What would you like Minister Gormley to do?

randomname2005

JohnGormley wrote:

Minister for the Environment John Gormley said: "The scientific debate is over, the evidence is incontrovertible,"

He vowed to introduce several initiatives before the end of the year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as other strategies to stem global warming.

Climate change was the main reason his Green Party entered the coalition government in May, he added.

Ok, so Minister Gormley said he would like to introduce initiatives to curb climate change. Now, I see 'initiaves' as being either encouragements for 'good' or penalties for doing 'bad' what would the three things would you like to see him do?

Me? I would like to see
1) exponential tax rates for cars based not on engine size, but emissions.
2) Introduction and enforcement of builders to build energy efficient houses without raising costs significantly.
3) Taxing houses that are unoccupied for the majority of the year. We have over 200,000 unoccupied houses in the country, they would have generated huge amounts of unnecessary emissions during construction

R

Keeks

Questions are more politically motivated than relating to Green issues....moved

Jackie laughlin

Initiate policy to reduce air travel.

Lennoxschips

Not rubber stamping unnecessary motorways through areas of cultural heritage would be a start...

Mick86

randomname2005 wrote:

...Me? I would like to see
1) exponential tax rates for cars based not on engine size, but emissions.
2) Introduction and enforcement of builders to build energy efficient houses without raising costs significantly.
3) Taxing houses that are unoccupied for the majority of the year. We have over 200,000 unoccupied houses in the country, they would have generated huge amounts of unnecessary emissions during construction

So basically you want to tax Global warming out of existence.:rolleyes:

CerebralCortex

Maybe to focus his attention away from global warming and put more effort into energy and transportation.

maniac101

I'd like to see him (and his government) seize the opportunities that global warming presents for Ireland. The government should form policies that encourage greater investment in the research and development of indigenous renewable technologies. So many billions will be spent on imported renewable technology over the coming years as a result of our Kyoto Protocol commitments, but very few jobs are being created. We should develop our own renewable energy solutions instead of just buying stuff from Denmark and Austria.

Oldtree

While he has no powers with regard to planning applications or enforcement issues, he has the power to issue directions within both county development and local area plans. I believe that he should use his power to reighn in the county councils flouting of both their disregard for irish, eu law and their own development plans. 46% of Mayo COCO's decisions that were appealed to an bord pleanala in 2005 were overturned, reasons like not following development plans featured highly.

Also discreationary plans by cocos need to be further defined and regulated as words like 'may' are being used as a reason to do nothing by council officals. also Councils need to be somehow held accountable for their actions.

He could do a lot of house clearing with this approach. he has already had an impact where areas which have been zoned for industry are no longer.

Jackie laughlin

C.Cortex,
Mr. Gormley's problem is that he pays too little attention to global warming other than mentioning it occasionally.



There is no handy, neo-liberal, market-based solution to the problem. There will be business opportunities arising from state intervention to reduce the use of carbon but other businesses will be damaged. Sorry, but this is the real world and policy will not suit everyone. Mr. Gormley either doesn't yet see this or he does but wants to avoid the consequent trouble it will cause him.

BendiBus

Raise building standards regarding energy efficiency as high as is practicable.

Ditto for planning law (to encourage density, proximity to public transport etc.). Basically a proper land use policy.

Introduce measures (I'm happy to hear other posters ideas as to what particular measures!) to develop an indigeneous "new energy" industrial sector.

is_that_so

• Address the national waste policy and that means everything, including incineration
• Provide massively increased funding for alternative energy
• Look at developing a long term energy policy, which may mean getting nuclear-generated electricity
• Force more organisations and companies into waste compliance
• Privatise/Split the ESB (wishful thinking and assuming that it actually comes under his remit)
• Come up with genuinely achievable methods of getting us to reduce our emissions.
• Finally , keep his nose out of things that have nothing to do with him and get on with his own job(Shannon)

Liam Byrne

is_that_so wrote:

