The number of climate change lobbyists in Washington, DC has tripled in five years, according to a new report from the Center for Public Integrity. The study says that in 2008, 770 companies and industry groups spent $90 million US on 2,340 lobbyists — about five for every member of Congress. In 2003, slightly more than 700 special interest group representatives were working on climate change legislation in Washington, and 70 percent of those acted on behalf of carbon-intensive industries. Now, “virtually every segment of the economy was seeking to weigh in” on the issue, including lobbyists from the industry, financial services, unions, local governments, alternative energy, and environment and health sectors.
Once a lobbyist gets involved, I’m skeptical! Even if they are lobbying for more government financing of “greener” solutions. In Alberta, the government’s support for carbon storage from the oil sands looks like a giant ($2 billion) distraction from the real solution — that we have to consume less of everything. Carbon store is as yet, unproven. This is a PR exercise. I fear many more government efforts will be like this. Giving $2billion away, oftentimes to the very same companies that create the problem in the first place, is putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse.
So far, governments would rather do anything rather than tell us the hard truth: our way of life has ended, we need to find a new way forward.