A Level Playing Field for the Environment

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A question was once put to UK youth, how much money would you have to be paid to push the planet over the tipping point? The answer was: “Knowing politicians, 50 quid (£) and a prostitute.”

Upton Sinclair said: “ It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” Boris Johnson, for example, had £50,000 put into his campaign for Conservative Party leadership by a climate denier, and has a fracker on his team, the fossil fuel industry gave his party £1 million into his General Election fund. (I would like to see it donated to Extinction Rebellion.) Boris now says that he does not “get” the climate crisis.

Leonardo DiCaprio's “Before the Flood” documentary outs US politicians for taking fossil fuel money, John Cornyn was bunged $2,979,856 for example, while Mitch McConnell got $1,914,220. Enough US politicians have been bought in the US to block all environmental policy. All are from the Republican Party.

Politicians in the UK boast how dirty politics is, while not giving us the figures. When Prime Minister David Cameron, of “Piggate” fame, boasted how many Conservative MPs were multi-millionaires, the Labour Party asked how many of them were even millionaires before they entered the House, we got no response.

In order to prevent the prostitution of our politicians I would like to see their income strictly monitored, both during and after they have left office, with them only getting what the electorate pays them in salary, all else being donated to a designated charity. The person best for a job is not the one that wants the highest salary, but the one that most wants to do the job. We can put in another level of security by insisting that all politicians take the same infallible personality test as the US Democratic Party to ensure that those who serve us are not self-serving.