• Address the national waste policy and that means everything, including incineration
• Provide massively increased funding for alternative energy
• Look at developing a long term energy policy, which may mean getting nuclear-generated electricity
• Force more organisations and companies into waste compliance
• Privatise/Split the ESB (wishful thinking and assuming that it actually comes under his remit)
• Come up with genuinely achievable methods of getting us to reduce our emissions.
• Finally , keep his nose out of things that have nothing to do with him and get on with his own job(Shannon)

That looks like my list.....I would also have included the following 2:

• Ensure public transport around the country is available, reliable and cost-effective - trains between all cities, and up and down the west coast; Dart and Luas style systems for the major cities;
• Ensure that people paying for waste disposal have recycling facilities INCLUDED in the cost - not €1.50 extra per bag or whatever

The problem is that there's a mentality of "pay more for waste disposal" - which pisses people off because it's just a veiled excuse for taxing us even more - the approach should be "pay less for being green, and the ONLY example that we've seen of that is the VRT reduction on green cars, which is pathetic considering that both VRT and the "luxury" VAT rate on cars are a disgrace.

The fact that FF are in the pockets of developers and landowners and we end up with huge sprawling suburbs from which people have no option but to commute and sit in traffic doesn't help either.....ridiculous house prices are preventing people from living near work, and the only people gaining are the banks and developers

nesf

I'd like to see pay by weight refuse charges come in across the country combined with free dry recycling bins being provided for households. Put people in a position where they are being charged for not recycling and they'll happily recycle away for you.

It's not very aspirational but it would at least work.


Convincing or backing the DCC in bringing in some kind of water charge + credit system would be a good thing too.

djmc

Put tax on fuel not on engine size so people pay for how much they drive
instead of paying eg 1500 euro for a 3 litre car or jeep that they drive 20 miles a week in

Demonique

1) A fuel tax rather than a tax based on engine size, the more fuel your car uses the more tax you pay
2) Congestion charge in Dublin to encourage people to leave their cars at home. Traffic in London fell by 1/3 due to their congestion charge. The money generated by the congestion charge could be used to
3) Improve public transport in Dublin. More buses would be good and the older style buses should be phased out in favour of buses with wheelchair access
4) More allotments in cities to enable people who don't have their own gardens to grow their own food
5) A grant available to people who want to install solar panels/mini wind turbines on their homes

Jackie laughlin

Look, I drive as little as possible, I use bio-diesel when I can get it, I use public transport, I compost, the house is insulated like you wouldn't believe etc. etc. However, the problem is global warming. Am I really alone here in this thread in thinking that Irish air travel must be capped and then reduced? For the love of God, in my town there are four estate agents selling overseas holiday homes! Mind you, if global warming continues those homes will be in a uselessly hot climate. The problem is that the Green Party is stuck with outdated thinking and has been overtaken by populism.

A ban on GM for no reason. A refusal to countenance nuclear. A crippling tax on incineration. Deckchairs - Titanic! Fiddling - Rome burning!

the_syco

Jackie laughlin wrote:

Look, I drive as little as possible, I use bio-diesel

We make so little of the stuff, most of it just comes from Brazil.

=-=

Oh, and build nuclear reactors. Waaay less emissions than the pesky fossil fuels.

sovtek

Jackie laughlin wrote:

The problem is that the Green Party is stuck with outdated thinking and has been overtaken by populism.

Actually they seem to be rife with current thinking...ie take the percs in place of opposition to the status quo
This is the main reason they are a joke here and in the US.

A ban on GM for no reason.

reason #1 it is quite clear by now that GM crops cannot be contained
reason #2 GM companies create nifty little things like "limiter" seeds
reason #3 no it is not being used to "feed the world"

3 of many

A refusal to countenance nuclear.

Speaking of outdated.

A crippling tax on incineration.

Gotta pay to pollute. Sounds reasonable to me.

edanto

the_syco wrote:

Oh, and build nuclear reactors. Waaay less emissions than the pesky fossil fuels.

