Mary Lou Munts
State Representative, Wisconsin Assembly, 1972-84
Wisconsin Public Service Commissioner 1985-1991
6102 Hammersly Rd.
Madison, WI 53711
U.S.A.
TEL: 608/271-5763
My lifetime has seen dramatic change in environmental consciousness. I was reared in an oil refinery town in the thirties without knowing the word pollution. In the early seventies I became chair of Wisconsin Assembly's Environmental Committee when there was finally a strong public reaction to mounting enviromental degradation. Industry was being dragged reluctantly to accept new demands to protect water, air, and soil.
My use of consensus building was a direct response to polarization between industry and environmentalists. I chaired legislative drafting committees using a cooperative decision making process without votes or parliamentary procedure. Bills on mining reclamation, solid and hazardous waste, and groundwater became landmark legislation.
When does this process work? It is particularly well suited to complex environmental issues if the conflicting parties are committed to resolve issues and willing to devote a great deal of time. There must be a chair or facilitator to keep the group moving. And there must be staffing to develop objective information and options. Many women have talent for consensus building because they are less hierarachical and more willing to share power. For me, helping a group learn to trust each other and to design a product of which they were proud was one of the most rewarding experiences of my legislative career.
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