Blogposts tagged 'Lobbying'

In 2009, our US campaigners protested against Big Oil-funded spin which aimed to nobble the climate change debate

If you ever wanted to witness the grimy political hand of Big Oil, now's your chance: it's US mid-term election time.

The web of dirty money is global, with BP and other European companies complicit in funding climate change denier candidates for the US senate.

Next contestant please. In contemplating what informs my role as a political advisor in the policy and solutions unit at Greenpeace I got to thinking about a new grandmother and a newborn baby (no hankies or violins required, honest).

My dear Ma, just turned 71 and as Irish as Mrs Doyle from Father Ted, but without the personality disorder and compulsive tea habit, was never one for political protest, but she certainly had her political alignments sorted. A Daily Express reader for years, sucking up the rhetoric long and hard, she more recently jumped ship to the Daily Mail (think of it as opting for a slightly more formal jackboot).

So no wishy-washy liberal she. But more recently she has shifted out of her voting comfort zone, driven by new priorities. She even voted for Ken Livingstone in the last London Mayoral elections. Admittedly this was partly a 'stop Boris' vote rather than a ringing endorsement of Red Ken, but a key motivation for her was a desire to see Ken’s progressive agenda on climate change carried through.