Money has too big an influence on our politics in Washington and somehow we need to do something about that.

The remark is a blunt critique of the role of money—especially large donations and lobbying—in shaping U.S. federal policy. Attributing the problem specifically to “Washington” frames it as systemic rather than partisan: elected officials and institutions become responsive to funders and organized interests more than to voters or evidence. Coming from James Hansen, a prominent climate scientist and public advocate, the line is typically read as linking political finance to stalled action on issues like climate policy, where well-funded industries can exert outsized influence. The concluding “somehow we need to do something about that” signals urgency but also the difficulty of reform, implying that technical solutions alone are insufficient without political-structural change.