According to this article and the report that lies behind it, the three political parties which will soon be plying us with all sorts of sophisticated and crude mechanisms to attract our votes are all struggling to get a grip on their environmental policies. In one sense this is not a great surprise. The range of policies that each party needs to focus on, along with the vested interests that they are trying to satisfy in order to resolve their funding needs means that they are being pulled in many directions at the same time. Although the environmental agencies clearly lack the financial clout of banking and big business in this arms race, thank goodness they have strong and long arms which helps to ensure that the planet does get a better hearing than would otherwise be the case. Sadly there are far too many good causes that cannot match them for influence. We desperately need to achieve the same leverage for prisoners and travellers to name but two.

It is clear that alone these three parties do not have sufficient clarity or competence to ensure that our Great Grandchildren have any real prospect of a world to protect for their dependents. It is widely expected that the General Election 2015 will return a coalition. One way of ensuring that the next Government avoids the embarrassment of sending the new Prime Minister for a long ride on a husky sled is to ensure that the experience and wisdom of Caroline Lucas along with any other Green MPs is included in their policy making. This might create a dilemma for the Greens and will certainly challenge the thinking of the successor to Owen Paterson and the DEFRA team, but the risks of ignoring the small but effective voice of the Green Party (despite the chaos they have brought to some aspects of the running of Brighton & Hove Council) is too great for the small price involved.