Fuel Protests - Dublin 11 April

Cycled past it on way to work this morning.

25 vehicles is being generous

We are in an environmental emergency. Fossil fuel usage needs to be radically reduced in order to avoid calamity in the future. Whether we like it or not, pricing is one way to accomplish that.

Just my €1.97...

And I bet the few lads that did turn up have quickly realised they've been had again by a portly lad who stuff's breakfast rolls down his throat, and is nowhere to be seen, other than behind his phone running a few facebook pages and fake profiles.....

They have less support this time than they did at their last effort, which was less again from their first one. But for some reason you think being such a laughing stock on Day 1 they couldn't bring the kind of numbers Hare Krishnas can to O'Connell Street makes you think people will now flock to their cause?

As a species, our choices are limited to a binary of emitting less carbon or leaving a massive global catastrophe to our children and grandchildren.

The catastrophe can of course be avoided if everyone else in the world behaves responsibly and Ireland doesn't. But if other countries also come to that conclusion and assume it's everyone else's responsibility then we're screwed, which is why international agreements are in place to ensure all countries act together. If we choose to turn our back on international rules and norms and turn ourselves into North Korea that is always an option, but I'm not sure it's an option worth taking in order to allow some hauliers a slightly bigger profit margin for the few months before they completely run out of fuel because no nation will trade with us.

It's less that 20 cranks whom the even rest of their own industry don't want to be associated with. If they can't even get fellow truckers to join them what makes you think they'll get the public on board? Attacking the general public isn't exactly how to win hearts and minds.

Last time around they drew a bigger crowd of spectators down to take a look than actually protesters. This time around the spectators haven't even materialised

Per capita, we sit pretty highly and are above the likes of the UK, France, Spain, India, Mexico, Italy and many many more. Do you think the citizens of those countries, who as individuals are already responsible for fewer carbon emissions than you or I, should all be exempt from any responsibility as you believe we should be?

This logic leads to catastrophe if you think anyone in the world who happens to have arranged themselves into a jurisdiction of relatively low population should be allowed to pollute at will. Where do you want to draw the line? EU commitments should only apply to countries with 10 million or more population while the other half of members do what they want? Should the approx 50% of American states that have lower populations than Ireland also be exempt from all responsibilities? Should the 20 or 30 Chinese cities that happen to have a lower population than Ireland declare themselves as independent states so it will then be ok for them to burn as much fossil fuel as they want?

If you keep coming up with excuses why you should be allowed to emit as much carbon as you want without any consequences while everyone else cleans up their act to make up for it, you eventually end up in a situation where nobody does anything.