Category Archives: Media
EU decries attacks on Irish environmental defenders
The well-worn narrative emanating primarily from the Irish agri sector and amplified by a cohort of vocal rural TDs is that, despite being the true custodians of the natural environment, they are being constantly “demonised” by over-zealous environmentalists, animal welfare … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability
Tagged An Taisce, Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, Jackie Cahill, SLAPP suits
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Things are Looking Up as climate crunch hits funny bone
It will come as no surprise to regular ToS readers to learn that the biggest ‘story’ of the 21st century, or perhaps 66 million years of Earth history, is the rapidly unfolding climate emergency and simultaneous global mass extinction event, … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Psychology, Sustainability
Tagged Baba Brinkman, Business Post, Don't Look Up, Joe Duffy, Netflix
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Confronting consumerism for a safer future
Among the many challenges we face this decade is how to achieve radical decarbonisation in a way that does not entirely alienate the public. This is no mean challenge. After all, we are all bombarded with constant advertising and promotional … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Psychology
Tagged Climate Action Plan, consumerism, COP26, Kantar, RTE
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The most dangerous man in the world?
It’s almost always a mistake to characterise any one person as ‘evil’. There’s good and bad in everyone, as the song says. Well, almost. You could make an exception for one noxious Antipodean nonagenarian who has, over the span of … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media
Tagged ICSF, Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull, Nigel Lawson, Richard Lindzen, Rupert Murdoch, Thatcher
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Feeling the heat, then seeing the light
The story of RTÉ’s Damascene conversion on climate coverage has continued to gather pace. Below is a piece I wrote for the Business Post in early August explaining the background and context. AS THE STATE broadcaster, RTÉ occupies a special … Continue reading
Winds of (climate) change finally blow through Montrose
I filed the article below for DeSmog, the international website specialising in climate denial and disinformation, in late July, in the wake of the sudden about-turn within RTÉ’s senior management over its climate coverage. IRELAND’S NATIONAL broadcaster has publicly apologised … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
Tagged Desmog, Jon Williams, Peter Thorne, RTE
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Climate emergency still failing to capture sustained media focus
Here’s a piece I filed with the Business Post in July which took a look at how the alarming extreme weather events ramping up this summer are still failing to raise a red flag in the media, both here and … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
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The heat is on: climate emergency deepens
After the savage heatwaves that swept the northern hemisphere in June and continuing into July, I was asked by TheJournal.ie to contribute a piece putting these ominous events into context. Here’s what I wrote: “WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE this historic event”. … Continue reading
Billionaires to the rescue? No thanks
With our billionaire overlords queueing up to be the first into space or to colonise some real estate on Mars, I thought it was an opportune moment to file a piece in the Business Post taking a cold look at … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Media
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Beyond denial and grief and towards solidarity on climate
This piece ran in the Business Post in late March as my take on the revised – and considerably improved – Climate Bill. Since it was written, it has become clear that the absolute maximum ambition the agri sector is … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
Tagged Business Post, CCAC, Climate Bill, JOCCA, RTE
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Taking the fight to the climate inactivists
One of the most enjoyable books on my 2021 reading list to date has been climatologist, Prof Michael Mann’s latest volume, ‘The New Climate War – The Fight To Take Back Our Planet’. I’ve long been a fan of his … Continue reading
From Climate Week to ‘climate weak’, RTÉ coverage falters
Here we go again, slagging off the national broadcaster. What about the independent broadcasters, why not go after them? Well, in short, we expect more, much more, from RTÉ as our public service broadcaster, heavily subsidised by the licence fee … Continue reading
When scientific facts and corporate fiction collide
The article below ran in the Business Post in late January. Just days after the inauguration of a new US president, it seemed like an opportune time to explain to a wider audience how the blitz of malignant lies aimed at … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Psychology, Sceptics
Tagged Business Post, climate denial, Climategate, Exxon Mobil, Michael Mann
1 Comment
Withdrawing the social licence of fossil fuels
The once all-powerful fossil fuel industry is, at last, on the ropes. Behemoths like Exxon Mobil are bracing for massive drop in demand for their products in the next decade and more, as the global transition to low-carbon energy, currently … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Psychology
Tagged climate denial, Exxon Mobil, fossil fuels, Tobacco
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A race between climatic and political tipping points
Some weeks back, in the course of researching an article on ecological grief, I reached out to US author, David Wallace-Wells for comment, and this led to a wide-ranging discussion that ran to over 90 minutes. I had filed a … Continue reading