OT, but interesting nonetheless - according to Robert Newman in the History of Oil - the nuclear cycle, from mining to decommissioning, produces 75% as much CO2 as fossil fuel stations making the same power. (at around 37 mins if you're in a rush)

I would like Gormley to engage on a campaign of travelling around the country to areas for potential windfarms and trying to get the locals on side, to get them to accept them. I would rather see a hundred turbines out my windows than the two chimneys below. Potentially, we could use hydrogen fuel cells to store the energy generated by wind - but I don't know the efficiency of that system.

REducing co2 isn't just about transport or energy either, there may be way to reduce our consumption of goods. In the states, something like 95% or more of all consumer goods end up in landfill within 6 months. It would be good to know what our statistics are and what we could do about it.

Rail transport should be improved all over the country, following the good work of the last government.

Same for recycling initiatives, the last government did well, but there are still huge areas of the country where it's impractical to recycle and we need some bright ideas.

Jackie laughlin

I think the comment about Mercs and perks is pure cynicism. That certainly is not the problem with Greens in govt.

I've debated the GM question here before. Apart from the perennial problem about exploitation which applies to most capitalist enterprise, there is no problem with GM and our national ban will damage our standing in the world of science.

Similarly, I've debated nuclear. The Green position is closed: a discussion followed by a ban.

Now they want to put a prohibitive tax on incineration, either knowing nothing about modern incinerators or pretending to know nothing of modern incinerators to placate traditional luddite supporters.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that for environmental reasons, Greens in govt. are a very bad development.

Lennoxschips

ireland needs to become less of a car dependent society. the trouble is the greens are in government with the develepors' party, who have spent the last 10 years turning ireland into the most car dependent country in europe. fianna fail ministers would sooner cut off their arms than make develepors adhere to strict planning.

dragonkin

I think the amount of plastic packaging needs to be vastly reduced and preferably a tax similar to the plastic bag tax needs to be introduced for all consumable items.

This would have the following advantages:

• Vastly reduce the amount of waste produced and help aleviate waste disposal problems.
• Force companies to use other alternative packaging that is bidegradable (possibly new Irish based companies could provide this)
• Eliminate usless packaging muffins, bananas, plastic trays etc.

jawlie

It's such a sterile debate about what we should do to prevent global warming.

If we assume, for the purposed of debate, that we can not only influence global warming, but actually stop it, and further assume that its a good thing to stop it (a question which is rarely asked), everyone comes up with their own pet theory of how to stop it. Maybe its all the fault of SUV's, or the Airline Industry, or 'big' business, or whatever else is the current fashionable thing.

None of which really matters when you realise that China, alone, is opening another hundred coal fired, dirty, large, power stations this year and all are pumping out zillions of tons of CO2.

Couple that with the fact that the human population has increased three times since 1920, from 2 billion to 6 billion, and is scheduled to increase to 9 billion by 2050. And all those extra 3 billion will want central heating, light, deep freezers, bigger and better motor cars, foreign holidays and a roast on Sunday and hamburgers for the barbecue a couple of times a week. They wil all go away on holidays and forget to turn off the central heating, or the immersion, and leave lights on when they go out and do all the wasteful things we all do nowadays.

Did you know that cattle account for over 30% of greenhouse gases, which is over 15 times more than the whole of the airline industry. Every year. The simple solution is to slaughter the whole cattle population, have the worlds biggest ever bbq, and then all become vegatarian.

Of course, that doesn't fit well with the crypto socialist agenda of the doom sayers who want to use "Climate Change" as the excuse to make us all feel guilty about having foreign holidays, and motor cars, and warm houses, and all the other things which make modern life so much more tolerable that it was even a few short years ago. Yes, we are back into an age of the the new puritans where everything enjoyable is bad.

Jackie laughlin

Here we go again! We're too small to have an effect. Grand, let's do nothing.

