Posts in the "Climatechange" category
Is the Environment Minister's cart before his horse?
Posted on December 15, 2011 by Molly Walsh
Environment Minister Phil Hogan appeared before the Environment committee this afternoon. I find it rather strange to say he "appeared before them". But this phrasing is how people generally describe it when a minister goes in to talk to a committee, especially if he is invited. It brings to my mind images of gable walls and miraculous visions. So there he was anyway, a vision of joviality. He didn't however have any particularly healing words to impart. The Environment committee had hauled him in to clear up some uncertainty caused by his remarks about climate legislation at the end of October. At the time it was reported that the minister had said climate legislation was not a priority for him. As can be expected he was criticised widely for this. For a particularly to the point criticism you should listen to Professor of climatology John Sweeney's interview on drivetime. (It starts about one hour and fifty minutes in)
Permanent link | Comments (2) | Categories: climatechange
Spot the difference. Parliamentary Questions.
Posted on October 24, 2011 by Molly Walsh
Phil Hogan answered a written PQ about climate legislation from Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin this week. What's concerning about it is how different his answer is from the one he gave in May to an almost identical question. It's striking that his answer can change so radically in the absence of any decision to change government policy and during a policy review that begun in May and which was still being finalised when he gave the second answer.
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May 17th Written Question
Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
Question 56: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the date on which he will publish climate change legislation. [11508/11]
Phil Hogan (Minister, Department of Environment, Community and Local Government; Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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A thoughtful Dáil speech on the challenge of framing a forward-looking climate policy
Posted on October 17, 2011 by Oisín Coghlan
I came across this thoughtful and constructive speech on the importance of climate legislation and the progress that was made in building all-party agreement in the last Dáil. It was made in reponse to Minister John Gormley's last Carbon Budget speech on 16th December last year.
How quickly can you identify who made it?
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Statements on the carbon budget allows Parliament to reflect on the progress, or otherwise, being made in various sectors in meeting the target to reduce carbon emissions by 3% annually as set out in the programme for Government three and a half years ago. Some progress has been made but some of it was probably due to the circumstances of the economic downturn.
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News on the climate law.
Posted on September 27, 2011 by Molly Walsh
Climate policy has ticked along steadily since the Fine Gael / Labour government came to power last spring. Progress has been steady rather than spectular, but the stage is set for key decisions to be taken in the next couple of months.
A good starting point has been the Programme for Government, which has the following commitment to a climate law.
- "We will publish a Climate Change Bill which will provide certainty surrounding government policy and provide a clear pathway for emissions reductions, in line with negotiated EU 2020 targets."
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: climatechange • Phil Hogan
All parties commit to passing climate legislation
Posted on February 17, 2011 by Oisín Coghlan
All parties have now committed to passing climate legislation in the new Dáil.
Fine Gael
The Fine Gael manifesto includes the following on page 42:
Climate Change Legislation: Fine Gael will legislate for a climate change law that sets the Kyoto and EU2020 targets in national legislation but only on the basis of all party agreement.
Download the Fine Gael manifesto here.
Labour
The Labour manifesto includes the following on page 27:
Labour's Climate Change Bill will provide certainty about government policy, and a clear pathway for emissions reduction, in line with negotiated EU targets. Labour will also work at EU level to set up a national programme for forest carbon offsets.
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Fine Gael commits to climate legislation on all party basis
Posted on February 16, 2011 by Oisín Coghlan
The Fine Gael manifesto, published yesterday includes the following commitment to climate legislation on page 42.
11.1 Climate Change
Climate Change Legislation: Fine Gael will legislate for a climate change law that sets the Kyoto and EU2020 targets in national legislation but only on the basis of all party agreement.
You can download the manifesto here.
We're working on the cross-party support, with our allies in Stop Climate Chaos. You can join in here.
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Micheal Martin restates Fianna Fail commitment to Climate Change Bill
Posted on February 14, 2011 by Oisín Coghlan
I got the following email from Micheál Martin today, in response to an email from me (below) on the day after his election as leader of Fianna Fáil. It reaffirms his party's commitment to Climate Change Bill that the Government published before Christmas.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <michealmartintd@eircom.net>
Date: 14 February 2011 15:32
Dear Oisin,
The protection of our environment is a priority for Fianna Fáil. We are committed to an ambitious environmental programme which includes tackling climate change. We published the Climate Change Response Bill 2010 on the 23rd December 2010 which passed first stage in the Seanad before the Dail was dissolved.
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What a week, Broken Promises, Carbon Budgets and More Promises.
Posted on December 22, 2010 by Molly Walsh
What a week. What a year.
I started last week feeling rather concerned. John Gormley had promised that the Climate Bill would be published before the Dail session ended for Christmas and that was on Thursday. I've lived through a year of broken promises and pushed out deadlines, could it really be about to happen? I didn't have any indication either way but my experience taught me to be concerned.
On Tuesday Ciaran Cuffe was speaking at the IIEA about his experience in Cancun. He opened his speech by saying that coming back from Cancun was like coming out of the frying pan and into the fire, as he had gone straight into negotiations about the Climate Bill.
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Have the Greens delivered on Climate Change?
Posted on November 26, 2010 by Molly Walsh
The short answer is no. The long answer goes something like this.
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Positive noises as Oireachtas Committee publishes Climate Change Bill
Posted on October 14, 2010 by Oisín Coghlan
Yesterday the Oireachtas Climate Change Committee published a full Climate Change Bill with support from the members of the Committee from all parties. Read the committee's press release here.
Ministers Gormley and Cuffe responded with a pretty positive press release welcoming the Committee's Bill and, more importantly saying the Government Bill would be agreed and published "in the very near future". Earlier in the day the Taoiseach told the Dáil that the draft climate bill would be published "soon".
Friends of the Earth has also welcomed the Committee's Bill and urged the Government to build on this expression of consensus by bringing its own bill to the house as soon as possible before Christmas.
Today's Irish Times has a short report on it.
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