Tag Archives: Eamon Ryan
Winning slowly still means we’re losing
I filed my final Irish Examiner report on the Cop28 conference as it came to an end in Dubai. Next stop: Cop28 in Azerbaijan in November 2024 another petro-state, and yes, this event will also be presided over by a senior … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming
Tagged AMOC, CCAC, COP28, Eamon Ryan, Marie Donnelly, Sultan Al Jaber, Tipping points
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Do as I say, just not as I do
While it’s easy to finger-wag and point to the failures of others on achieving climate targets, how does Ireland stack up in terms of delivering on its own legally-binging commitments? In short, not very well, as I explained in this … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Politics, Sustainability
Tagged Charlie McConalogue, COP28, Dubai, Eamon Ryan, EPA, Global Meat Alliance, Livestock, Mary Robinson, Sinn Fein
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Nature holds key to tackling flood risks
Flooding remains Ireland’s top climate vulnerability, and it once again came home to bite in county Cork in October 2023 when the town of Midleton and some surrounding areas were inundated, with millions of euros in damages, but thankfully, no … Continue reading
Posted in Extreme weather, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Climate Action Plan, Eamon Ryan, flooding, Midleton, OPW, Pickering
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Green shoots of climate progress appear
Budget 2024 was announced in mid-October and was, by any stretch, a very good day for the Greens in government. Despite being the perennial butt of political and media jokes, they have by and large kept their heads down and … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Eamon Ryan, Malcolm Noonan, NPWS, retrofitting, Solar energy
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Feeding aircraft while people go hungry
As the squeeze on heavy users of fossil fuels to be seen to be cleaning up their act intensifies, there is now a flurry of activity especially from the aviation sector behind promoting “renewable” fuels such as biofuels and synthetic … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged aviation, Biofuels, Eamon Ryan, T&E
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Coming up short on fanciful sectoral emissions goals
As the controversial sectoral budgets for Ireland were published, the Irish Examiner asked for my take on how they measured up, particularly the ultra-low 25% target assigned to Ireland’s largest polluting industry. This piece ran at the start of August. … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged CCAC, Charlie McConalogue, dairy, Eamon Ryan, Marie Donnelly, Solar energy, Teagasc
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Doffing the ministerial cap to the lobbyists
I contributed the below piece to The Journal in late July by way of a commentary on the ongoing battle by Ireland’s agri-industrial lobby to dodge having to play its fair share in meeting Ireland’s emissions reductions standards. What’s most … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Global Warming
Tagged Charlie McConalogue, Eamon Ryan, EPA, IFA, methane, New Zealand, Origin Green
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Ambitious climate programme agreed by Irish political parties
My analysis piece for DeSmog UK was published on June 17th, as the parties concluded negotiations on a new Programme for Government. Ironically, while receiving much positive coverage internationally in terms of the degree to which the PFG is seen … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Irish Focus
Tagged Catherine Martin, CCAC, DeSmog UK, Eamon Ryan, Green Party, Holly Cairns
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An Inconvenient Truth – then and now
Below, my article as it appeared in the Irish Times on August 19th last. I had been, along with my family and some friends, to the preview screening of ‘An Inconvenient Sequel – Truth To Power’ in the Lighthouse Cinema … Continue reading
Come back, Liz McManus – your country needs you!
In case you haven’t heard, our current Minister for the Environment is a Labour party TD called Alan Kelly. He is the man who brought us the no-lobbyist-left-behind Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015, a piece of draft … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Alan Kelly, Alex White, Climate Bill, Eamon Ryan, IFA, Liz McManus
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Out of his depth in Deepwater thinking…
According to a tweet from John Gormley in the last couple of hours, a climate change bill will finally make its way to the Cabinet next Tuesday (16th). Much credit here is due to Labour’s Liz McManus, rapporteur on the … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Conor Lenihan, deepwater horizon, Eamon Ryan, Oil, renewables
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Greens Flavor of the Day in Domestic Climate Policy
Amid the white noise surrounding last week’s budget, the government made a number of announcements with potentially profound and long-term implications for Irish climate policy. Much as the PD’s allegedly provided the sauce in the meaty Fianna Fail coalition sandwich, … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Brian Lenihan, carbon tax, Eamon Ryan, Greens
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A fair wind for renewable energy sector?
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
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Getting the green message out is no Picnic
I gave the eco credentials of the Electric Picnic an enthusiastic write up in Thursday’s Irish Times column, describing it as “probably one of the most impressive environmental showcases ever assembled in Ireland”. The theme was taken up later that … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Cultivate, Duncan Stewart, Eamon Ryan, Electric Picnic, festival, Irish Times, John Gibbons, Rethink Tank, Sunday Times, Today FM
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ESB finally sees the light
Ireland, it appears, is at last starting to get serious about tackling our huge energy requirements, and the dagger that our massive dependence on imports of oil and gas in particular holds to our collective throat. We are reckoned in … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Nuclear, Sustainability
Tagged climate change, CO2, Coal, Eamon Ryan, ESB, Ireland, Moneypoint, Peak Oil
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