I tried in vain to search for any environmental messages in the slogans and programmes of the 885 candidates that rode their luck for a parliamentary seat in the elections that Jordan witnessed last week. I read slogans and advertisement and went to some tents and took a look at what I managed to get from "programmes" but then I realized that I was actually wasting my time and even contributing to the emissions of air pollutants from my car with the high mileage traveled.

With the exception of a handful of candidates, all of them naturally failed to make it through I did not find any mentioning of environmental issues. I cannot complain a lot though, as the whole process of the election campaign was empty of substance in politics, economy and culture, let alone environment.

The real problem was the environmental impacts of this campaign. It would be really interested if one specialized entity will conduct an environmental impact assessment of the election campaign and maybe identify the main pollution results that our air, soil and water have suffered in addition to aesthetic issues.

The trees were the first victims of the campaign. Although the Greater Amman Municipality has declared it was illegal to hang posters and banners on trees very little obedience was there. The figures of candidates and their smiles interfered with the photosynthesis and life support systems of trees. It was ironic to see a candidate who has been an active figure in the environmental NGOs battle against the Dibben tourism complex few months ago advocating the prohibition of any tree cutting put his photo on a tree, just in front of the Ministry of Environment!

The candidates' campaign tents turned into dumpsites on daily basis. The majority of the candidates' supporters cared less for cleaning the area surrounding the tent and piles of wastes accumulated in the 28 campaign days with no civic sense at all of the importance of keeping the land clean.

I am not sure how will the posters and banners of the candidates end up after collection by the municipalities, but with the lack of an efficient waste recycling systems that tons of wooden, plastic, polysynthetic and paper banners will be dumped at the designated municipality landfills exerting more pressure on the already exhausted capacity of the landfills.

The money that was spent by the candidates on the promotional campaign (150.0 million JDs) could have been put in a better use by developing socio-economic and environmentally friendly small scale projects in the local areas. The wasteful consumption of resources is another indicator of the lack of sustainability in spending patterns. 

There are positive trends that can balance the negative ones. With the usage of rented buses to move voters to election centers the amount of greenhouse and polluting gases emitted from vehicles was reduced with one bus carrying more than 15 voters instead of 10 cars. However, the long distance traveled by voters that were moved from one district from another was counter effective with the increase in emissions.

However, the real environmental impact will be witnessed beyond the elections, and by the performance of the new deputies themselves.

The Parliament is the place where legislation is developed and endorsed. One of the committees that are usually formed is the one dealing with health and environment. In the last Parliament this committee performed a pivotal role in developing the Environmental Protection Law of 2006. The Committee of health and environment worked in a serious and thorough manner to ensure a smooth endorsement of a well articulated and firm law that provided the Ministry of Environment with lots of power to crack down on pollution sources. This time around the availability of very few experienced and technically-aware deputies will make the formation of this committee and its performance a vital step in environmental legislation.

In addition, environmental impacts should always be addressed in other laws pertaining to economy, investment, energy, water, agriculture, housing, trade and many other sectors. This require a good level of environmental awareness in deputies which is currently lacking as demonstrated with the lack of environmental slogans, unsustainable practices and the fact that only a few technical deputies have been elected compared to tribal figures and businessmen.

New deputies always need experience and knowledge, and it can be a good mechanism to conduct some "unofficial awareness campaigns" for new deputies on environmental issues by being invited and engaged in environmental activities organized by public, academic and civil institutions with particular attention on the members of the health and environment committee. Such engagement will help in spreading the environmental messages to the members of the committee and ensure an "environmentally friendly Parliament" that can have a positive impact on environmental innovations and modernization at the policy and legal dimensions.