In today’s race to become the greenest nation in the world — the 21^st century’s equivalent to the epic space race between the Soviets and Americans — the Brits are having a good time looking at us in their rear view mirror. As fun as it would be to attribute this to some overhyped cultural dissimilarity, such as their superior appetite for Ale, this is much more likely the result of disparities in our political systems.

Here’s an insider’s point of view: Last winter, I was not only living in London, I was walking the halls of Westminster Palace – the so called “corridors of power” of the UK government – as an assistant to a Member of Parliament (MP). Channeling my inner Sherlock Holmes – my flat was only a few doorsdown from his fictional address – I spent much of this time in an inquisitive mood. I knew my MP was a little different from many politicians back home, but I desperately wanted to distill some of the reasons why.

To my great surprise, it was in the task of scheduling my MP’s daily meetings that provided a vital clue. When not casting votes or chairing committee hearings, my MP spent her work day representing real people: organizing a press conference to shed light on the unjust treatment of a constituent, meeting with taxi drivers from her district, and fighting to ensure strict environmental standards were placed on adding a third runway to Heathrow Airport. Campaign contributions, corporate lobbyists, and fundraisers did not play significantly into her daily life.

It turned out my initial inclination was wrong. My MP wasn’t a little different from politicians back home, she was worlds apart. She didn’t need millions of dollars to get re-elected. In the UK elections cycles are short and people don’t just sell their votes to the highest bidder. Here’s some astonishing numbers:  according to USA Today the average candidate for the US House ofRepresentatives needs to raise more than $1 million to be competitive, while the average candidate for the Senate needs to raise more than $7 million. In the UK?  Campaign spending is limited to approximately $50,000 per seat.

So let’s contrast the average work day of my MP – who needs to raise $50,000 to get reelected– with average work day of, say, Senator Grassley – who needs $7 million to get reelected. Throughout the summer Grassley was seen hobnobbing with health care lobbyists and dining at fundraisers hosted by the same health insurance CEOS  whom he’s received $1.3 million from over the past 6 years.

After the health industry, Grassley kicks back with the folks from the coal industry and Big Ag  – the group which from which he receives the second most cash. Perhaps that explains why he has a 10 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters and proposed gutting the Conservation Reserve Program  –  the USDA’s most effective conservation effort.

Now Grassley wants to kill the climate change bill being debated in congress – the same bill that would invest millions of dollars into wind energy in Iowa and create thousands of jobs. Rather than advocating for cleaner, emissions-free energy, Grassley is instead trying to negotiate exemptions and payouts for coal companies and corporate farmers. If only the renewable energy industry of the future had the army of lobbyists and truckload of campaign cash that the dirty energy companies of today have. Maybe then they too could get Grassley’s ear.

I admit my characterization of British Politics is a bit idealized and doesn’t account for a wide array of other differences between our respective systems, but it proves useful in illustrating that one our Founding Fathers’ biggest fears has now become a harrowing reality: politics in America has been reduced to system of legalized bribery. Perhaps, now more than ever, it’s time to revisit the ideal of Thomas Jefferson when he wrote that “I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of monied corporations which dare already to challenge our Government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”

Cheers,

Matt