6 8 March 2016
Party climate poopers
It didn’t come up much in the debate but
climate gets an airing in the manifestos,
which, however, defer to agricultural
vested interests
ENVIRONMENT
T
osaythatenvironmentalissuesdidn’thave
muchofanimpactonElection2016wouldbe
a bit like observing that feminism hasn’t
exactlybeenthedeningfeatureofDonald
Trump’sexcitingUSpresidentialrun.
Thetopicwascompletely ignoredinthebotched
openingLeaders’DebateonTV3,andagain,onRTÉ’s
seven-waydebatethefollowingweek.TheGreenParty
hadfallenfoulofaninternalRTÉdecisiontoexcludeit
fromaslotamongtheextendedparties.
ThistellingrulingwasupheldintheHighCourt,and
sureenough,RTÉ’sClaireByrnesteeredthesevenlead-
ersthroughtwolonghoursofquestionsandanswers
withoutamentionofanythingremotelyenvironmental.
Ironically,thesamejournalisthaddramaticallydashed
inanAirCorpshelicopteronlyafewweeksearlierto
interviewsomeofthelatestvictimsofthiswinter’s
extremeoodingevent.
Thisdramaticfare,withlongshotsofruinedfarms
andsubmergedhouses,interspersedwithheart-rend-
ingstoriesoflossandstruggle,isunderstandablygrist
forRTÉ’scurrentaffairsmill.Itisstandardtrainingin
journalismtoasktheveWs–who,what,where,when
–andwhy.
Wearegettinglotsofwho,what,whereandwhen
fromourmediaonoodingdisastersandotherclimate-
fuelledevents,butpreciouslittletimeisbeing
devotedtothatallimportantnalW:why.And
the‘why’isofcourseclimatechange.
Thisvasttopicmadeitintothelastfewmin-
utesofthenalleaders’debate,wherejustthe
four main parties were involved. Presenter
MiriamO’Callaghanadmittedinherintroduc-
tiontoitthatithadn’tfeaturedatallinthe
campaignuptothatpoint–themediaweren’t
askingandthepoliticianssureashellweren’t
goingtobringitupspontaneously.
O’Callaghanlobbedtheclimategrenadeinto
thereluctantlapofoutgoingTaoiseach,Enda
Kenny,who–shockedthattheremightbean
Ideainplay-tookfrightandubbedhislines.
Firstoff,heannouncedthattheEU’s2020targets(20%
emissions reduction versus 2005) “are targets we
cannotreach”.Fairenough.Andwhy,primeminister,
wouldthatbe?“Wehaveachancewiththeabolitionof
milk quotas to expand greatly the capacity of our
nationalherd…toincreaseourdairyherdby50%”.
HavingfesseduptothefactthatIrelandhaschosen
nottomeetits2020targets,Kennythenwentonto
makethefollowingquiteextraordinarystatement:“The
targetsthataresetfor2030aredifculttargets,butwe
willmeetthem”.Thetargetsheisreferringtoarefora
massive40%cutinemissions.
Givenourinabilitytohit20%,whichincludeslotsof
easysavings,theideathatwecanescalatetoanin-
nitely tougher 40%targetinjustone moredecade
suggests,tothecynical,thatKennyknowsforcertain
thathewillbelonggonebeforethefantasy40%emis-
sionscutsby2030areexposedasasham.
So,theworld’sgreatestexistentialthreat,according
toMrKenny,isadistantsecondtopushingtheagri-
industrialexpansionistagendaonbehalfoftheIFAand
thefoodPLCsitsooftenappearstospeakonbehalfof.
Thesesametransnationalorganisationsoffshoretheir
taxaffairstoensuretheIrishExchequergetsaslittle
aspossible.
Glanbia,forexample,routedits€40millionprots
in2014viabrass-platecompanieswithnoemployees
inLuxembourginordertocutitsIrishtaxbilltoapaltry
€200,000,oraneffectivetaxrateof0.5%.Thesepatri
-
oticenterprisesrepresent,intheviewofourTaoiseach,
sovitalanationalinterestastosetasideallothercon-
siderationstoensuretheirburgerandbabymilkpowder
exportoperationsareinnowayimpactedbybinding
internationalemissionstargets.
