Zac Goldsmith
Zac Goldsmith
Frank Zacharias Robin "Zac" Goldsmithis a British Conservative politician and journalist who, since the 2010 general election, has represented Richmond Park as its Member of Parliament. In 2015 Goldsmith was selected as the Conservative candidate for the 2016 London Mayoral election, which he lost to Sadiq Khan...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth20 January 1975
adjusted buy car cleanest cost hell less next people rightly
If you tell people, 'that old banger of yours, we're going to tax the hell out of it,' they'll rightly tell you to get lost. But if you tell people that when they next buy a car, the tax will be adjusted so that the cleanest ones will cost less and the polluting ones will cost more, most people would say 'fair enough.'
accustomed beneath expansion million represent
The two million or so residents who live beneath the Heathrow flight path are accustomed to the noise. However, they are right to feel that any expansion would represent an unacceptable broken promise.
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Of all the waste we generate, plastic bags are perhaps the greatest symbol of our throwaway society. They are used, then forgotten, and they leave a terrible legacy.
battling imagining minority possibly signed thread weave within
I wanted to weave a green thread through the Conservative party; that's my job, and I signed up imagining that I would be in a very small minority within my party, possibly even on my own, battling away on these issues.
absolute allowed cannot condition domestic excuse flights improving money nor represent stealth switch
'Green' cannot be allowed to become an excuse for stealth taxes. And nor should 'green taxes' be about punishment. Instead, they should represent a switch of emphasis. So if domestic flights are taxed, it should be on the absolute condition that the money is ploughed into improving the alternatives, such as trains.
life organize private
I do not organize my private life with an eye to my career.
cynical experience face few found impressed people taken thoroughly
I am cynical about politicians. My experience of politicians has been thoroughly negative. I have found that politicians are people that can not be taken at face value. There are very few politicians I have been impressed with.
economy environmental feeding food giant global gm handful question tackling tiny wicked
GM has never been about feeding the world or tackling environmental problems. It is and has always been about control of the global food economy by a tiny handful of giant corporations. It's not wicked to question that process. It is wicked not to.
fact main trust
Politicians are so detested. And the main cause is not policy; it's the fact that there is no trust.
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In North America, more than half of all children travel to school by bus. We need a similar programme in London.
change climate confusing denied despite european failure free industry issue joining north nuclear obvious oppose serious solution suggested trade
The Conservatives are a confusing lot. They first denied climate change was a serious issue and then suggested strengthening the nuclear industry as a solution to it. They oppose the European Union, but support joining North American Free Trade Agreement, despite its obvious failure.
cleaner example green needs paid policy shift tax
Green policy is about triggering a shift to a cleaner way of doing things. To be effective, it needs to incentivise the right behaviour, for example through tax breaks, and that needs to be paid for by disincentives on polluting behaviour.
abstract bush change climate concern evidence few human influences longer programme reports science
Climate change - for so long an abstract concern for an academic few - is no longer so abstract. Even the Bush administration's Climate Change Science Programme reports 'clear evidence of human influences on the climate system.'
basic building buy children cooking food good include literally local mean possible schools small teach wherever willing
All schools should teach children basic cooking skills. Every school should be able to buy sustainable, good quality food wherever possible from local sources. Every school should include food-growing in the curriculum. For some, that will mean twinning with willing farms. For others, it will mean literally building their own small farms.