“Inhofe argued, we should take no action on climate change, which he has described as "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people". Never mind the overwhelming evidence that has accumulated since the last Senate hearings in 2009; never mind the crazy temperatures the US has been experiencing recently, which have alerted many Americans to what climate change is likely to deliver in the decades to come... None of this makes the slightest difference to Inhofe. But how could it? Even if he were persuaded by the great weight of evidence for man-made climate change, changing his mind would be a very expensive decision. It could cost him his seat: not because it would necessarily be an unpopular shift – even in Oklahoma – but because it would jeopardise the massive flow of funds required to remain in high office in the US. Take a look at Inhofe's campaign funding. The major source, contributing half a million dollars over the past five years, has been the oil and gas industry... Of his individual contributors, the biggest is Koch Industries – an oil, gas, minerals, timber and chemicals corporation, that is described by its owners, Charles and David Koch, as "the biggest company you've never heard of". They fund a number of anti-environmental and anti-tax lobby groups.”

Stop this culture of paying politicians for denying climate change | George Monbiot | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Gerd Leonhard comments: This is an incredible perversion of the democratic spirit, imho - how can any large problem be tackled when law makers are incentivized to sand-bag any real change by CASH and CORRUPTION?   Watch this video by Larry Lessig for some radical solutions: http://blip.tv/lessig/how-money-corrupts-6204167