Page 89 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

66 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

CORPORATE AND BUSINESS INFLUENCES AND POWER
Corporate interests and impacts on public policy are extremely significant
around the world. In the United States, the US Supreme Court ruled in 2012,
about 6 months before the US National election for president and members of
the Congress, that anyone (defined now as even companies and corporations)
could contribute any amount of money to people running for election to any
office. This put the US national election in the hands of the wealthy and those
with corporate interests. In total over USD $1 billion was put into the presi-
dential and congressional elections. About 70%e80% of the money went to
Republican candidates. The results were different from what was predicted as
the public voted for Democrats, reelecting President Obama, increasing the
Democratic majority in the US Senate and increasing its minority position in
the US House.
While the antilarge funds from individuals and corporations did not do well
in the last US national elections, the future is uncertain with specific needs to
finance and support programs such as renewable energy. One case in point for
the US national election concerned the Obama administration’s support of a
solar company for over USD$500 million in debt loans. In the year before the
national election and less than 2 years after receiving the US debt funds, the
company declared bankruptcy. There was no investigation (at the time of
writing this chapter) into the solar company or its supporters, some of whom
were associated with the Obama administration through the US Department of
Energy.
The US national government is not alone. Such cases arise and are com-
mon not only in developing countries but also in other Western developed
countries. For example, even in California on the local level, where the public
votes for funds to rebuild and modernize its schools, a superintendent and his
facilities manager in a wealthy Southern California School District were both
convicted and jailed on fraud for taking public money for themselves.
Furthermore, a large national American corporation settled out of court for
over USD$6.5 million in payments back to the school district.

INTERNATIONAL CASES
For example, in Ukraine, the former Prime Minister accepted 10% of natural
gas funds from Russia that were piped through Ukraine. She was voted out of
office, went on trial and was convicted, and was then put in jail. Similar sit-
uations occur all over the world. Consider China, whose last Central Gov-
ernment administration had a high-level official whose wife was convicted of
supporting a Western business person and then killing him. This resulted in a
dramatic change in the Central Government leadership that took office in early
2013 after the Chinese New Year in February.