Category Archives: Sustainability
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”. That’s … Continue reading
Dangerous myth of infinite economic growth exposed
Regular ThinkOrSwim readers will know that your correspondent is not a noted fan of mainstream economics, or most of its practitioners, for that matter. They have, in my view, done untold damage in impeding societal and political understanding of and … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Amazon, Business Post, consumerism, European Environment Agency, marketing, Steve Keen
1 Comment
A safer future for all means a better future for most
This article appeared in the Irish Times in early May, based around an intriguing paper published in the journal ‘Global Environmental Change’, titled “Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario”. As the abstract begins: “It is increasingly clear … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged degrowth, Energy, IEA, inequality, Irish Times
1 Comment
Global food system hurts people, crushes nature
It’s hard to keep being shocked or even surprised at the litany of reports on the dire condition of our biosphere, but the recent Chatham House study on biodiversity is still an eye-opener. Politicians often claim their job is to … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged agriculture, Biodiversity, Chatham House, food, Sunday Times
1 Comment
Close, but no cigar: Climate Bill comes up short
My report on expert reaction to the eagerly awaited Climate Bill was published for a British audience on DeSmog UK in mid-October. A DRAFT climate change bill designed to put Ireland on a path to net zero emissions has been … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Andrew Jackson, Climate Bill, DeSmog UK, Diarmuid Torney, John Sweeney, Sadhbh O’Neill
1 Comment
Green in name, but not in nature
Despite huge ongoing investment of both political capital and marketing euros in selling the message that Irish agriculture is green, climate-friendly and sustainable, it still keeps on running into the knotty problem that this simply isn’t the case. Recent comments … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged agriculture, Bord Bia, EPA, Irish Wildlife Trust, Origin Green
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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
Eco-plenary indulgences won’t save our souls or environment
The below is a guest post from an occasion ToS contributor and concerned citizen who uses the pseudonym ‘Jeremy Hughes’. He takes a wry look at the new trend towards establishing tiny pockets of biodiversity while the bigger picture is one of … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Biodiversity, Wildlife
1 Comment
Under Trump, Republican war on science escalates
The below comment piece ran in the Business Post in mid-September, tallying the all-out war the Trump regime has waged not just on client science but on decades of cross-party consensus on basic environmental protection. US elections almost always feel … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Biden, Business Post, Coronavirus, Paris Agreement, racism, Trump
1 Comment
Good grief: grappling with eco distress
The feature piece below appeared in this week’s Business Post Magazine, under the heading ‘Distress signals from Earth: the new condition of ‘eco-grief’. This is a subject that has long been close to my heart and no doubt for most … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Psychology, Sustainability
Tagged Ailise Bulfin, David Wallace-Wells, eco grief, eco-anxiety, John Sharry, Padraic Fogarty
2 Comments
Can the farmer and the environmentalist really be friends?
The piece below ran in the Farming Independent in early September. It started out life as a rebuttal of a recent piece by a Findo columnist and dairy farmer, which did a lot of indignant huffing and puffing about an An … Continue reading
Overshooting ourselves in both feet
How much money have you got in your current account? What about your savings? Imagine if by now, you had already spent all your income for 2020, and you were forced to live on borrowings for the next four months. … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged deforestation, Overshoot, plastic
3 Comments
SUV fad puts us into fast lane towards climate breakdown
I’ll admit to having never been a big fan of SUVs. It’s fine if you’re one of a tiny handful of people who actually need a 4×4 in your trade, but there seems little reason for regular folk to be … Continue reading
Ecocide: the greatest crime against humanity and nature
It is extraordinary that ecocide is not formally recognised and codified as a crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. There are surely few greater crimes than the deliberate destruction of entire ecosystems, in many cases leading directly … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Sustainability
1 Comment
Sweden points way towards a lower carbon future
My debut contribution to The Business Post was published in early July on the paper’s Comment page. In the last year or two the Business Post has significantly upped its coverage and focus on environmental topics (reporter, Daniel Murray did … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Business Post, carbon tax, Kevin Anderson, nuclear, Sweden
1 Comment