CerebralCortex

Jackie laughlin wrote:

C.Cortex,
Mr. Gormley's problem is that he pays too little attention to global warming other than mentioning it occasionally...

Reason I said that is because I don't think humans are entirely responsible for climate change.

Húrin

Jackie laughlin wrote:

Initiate policy to reduce air travel.

I agree. Scrap the expansion of Dublin airport. Not only will it lead to more flying, but it's also stupidly expensive.

Aviation is the most subsidised form of travel. Change that. End kerosene's tax-free status. Subsidise the ferry to Britain instead, make it appealing. So many flights at Dublin airport are to Britain, which is very unecessary. If there were less of those, the human traffic would be at manageable levels.

jawlie wrote:

Of course, that doesn't fit well with the crypto socialist agenda of the doom sayers who want to use "Climate Change" as the excuse to make us all feel guilty about having foreign holidays, and motor cars, and warm houses, and all the other things which make modern life so much more tolerable that it was even a few short years ago.

why are you such a conspiracy theorist? Why would anyone want to make you feel guilty about taking foreign holidays and indulging in materialism while the world goes up in flames and the majority starves (other than Christian activists like me).

Jackie laughlin

I'm very openly a socialist and I enjoy the good life. I want to extend the good life to all of my fellow citizens. Global warming will end this life for all of us but it doesn't have to be like this. Taking action now may save us and none of the actions spoken about will leave anyone cold and miserable!

djpbarry

jawlie wrote:

If we assume, for the purposed of debate, that we can not only influence global warming, but actually stop it, and further assume that its a good thing to stop it (a question which is rarely asked)

I would say that, based on the weight of evidence, those are pretty good “assumptions”.

jawlie wrote:

everyone comes up with their own pet theory of how to stop it. Maybe its all the fault of SUV's, or the Airline Industry, or 'big' business, or whatever else is the current fashionable thing.

I think it’s fair to say that there are several contributing factors.

jawlie wrote:

Did you know that cattle account for over 30% of greenhouse gases, which is over 15 times more than the whole of the airline industry

The bulk of these greenhouse gases are methane and nitrous oxides, both of which spend a relatively short time in the atmosphere compared to CO2. Besides, do you propose we slaughter ALL animals that expel greenhouse gasses?

jawlie wrote:

Of course, that doesn't fit well with the crypto socialist agenda of the doom sayers who want to use "Climate Change" as the excuse to make us all feel guilty about having foreign holidays, and motor cars, and warm houses, and all the other things which make modern life so much more tolerable that it was even a few short years ago. Yes, we are back into an age of the the new puritans where everything enjoyable is bad.

I’m so tired of this argument – why is it that people cannot see this as a great opportunity, for this country in particular? There is huge potential for Ireland to become a world leader in developing “clean” technologies, which would not only benefit our economy, but all civilization. No one is saying we should abandon our entire way of life and go back to living in caves. It may be difficult for some people to make big changes in their lifestyle to reduce their energy consumption, but it’s very easy to try . Besides, what harm can it possibly do you?

A couple of other points:

• Nuclear is not the way forward, for two reasons. First of all, uranium is finite – what happens when this fuel is depleted? Secondly, what of the hazardous waste products?
• Why are people so quick to jump on the anti-GM bandwagon? Were it not for GM, type II diabetes would be a fatal condition as we would not have the means to produce enough insulin to treat diabetics.

Jackie laughlin

Two quick points:

Nuclear is an option, part of a strategy.

The Green Party ban on GM in Ireland was just daft.

djpbarry

Jackie laughlin wrote:

Nuclear is an option, part of a strategy.

What sort of strategy?

oscarBravo

djpbarry wrote:

I would say that, based on the weight of evidence, those are pretty good “assumptions”.

I'm not convinced it's safe to assume we can reverse global warming.

djpbarry wrote:

The bulk of these greenhouse gases are methane and nitrous oxides, both of which spend a relatively short time in the atmosphere compared to CO2.

Do they? Where do they go? Genuine question.