TobefairtoMrKenny,whenaskedtochoosebetween
agriculturalexpansionandclimatechaos,thethree
othermajorpartyleadersalsowafedandequivocated
inequalmeasure,allfearfulofrilinguptheassorted
specialinterestgroupsthatmaintainsuchaneffective
lockonIrishenvironmentalpolicy.
BothMicheálMartinandJoanBurtondidtrytopoint
outthatthetransportsectorisonanequallyruinous
trajectory,buttheclearinstructionthatO’Callaghan
pursuedsingle-mindedlywastopitchclimatepolicyin
Irelandaseitherpro-oranti-farmer.
Thisobsessivefocusonagricultureseemstobearut
thatRTÉ’sPrimeTimehasdugforitself,asreectedin
itspaltrytwoeffortsatcoveringclimatechangesince
2009,whichhavelurchedfromcack-handedtocata-
strophic.Havingattractedaslewofwrittencomplaints,
the BAI will rule in the coming weeks on whether
by John Gibbons
Given our inability
to hit 20%, which
includes lots of easy
savings, by 2020
Enda Kenny’s idea
that we can escalate
to 40% by 2030 is
fantasy
March 2016 6 9
PrimeTime’smostrecent‘climatedebate’,in
earlyDecember,wasinbreachofbroadcasting
regulations.
Whileclimateandenvironmentalissueswere
squeezedtotheperipheryofboththemedia
andpoliticalframingofElection2016,there
wassufcienttobegleanedfromtheassorted
partymanifestostosuggestthatwhatevercoa-
litioniseventuallyassembledtoleadthe32nd
Dáil might represent a step forward on the
hugely underachieving FG/Labour coalition,
andthewoefulAlanKellyinparticular.
WhileLabour’sstewardshipoftheEnviron-
mentministrywasahugefailure,thelossof
outgoingEnergyMinister,AlexWhiteisagenu-
inesetback,asheisregardedasoneofthefew
politicianswiththebrainstotrulyunderstand
climatechange,andthegutstospeakpublicly
onit.Notthatitinanywayhelpedhisownpolit-
icalcause.
TheobliterationofRenuasignalsthatthe
Irishpublicisinnomoodtoreturntothesim-
ple-mindedmoralcertaintiesofthe1980s.For
theGreenParty,turninga2.8%nationalshare
of vote into two seats was an impressive
achievement;whethersuchslenderrepresen-
tationcanreallyaddagreenhuetothenewDáil
remainstobeseen.
WhilebothLabourandtheGreenPartyhave
plentyofusefulthingstosayaboutaddressing
climatechangeandmovingIrelandtowards
decarbonisation, given that the twoparties
combinedwillaccountforonly8or9ofthe158
seatsinthe32ndDáil,thereislittlepointin
analysingtheirpolicieshere.
As the second largest party, a resurgent
FiannaFáilislikelytoeitherbepartofthenext
government,oratleast,toremainoutsideand
extractconcessionsinexchangeforitssupport
ofaminoritygovernment.Itsproposaltoestab-
lish a stand-alone department of Climate
Changeisperhapsthestand-outproposalfrom
amongtheassortedmanifestos.
Italsotalksuptheroleofelectricvehicles
(EVs), but like most other populist parties,
inchesatbackingwindenergy,withoutwhich
anEVprogrammakeslittlesense.Fearofbeing
personally targeted (as Alex White was) by
smallbuthighlymotivatedanti-windgroups
hasmadewhatshouldbeIreland’srenewable
energy bonanza into yet another politically
toxicissue.And,ofcourse,FiannaFáilcom
-
pletely funks taking on the agri-expansion
lobby.
