Zac Goldsmith Q&A

I have been a big admirer of your work for a long time - but am struggling to reconcile your personal achievements and very sound principles with current Tory policy. Do you ever get frustrated that everything you have done is now tarred with the party politics brush?

This is not meant to be a snide comment, but your ecological and other views, and, I'm told, your constituency work, are commendable. So, is it only because you are fabulously wealthy that you remain a Tory?

And if not, do you aim for high office in an attempt to turn the nasty party into a somewhat nicer one?

Or at least gagging him?

Have you considered putting Nigel Lawson in the Tower?

Being that the earth has been estimated to have been in existence for 4,600,000,000 years. And regional weather observations have only been recording since the mid 1800's (I think). How can we be sure that this current weather phenomena is man made and not due to similar solar activity which caused the Maunder Minimum or a cyclical phenomena similar to that which brought the ice age?

Is there any point to recycling? I'm a dyed in the wool recycler but I see the younger generation dropping bottles and tins as though they've never heard of it. I'm not condemning all the young but I live between two schools and see the debris.

This week we heard how the UK is likely to be fined by the EU for failure to cut excessive levels of NO2 - it is clearly a failure of governments and local authorities to address the serious problems of traffic in our cities: nitrogen dioxide is largely caused by the diesel emissions of cars and buses yet the Mayor of London is blindly refusing to accept that the health of vulnerable people is at risk; his plans for a Silvertown Tunnel would be the final straw in east London - what are your views on this proposal? And how would you address the issues of NO2 pollution and the impending EU fines?

Given the consensus about climate change in the scientific community, it seems that the climate sceptics still command an extraordinary amount of media time and attention. What can you (and the rest of us) do to change this?

Why are you a Tory MP? You seem too sensible to me.

Just how heartbroken are you Zac about the environmental record of this government? Green Deal still subsidised and not yet even toddling a few baby steps on its own. ECO funding (for energy efficiency help to poorer homes) cut. Windfarm projects being scuppered.
Didn't get off to a roaring start did it with the cuts in feed-in tariff for photovoltaics. (No wonder the solar panel factory in Cardiff is going to become a film studio.)
Meanwhile the scientific predictions about more extreme weather events seem to be coming true - but you won't be surprised I'm sure.
Are you going to continue to battle on and try to change intransigent Tory hearts and minds or are you going to jump ship and join the Green Party?