"Green" policies are destroying this country

It's hilarious when you point this out to people and they come back with "but but but per Capita".

That's an interesting question. I'd would say it's more important for a government to do what's best for its citizens, rather than some arbitrary international agreements that get decided behind closed doors away from scrutiny.

This fascination with all things international is a strange one if I'm being honest. I think we should look to make the lives of the people who live on this island as good as possible. This includes cleaning up waterways, improving air quality (especially in cities), cleaning up the environment, etc, etc.

Where I see a huge problem is having "international" policies that actively penalize citizens for something so far outside of their control it's not even funny. I also fundamentally disagree with the current approach of net zero at all costs. I think it's short sighted, irresponsible, and is going to cause a lot of problems. We don't currently have the tech to achieve it. There are possible alternatives being developed but they are years away from being used at the scale required.

I personally think we should look to where we get the most bang for our buck first and then worry about the long tail, as it will take a long time to solve those issues. A perfect example is banning natural gas, which Eamo is gung-ho on. It's daft and creates more problems than it solves. We could have replaced the oil and coal plants here within the last 10 years but there's a myopic view that wind will solve everything, it won't. We may get there with wind but until we solve hydrogen storage, distribution, and the tech to use it we are fighting a battle we can never win.

Climate chaneg has to be addressed internationally. If everyone isn't on board then no one is. We in Ireland can make all the changes possible (both real and imaginary) and be net zero or even better, but if everyone else isn't at that too it is near enough pointless. We'll look good, get a pat on the back, feel a bit better about ourselves but the world will still get warmer, the problems will still be there and we here will in the same boat as the rest of the world. It's not as if we here do everything and the world goes to shite that we'll all be sound here on our llittle island. We're screwed too.

None of that is to say we shouldn't try do better and do things that can make a difference. Lead the way and be pioneers. We have great wind resources and if we could marry that to other renewables for when the wind isn't blowing to reduce gaas/coal/etc then do it and show it can be done. Won't make much difference in the grand scheme but it would prove it's possible.

Insulating homes in 12 or 50 years will make no difference. No harm in trying to do it in the shortest time but the current approach is not working unless the government are footing the entire bill. Middle income earners simply cannot afford retrofits.

As others have said, we should work towards our targets, yes.

But we should not strive to hit them at all costs. If people cant afford retrofitting, they shouldnt be penalised for not doing it and if we still need to rely on natural gas for a period of time, then we should do that also.

Ultimatley, whether Ireland hits its climate targets or not is not going to make any difference to global climate change & most importantly, the direct impacts of global climate change will still be felt by Ireland, whether we hit our targets or not.

More focus should be placed on influencing the big hitting countries in terms of emissions.

It is only those large emmitters that have the power to actually impact the direction of travel in terms of climate change.

We seem obsessed with rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic and trying to power through a set of changes in Ireland that ultimatley wont stop the climate change clock from ticking.

Even if we hit all our goals.

Down the line people will see this and confidence in green policy will be further eroded.

"But mister, we did what you asked us to do and it cost us more money and was hard work and its made no difference to climate change here in Ireland, or globally. I dont support your changes anymore"

That is the danger, in my opinion.

The "supports" for working families include the ability to get up to their oxters in debt during record inflation and rising interest rates. Seems like a legit strategy for a group who love nothing better than spending other people's money.

You're welcome. Let me know if you ever do come up with an answer.

The European Union? We are bound to meet certain targets by the Burden Sharing Directive and economically tied by the current and future ETS Directives from the EU.

I think the debate has moved on to Europe’s future industrial policy and how it is financed.

At 1:55 "banning all new gas, coal and oil projects" ... she forgets to mention that everyone would die. And while the video is lighthearted, that's exactly what those of a darker green persuasion want. As I keep repeating, they are the biggest threat to humanity that exists today.

But, you see, if people die from the cold or starvation, that's just fine. As long as it's not caused by the climate "emergency" then it's winner winner chicken dinner time.

Important for ideological or PR reasons, irrelevant for practical reasons (mainly because large countries do not give a fliuch).

Your argument that violation can be enforced by the EU is moot since EU is primarily Germany and they are not in compliance and they are moving further away rather fast.

They are not in compliance with the ETS? Can you be a bit more specific? Or are you telling us the whole EU has actually fallen apart and the rest of it haven’t realized it yet?

I'm sure if you received some of that money and it meant that you could both feed your household AND heat it for a while, then you might disagree strongly that no problem had been solved.

More NSFW..