SinnFéin,withahaulof23seats,trailsby
somedistanceasIreland’sthird-largestpoliti-
calparty,butthereislittleinitsmanifestoto
suggestthepennyhasactuallydroppedonthe
climatecrisis.Itsdefenceofturbaryrightsfor
bog-cutters,forinstance,showsyetagainthe
fatalallureofeasypopulism,whentheonly
‘victim’ is the common good…and nature
doesn’tgettovote.Onenergyandtransport,
SinnFéinisshortonvision,leadingtotheover-
all impression that environment remains a
strategicafterthoughtfortheparty.
FineGaelcouldperhapsbeexcusedforits
dismalperformanceonthisfrontsince2011,on
thegroundsthatthenationalnanceswerein
suchaparlousstatethatanythingthatsmelled
evenvaguelyanti-growthwasVERBOTENatthe
Cabinettable.
Theparty’selectionmanifestothistimeout
smacksofhavingbeen,ifnotgreenwashed,
thencertainlygivenalighteco-rinse,withlots
ofgoodintentionsbutevenmoreopt-outsand
caveats.And,ofcourse,FineGaelagainpledges
itselftoprotectatallcoststhatmostsacredof
cowswecallthebeefanddairyindustry.
Allofthemainpoliticalpartiesstudiously
avoidaddressingthenancialimplicationsfor
IrelandofmissingourlegallybindingEUtar-
gets.EndaKennyhimselfadmittedthebillhere
could,bythemid-2020s,berunningtoaround
€500millionayear.
Willthepollutersbeaskedtopay,perhaps
throughamethanelevyonbeefanddairypro-
duction, ormore carbon taxes ontransport
fuels?Fatchance.Instead,thehaplessgeneral
taxpayerwillagain‘socialisetherisk’whilethe
agri-foodPLCsprivatisetheprotsfarfromthe
graspoftheIrishtaxman.
The clear instruction
that RTE’s Miriam
O’Callaghan pursued
was to pitch climate
policy in Ireland as either
pro- or anti-farmer
THE
POINT
THE PARTIES
AND THE TV
B
ackintherealworld,2015wasthehot-
testyeareverrecorded,smashingall
previousrecords.Inallprobability,this
freakyearinturnwillbeovertakenbyeven
moreextremetemperatureincreasesin2016.
Sensitivitytoclimateforcingsisprovingtobe
inmanycasesgreaterthanprojectedinthe
much-malignedclimatemodels.
IcelossinGreenlandandAntarctica,for
instance,istrendingatleast100yearsahead
ofprojectionsmadeintheIPCC’srstthree
reports. As scientic modelling has been
betterabletotakeaccountofreal-worldcli-
mate system complexity and endless
feedbackloops,therecalculatedestimates
are,moreoftenthannot,conrmingwhatsci-
entistsonthefrontlineshavelongfeared.
Wehavealotlesstimethanpreviously
thoughttoachievetheradicalglobaldecar-
bonisationthatsciencetellsusistheonly
realisticchanceofavoidingcatastrophicand
irreversibleglobalclimatedestabilisation.
Ifthepathwayssetoutintherespective
Irishpoliticalmanifestos forthenextve
years are mirrored elsewhere across the
high-carbon‘developedworld’thentheone
projectionyoucantaketothebankisthat
Irelandandtheworldwillhavelocked-ina
persistent, unending existential calamity
unlikeanythingthehumanracehascollec-
tivelyencounteredorenduredsincetheend
ofthelastIceAgesome120centuriesago.
Tohaveanychanceofstavingofftheworst
ravagesofclimatechangewillrequireanear-
termrevolutioninour attitudetopolitics,
economics and to the non-human world
basedonstewardship,moderation,equality
andanacceptancethattheeraofunlimited
consumptionisatanend.
Ifthissoundslikeanimpossibleask,then
considerthe alternative:a worldshornof
mostofitscomplexlife,plungedintohun-
dredsofmillenniaofextremeweatherand
ever-rising sea levels– a world without
humans.
Climate change debate: the map

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