The fact that we have failed to meet past targets does not, in logic, suggest we should react by setting more ambitious ones. A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency concluded Ireland’s emissions might be only 6% below 2005 levels next year, and not 20% below as was targeted. Yet this has not made our political system more circumspect when adopting new targets — far from it. At an international level the same pattern can be observed: having failed to secure a legally binding set of targets to limit global temperature rises to two degrees, the 2015 Paris climate change conference responded by setting a new target of no more than 1.5 degrees warming. Sadly, nobody in Irish politics appears willing to challenge the simplistic and seductive Pied Piper melody that we can save the planet just by showing sufficient resolve. This is to pretend climate change presents us with a simple moral choice. The reality is that we face complicated and uncertain trade-offs rather than good versus bad. In order to treat this problem with appropriate seriousness, it is important that we consider the complications and the costs of limiting climate change. Last week’s climate action plan was notable for its lack of any detailed costing. That was striking and dismaying given the responsible minister, Richard Bruton, has a master’s in economics from Oxford University. His department asserts the plan is being funded through Project Ireland 2040, which provides €30bn for sustainable transport and for low-carbon and climate-resilient investments until 2027. That’s 17% of modified gross national income spread over eight years. It is a vast amount, equivalent to 15 national children’s hospitals or rebuilding the national motorway network from scratch. In the long run, what will fix climate change is innovation that brings the price of zero-carbon energy below that of fossil fuels. That requires investment in R&D to develop carbon-free energy sources that can outcompete fossil fuels. In the margins of the 2015 Paris summit, several world leaders joined Bill Gates in promising to double green energy R&D spending by 2020. This, rather than a series of vain efforts to persuade voters to wear ecological hair shirts, is the surest way forward.
Times 23rd June 2019 read more »
The European Commission has raised concerns about the potential impact on Irish air quality of the government’s plan to meet 2030 climate and renewable energy targets with a “very significant increase” in the burning of biomass. The burning of biomass, usually wood, causes emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, which can cause respiratory problems. In a report on the government’s draft plan for meeting Ireland’s 2030 targets, the commission has also raised concerns about the electricity demand from data centres, and questioned whether the strategy of increasing the use of biomass for energy was compatible with a separate government plan to increase forestry to offset agricultural emissions.
Times 23rd June 2019 read more »
