This story may be a few days old now but it has stayed with me, and hasn’t had the coverage it deserves. It reveals that $45 million has been spent on a huge PR drive in the US by a coalition of interests largely tied to the coal, oil and gas industries, lobbying to block the passage of the draft climate change and energy bill that Obama wants to introduce. There’s real cause for concern that Obama won’t be able to drive through the bill - part of his mission to move the US towards a low carbon economy - or at least not without hefty compromises. More worrying still is the indication, from the sheer level of expenditure on this lobbying campaign, of just how far many companies still are from recognising that climate change is something that needs action now and that such action needn’t be the enemy of successful business; quite the opposite, we’d argue.
The past few weeks haven’t given us much cause to celebrate the integrity of our own political system but I do feel pretty thankful that, for all their failings, our MPs aren't beholden to and influenced by special interests and their donations. It’s incredible that in the US groups with enough money to throw behind their causes can have such an undue influence on policy.
Let’s hope Obama is tough enough to stick to his guns and that the 12 wavering Democrats who are likely to hold the swing vote have the strength, and sense, not to bow to the PR offensive and instead to prioritise tackling climate change as a matter of urgency.
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