Sir, – Thank you for breaking the silence and stating the inconvenient truth that our Government has little or no interest in addressing the climate change challenge we face. ("Kenny lukewarm on climate change", October 19th).
The Government fails to see that protecting our environment will be good for our economy and for our society. It is positioning our country as a source of the problem rather than being a leader in providing solutions. It is shaming us by the path it has decided to take.
Last month the Government and Opposition parties voted through a Climate Bill in the Dáil.
At the same time the Government was lobbying in Brussels to get us exempted from EU 2030 emissions reduction targets, Bord na Móna announced they will keep burning peat for the next 15 years, major public transport projects were postponed for decades to come and Eirgrid abandoned plans to develop our electricity grid for a long-term low-carbon energy future.
What did those deputies think as they clapped themselves on the back for putting a climate bill through?
When it comes to climate action, the parties in the Dáil are just not for real.
The tragedy is that we are giving up just as the rest of the world is starting to take climate change seriously. Even Canada and Australia are changing their wicked ways.
The UN climate meeting in Paris next month (COP21) is unlikely to reach the sort of climate deal we need but it will be an important milestone where all the major countries start out on a common path to rid their economies of the use of fossil fuels.
COP21 will be the start of an uncertain pilgrim journey where the path we have to follow is created by taking the first step.
The sad thing is that the Irish Government will arrive in Paris and effectively say that we are going to drive the camino for the first week.
That will not be good for us. It will not be good for our country or for our standing in the world.
Thank you for your editorial which cut through all the hot air and recognised that we are now the best little country for everything, except for looking after this world. – Yours, etc,
EAMON RYAN
Leader of the Green Party
Suffolk Street,
Dublin 2.