Author Archives: John Gibbons

About John Gibbons

ThinkOrSwim is a blog by journalist John Gibbons focusing on the inter-related crises involving climate change, sustainability, resource depletion, energy and biodiversity loss

To the last drop?

Posted on November 10, 2009 by John Gibbons

Take a minute or two to study the chart below. It is just issued by the International Energy Agency, an industry-centric organisation not prone to engaging in eco-alarmism. But this is alarming, truly shocking in fact. The dark blue chart … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Nuclear, Sustainability | Tagged carbon, climate change, emissions, Energy, global warming, nuclear, Peak Oil | 31 Comments

McCarthy: ability without sustainabilty?

Posted on November 5, 2009 by John Gibbons

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? This well-known Latin phrase from the poet Juvenal, loosely translates to “Who will guard the guards?” It came to mind when thinking about the Talented Mr McCarthy and his oversized shears, better known as An Bord … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged Bord, Bord Snip Nua, Colm McCarthy, Comhar, eco, economists, Friedman, Green N, John Gibbons, McCa, sustain, Sustainability | 2 Comments

Now we’re getting somewhere

Posted on October 28, 2009 by John Gibbons

Earlier today, at a very well attended press conference in Leinster House, the all-party Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change and Energy released their report, ‘The case for a climate change law’. Committee rapporteur, Liz McManus likened the position we now … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged Climate law, EPA, ESRI, Labour, Liz McManus, Media, Rachel English, radio, Richard Tol, RTE, Sunday Times | 29 Comments

A smart tax, on so many levels

Posted on October 23, 2009 by John Gibbons

James Tobin had a very, very good idea. So good, in fact, they named it after him. And that’s the Tobin Tax. It’s a small tax with very big potential. And best of all, it’s a damn good idea, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged bankers, banks, foreign currency, Germany, greed, speculation, tax, Tobin tax | 3 Comments

There (still) is no plan B

Posted on October 21, 2009 by John Gibbons

One of my earliest posts on this blog, on December 12, 2007, was headed ‘There is no Plan B‘. The headline was taken from a quote from the then new Australian PM, Kevin Rudd to delegates at the UN climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged Barack Obama, climate change, Copenhagen, Dav, David McWilliams, Energy, environment, Gordon Brown, John Gibbons, Obama, RTE, Sustainability | 12 Comments

Cool, sparkling sense comes dropping slow

Posted on October 19, 2009 by John Gibbons

Amazing the things you never knew you never knew. This morning, for instance, I found out that if you spell ‘naive’ backwards, you come up with Evian, the cool, sparkling spring water that is full of, er, volcanicity – this … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged bottled water, David McWilli, David McWilliams, economists, Newstalk, Peak Everything, Tom Dunne, water | Leave a comment

Challenging the infallible economist

Posted on October 15, 2009 by John Gibbons

Colm McCarthy chaired the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, better known as An Bord Snip Nua. It issued its various prescription for what ails us in July, and much of the national discussion since then has … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged Arctic, Bord Snip Nua, carbon, climate change, collapse, Colm McCarthy, Convery, emissions, Energy, Sustainability | 6 Comments

Blowing up a political s**t storm

Posted on October 13, 2009 by John Gibbons

Fintan O’Toole is, for my money, the most insightful commentator on Irish life, and has been for years. Like any of the rest of us, he has his hobby horses, and I’ve often been disappointed that he rarely turns his … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics | Tagged Daily Mail, Fintan O'Toole, Gormley, Green Party, Kevin Myers, Nama, RTE | 6 Comments

A fair wind for renewable energy sector?

Posted on October 12, 2009 by John Gibbons

The Green Party seems to have snatched an unlikely victory at the weekend – they somehow maneuvered themselves from being pinned between the proverbial rock and a hard place and wriggled free with party unity intact and a hatful of … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged Andris Piebalgs, Arklow Bay, car, carbon, CO2, Eamon Ryan, elect, electricity, Energy, fossil fuels, Green Party, interconnector, supply, wind, wind farms | 6 Comments

The Anthropocene draws to a close

Posted on October 8, 2009 by John Gibbons

The term Anthropocene was coined by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen a decade ago to describe the new ‘Era of Man’, a distinct geological epoch shaped almost entirely by our actions and impacts. “The Anthropocence has yet to be accepted as … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Media, Sustainability | Tagged Anthropocene, Arctic, climate change, CO2, Crutzen, David McWilliams, emissions, famine, global warming, John Gibbons, methane, New Scientist, permafrost, RTE, species loss, Sustainability | 4 Comments

A good day for Ireland, but where’s Copenhagen?

Posted on October 4, 2009 by John Gibbons

I was in the city centre on Friday night, just as the polls were preparing to close, and happened upon the hugely impressive illuminated Liberty Hall (hard to miss, in fact, and far and away the most dramatic installation the … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media | Tagged carbon, climate change, CO2, collapse, Comhar, Convery, Gormley, Irish Independent, Lisbon, Media, RTE, Sustainability | 4 Comments

Comhar’s Green New Deal makes sense

Posted on October 1, 2009 by John Gibbons

At 11am today in the Irish Academy in Dublin’s Dawson Street, Comhar, the sustainable development council formally launches its Green New Deal for Ireland. It’s a genuinely impressive document, as I’ve outlined in the Irish Times today, with much to … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged climate change, CO2, Comhar, Convery, emissions, Energy, environment, Green New Deal, pollution, Sustainability, sustainable | 2 Comments

Hot air, melting ice, ticking clock

Posted on September 28, 2009 by John Gibbons

Hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Declan Ganley of Libertas until yesterday. Well, Declan is of course a stickler for accuracy, so perhaps ‘encountering’ would be a more accurate term. The brief encounter occurred around noon yesterday, as I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | Tagged Arctic, climate, CO2, Coleman, Ganley, Greenland, IPCC, Karen Coleman, Lisbon, Nature, Newstalk, sea-levels, warming | 3 Comments

In the frame for Lisbon

Posted on September 24, 2009 by John Gibbons

Am usually happiest to operate from the safety and relative anonymity of this side of the keyboards, but decided to face the music, so to speak, and contribute to a press briefing held in the dramatic setting of the upper … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability | 3 Comments

It has to be Yes to Lisbon

Posted on September 23, 2009 by John Gibbons

On June 11th, 2008, the day before what we now call Lisbon 1, my Irish Times piece was headed: “If you care about climate change, vote Yes to Lisbon”. There are those who’d say I got my answer. I’m not … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Nuclear, Sustainability | Tagged climate change, CO2, deBurca, Duncan Stewart, electricity, environment, Gormley, Lisbon, referendum | 1 Comment