"Green" policies are destroying this country

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983132#Comment_120983132

So a grand total of just 7 routes were implemented in the first 6 months of the year, but they expect to implement 60 in the following 6 months....hmmmmmm.

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983533#Comment_120983533

This type of approach to debating hasn’t and never will win people over.

You can be in favour of incremental improvements in rural public transport (which these really are) which will benefit people but also be cognisant of the fact that they will not materially affect car dependency.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984248#Comment_120984248

It will for the people who live along those routes.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983700#Comment_120983700

'Refuted' by wingnut libertarian think tanks such as the institute for policy studies and the Cato Institute

If anything the true impacts and costs of not dealing with climate change have been under estimated.

The changes we're seeing now in both the Arctic and Antarctic are seriously alarming and on the more pessimistic side of the projections in the climate models

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984410#Comment_120984410

It will make some journeys easier for them but it’s not a silver bullet. Most people will still need a car for journeys not along the routes served by these buses, and at times these buses aren’t running. It’ll reduce the number of car journeys for some people but it won’t eliminate car usage

Akrasia

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00585-7

Every euro we invest now in ending fossil fuel dependency will save multiples of that in the long run

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984434#Comment_120984434

It doesn't have to eliminate car usage to be a success.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984410#Comment_120984410

my local hospital is 1 hour away. I once managed to get to an appointment on public transport. Guess what I still had to picked up in a car as it says don't use public transport after sedation.

other times there has been no service that could get me there on time.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984455#Comment_120984455

Again, it's not going to eliminate car use. If you're going in for a procedure in a hospital that requires that someone takes you back home, that's obviously an edge case

As public transport improves the need for cars decreases, it doesn't disappear overnight.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983448#Comment_120983448

The headline of that ABC article does not match the content of the article, and this is what frustrates climate activists.

If the headline was 'Climate change is only partially to blame for the wildfires' then this would be ok.

"Climate change can't be blamed" does not match the opening paragraph

The tone of the comments under that Pielke Jr thread completely vindicate the exasparation from that climate change activist. People don't read the articles, they only see the headlines, and only take away from that headline what they already believed, which to them is 'The fires had nothing to do with climate change'

Akrasia

More information on how climate change contributed to the wildfires

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/08/what-caused-the-deadly-hawaii-wildfires/

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120980709#Comment_120980709

It seems from your post that you believe the government temporary suspension of the PSO levy is in some way renewable energy companies contributing to windmill tax on the massive profits they have been making, (if renewables are a cheap a some claim), due to them getting the same rate as gas under the marginal pricing policy. They are not. No more than the governments temporary reduction on excise duty on fossil fuels was. They are one and the same.

Government policy on green energy was never designed to provide cheaper more affordable electricity and never will while the marginal pricing policy is in place linking the price to gas, and there is no indication of that changing. The PSO levy is just another addition to ensuring it doesn`t happen. Any year the wholesale price of electricity fell, the following year the PSO levy was increased with that money also going to renewable companies. Now we have the barmy add-on of wind energy companies to be paid for whatever they generate if we do not need or use what they generate.

Irish householders and taxpayers are being skinned on electricity by the marginal pricing policy, a PSO levy and now paying for electricity generated that will not be even used. Meanwhile the only beneficiaries of these policies are the green energy companies and their shareholders through massive profits added and abetted by government policy.

It really is no different to a banking system that did untold damage to our economy on many occasions over the years.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983363#Comment_120983363

Met Eireann cannot even give an accurate forecast for weather two days in the future.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120985189#Comment_120985189

The irish energy policy is not to pursue the cheapest possible electricity prices. This is in contrast with the French, where electricity is subsidised by the tax payer through allowing EDF to run at a substantial loss

This is not a 'green' policy.

The state has decided to fund the modernisation of our electricity grid through the RESS auction process, along with the PSO levy

In exchange for this, The Irish welfare state provides subsidies for the lowest income houses and those identified as vulnerable to fuel poverty

Ireland never had cheap electricity, even when it was mostly provided by Coal and Turf

What renewables will do, is reduce the risk of ireland's energy prices spiking during global crises such as the war in Ukraine. I would argue that most people would prefer moderate but predictable energy costs to highly variable energy costs that rise and fall depending on the international markets for Oil, Coal and Gas

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120985884#Comment_120985884

The PSO levy is a set charge that does not take any account of low income households or those vulnerable to fuel poverty. Evry household pays the same regardless of how much or how little electricity they use. If anything it has been used to keep electricity prices artificially high for the profits of renewable companies who are the only ones who benefit from it with it being increased when wholesale prices dropped.

Green policy supports the Marginal Pricing Policy which is nothing more in reality than a tax paid to renewable companies. At least the French use their taxes to benefit their citizens rather than renewable providers. Now we have yet another Irish Green Party policy where we will pay these companies for whatever they generate. Even if we do not need need or use it. If you were attempting to come up with a scam better than that you would be hard pushed.

But then even all that is ignoring the elephant in the room.

You are one of the posters on here telling us how cheaply green electricity is generated. If that is true, then as sure as night follows days, presently green energy companies are making massive profits that are for nobody`s benefit other than their shareholders. So why should they not be liable for a windfall tax on those profits rather than being state assisted to gouge citizens of the state ?

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120986263#Comment_120986263

I never said the PSO does that. I was referring to the winter fuel allowance

'Green Policy supports the marginal pricing...."

