Tarik Kahn, who co-introduced HB 652, and Donna Bullock, whose lead sponsor was the bill.

We attended a press conference on the steps of the Capitol where Representative Greg Scott, along with several other representatives, spoke about HB 2238, a bill to ban the manufacture and sale of PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that have harmful effects on human and animal health.

Although our primary lobbying focus was on the Environmental Justice Permits Act, I was proud to support this important legislation that will limit PFAS chemicals in our water and in many products like toys, cookware, and dental floss.

Throughout the day, we also heard from State Reps. Greg Vitali, Chairman of the Environmental Resources Committee, Joseph Hohenstein, formerly of Clean Water Action, Reps. Kahn and Abigail Solisbury, and Rep. Rabb, who encouraged us as an advocate for environmental justice in Pennsylvania.

I also joined a group that met with two staffers from Senator Anthony Williams’ office. He represents part of Southwest Philadelphia, and our group of about 15 people included many of his constituents who were fed up with living with lots of pollutants.

What touched me most was a woman who makes home visits in the area. She said she speaks to mothers who are worried about their children’s safety on the streets, about education and housing, and also about their children’s health problems, such as the prevalence of childhood asthma.

“They don’t even know what’s causing their children to get sick. They’re mostly worried about how to get them the medicine they need,” she said. “But we do know. And that (exposure to toxins in the air and water) is one thing we should take away from them.”

That struck me because that is something we can do as Catholics. We can provide relief to those who suffer most from environmental degradation.

Everyone in our small group found participating in the lobby day inspiring. We were educated on the issues and found common ground with people from our area and across the state that we had just met. We presented ourselves as Catholics living out the mission: “Laudato Si‘.”

You can stand up for environmental justice by supporting the three bills mentioned: HB 652, HB 2238 and SB 767. Sign a petition with Clean Water Action: https://cleanwater.salsalabs.org/pa-ej-bills-2024/index.html

To request an environmental justice speaker for your community’s climate work, contact [email protected].

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Barbara Sheehan is a member of Laudato Si’ Circle, a community at Our Mother of Consolation Parish in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood, and is affiliated with EcoPhilly.