Sir, – A Hollywood actor has ruffled Green Party feathers by claiming it is “about to do something really terrible to the environment” by rushing through the Planning and Development Bill 2023 that allows for planning applications to be made for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals (“Mark Ruffalo rows in on Irish politics, saying Green Party ‘about to do something really terrible to the environment’”, News, October 9th).
Despite Green Party protestations, some of which have merit, it is bizarre that the Bill will only permit the LNG terminals needed for energy security in Ireland if they are not commercial.
Such strange but not unexpected outcomes are always likely when the declared national ambition is to reduce emissions while everybody knows that emissions reduction will only be acceptable provided we can first keep the lights on at an affordable cost.
A well-constructed Bill to enable emissions reduction while supplying affordable and reliable energy would surely be consistent regarding all viable means of achieving that aim.
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Instead, this Bill explicitly will not authorise the generation of electricity in Ireland using nuclear fission, the EU’s largest single source of clean electricity, while allowing for the import of nuclear-generated electricity from Britain and France. Worse, it is silent on the use of Irish nuclear fission for production of hydrogen, heat or other purposes, which highlights the poor planning behind at least some clauses in this Planning Bill.
These errors might have been avoided had there been at least some consideration of whether the Bill should include its anti-nuclear Clause 182, which is clearly not fit for purpose and should be removed.
Proper consideration should then be given to the relative merits of delivering a clean energy system with and without nuclear power located in Ireland.
Only then can we be happy that we’ve considered all viable options before we proceed with enabling a clean energy system that will be the most expensive and may be the most critical project Ireland has ever undertaken. – Yours, etc,
DENIS DUFF,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.