As Rachel Carson famously wrote, “The real wealth of the nation lies in the resources of the earth – soil,
water, forests, minerals and wildlife.” We at the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) believe that philosophy. But we add another
ingredient to her list of what makes a nation wealthy. That is its people.
All the natural resources aren’t
of value if they don’t also enable the citizens of this nation to live healthy
and productive lives. It’s why DEP’s mission statement is a reflection of both
resource and resident – “DEP’s mission is to protect Pennsylvania’s air, land
and water from pollution and to provide for the health and safety of its
citizens through a cleaner environment.”
Welcome to DEP’s blog, “Our
Common Wealth.” Through this medium, we’ll bring you messages about the ways we
work to achieve our mission. We hope you’ll find our entries useful about the
many, many ways that our staff impact you throughout your day. I feel confident
you don’t often (or even ever) think about our role in your life. But,
actually, we do have stories about that to share with you.
The stories will come from the
amazing staff of DEP. The best way to give you a small sense of their
commitment is to recreate a bit of the most recent Employee Recognition Awards.
As I handed out the awards, I said, “For many of us, the job is a vocation. We
want to get our decisions right. Every time. Because we care about the
consequences. I like to say that the agency’s passion is its superpower.”
A few of the award winners took
the time to share their thoughts about working for DEP. The video is below. The
passion you see in our employees is truly what helps us achieve our mission. My
colleagues at DEP invest every day in our mission. On behalf of all of them, we
hope that you agree that it’s an investment in Pennsylvania’s future.
Have an idea for a post? Email us
at ra-epblog@pa.gov.