Greens have nothing to do with the marginal pricing policy. That's an EU Single Market policy and last time I checked, the Greens were about 10% of the European Parliament.

The EU Marginal pricing policy is intended to facilitate a more stable energy market, and to replace expensive generators with cheaper generators which over time, will bring down the cost of electricity.

Whether that's working effectively or not is a discussion to be had, but it's not a 'Green policy' It's an economic one.

Akrasia

The profits of green producers are meant to entice other renewable producers into the market to speed up the roll-out of more low cost energy. As they replace the uncompetitive Oil, Coal and Gas producers, the overall marginal cost of electricity will fall. That's the intention. The Ukranian war put a bit of a spanner in the works when the marginal cost of Gas went very high and caused even larger than intended profits for energy producers which are being belatedly redressed via taxes on supernormal profits.

Another way of doing it would be for the EU to just obligate all countries to spend state money on building renewable infrastructure themselves and take the private sector completely out of the equation, but I'm guessing you'd have a problem with that too

Jizique

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984410#Comment_120984410

If a bus comes every 5 mins like it does for residents of Terenure or a Luas every 5 mins like it does for Ranelagh; anyway in rural Roscommon, how do you solve for the 25% who want to go to Galway v the 25% who need to go to Sligo v the 25% who want to go to Ros and the remainder who need to go to Athlone? And to different ends of Galway and Athlone? Cheaper to give everyone a state funded car, like our politicians

Jizique

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120985884#Comment_120985884

But I thought the Irish energy policy was to use our free marginal cost of electricity to encourage companies to move here? Otherwise, why bother? We can't all sit our holes from home like the activist NGOs

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120985884#Comment_120985884

Renewables do not insulate us from price variability of gas though. There have been countless reasons posted already why this is the case so I'm not going to bang that drum again.

I would love to see what you are basing this notion that most people would prefer moderate energy costs over cheap energy costs? Renewables are expensive noatter what way you slice it. They are incredibly unreliable and OSW is not going to solve that problem.

Speaking of France, they have cheap energy and are the cleanest in terms of emissions from energy production. Maybe that's a model worth exploring before we waste even more 10's of billions chasing the 40% capacity factor wind and 12% capacity factor solar pipe dreams.

bluedex

"Warming fears are the worst scientific scandal in the history. When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” --- UN IPCC Japanese Scientist, Dr. Kiminori Itoh.

It's going to unravel over the coming years. Hopefully quickly enough to stop millions of people in less developed regions dying due to the Greenie Zealots so called policies.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988720#Comment_120988720

Not sure what you hope to achieve by quoting a well known climate change denier. He makes his money from duping poorly educated folks

https://www.desmog.com/kiminori-itoh/

It of little surprise to see he has worked with the head denier-in-chief Roger Pielke

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120987356#Comment_120987356

The Winter fuel allowance has been in operation here since 1988. It has nothing to do with windfall tax on excess profit where you appeared to believe that a temporary suspension of the PSO levy somehow makes up for green energy generating companies not having to pay a windfall tax on the massive profits, (if this green energy is a cheaply produced as greens say), they are making due to the marginal pricing policy.

The only people benefiting from that policy is the green generating companies and their shareolders. It`s certainly not Irish householders who are being charged amongst the highest in the E.U for electricity. So again, why should they not be paying this windfall tax, where if greens are to be believed on costs, they are making an even larger profits than fossil fuel companies.?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988834#Comment_120988834

All energy companies got hit by some form of recuperating method. Fossil fuels were hit with the windfall tax.

Renewables under RESS have it built into the contracts that repayment of excess profits is automatic over a certain amount.

Not sure on REFIT, but it's captured under something similar to one of the 2 above, can't recall which one though.

No energy producer got away with the excess profits caused by the gas market fluctuations without having to pay some of it back, regardless of source

The lads on the energy infrastructure thread discussed it in detail a few months back, maybe ask there for more

roosterman71

Interesting that we've more renewables online than ever in the country, yet the gas demand is still going up

Gas use up 9% compared to H1 2022, while wind dropped 6% over the same period.

Ultimanemo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120983132#Comment_120983132

I think technology will help rural transport all over the world, one way to do it: Electric self driving bus "or minibus" that connected to an app, in your phone, you request time and route few hours in advance, the computers will look at requests and routes and get back to people to get as many people as possible in one bus, the app will tell you when the bus will arrive at your door so you don't need to go out waiting for it, if your time is rigid and not many people in your route they send you a self driving electric car at an extra cost, payments taken automatically from your phone

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120984455#Comment_120984455

I doubt it told you to use the car after sedation either.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120989184#Comment_120989184

that's not the point as you say i would have to be picked up anyway , but it shows you can't get places that you would think should be accessible by bus.

I use the airport bus all the time from donegal why wouldn't you it's regular and mostly reliable and you not paying for parking.

have to galway hospital at some point. that will be fun by public transport.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120989252#Comment_120989252

Yes it will be fun because we don't have a train system. Depending on the procedure you would have to get a lift anyway or a taxi.

if we decide our entire transport system on a few people who can't use public transport after hospital then we will have a mess. Sorry that's exactly what we have done.

We currently have a transport system which is impossible for people to use public transport because it is based on transport for the odd time you have to use a car

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120989314#Comment_120989314

not listening, I couldn't get a bus on Sunday morning to get me there for noon. forget the post procedure bit.

that's rural Ireland transport.