Posts in the "School%20Strike%20For%20Climate" category
The Future is Bright ...
Posted on December 22, 2016 by Oisín Coghlan
Yesterday was the shortest day of the year.
It was dark for 16 ½ hours.
Here in Ireland we just flicked a switch to put on the light. And got on with cooking, working, surfing, or relaxing by the Christmas tree.
For 1.2 billion people around the world that’s just not possible. They have no access to electricity. 1 in every 6 people on Earth. When the sun goes down, life gets more complicated: cooking, washing, reading, homework, socializing, safety are all curtailed by a lack of power.
We want to help change that in 2017.
Because the future is bright. The future will Run on Sun.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
Frack free November, Divestment December?
Posted on December 09, 2016 by Heather Mason
First up, the film Atlantic was RTE One last night. So it's now available to watch on RTE Player. It's great film from the director of The Pipe about three small fishing communities, in Ireland, Norway and Canada, as they struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of mounting economic and ecological challenges. Also, the last episode of David Attenborough's breathtaking Planet Earth II is on BBC One Sunday at 8pm.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
The Health Impacts of Climate Change
Posted on November 28, 2016 by Guest Blogger
Carbon dioxide is the perfect killer. Invisible and odourless, it exerts its mal-effects insidiously and so surreptitiously that they have managed to avoid registering on most peoples’ daily list of concerns. Indeed this has allowed its continued production to be regarded by many as essential to maintaining the quality of life that most of us currently enjoy.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • transport • air pollution
Last night we made history. Now let's make the future.
Posted on October 28, 2016 by Oisín Coghlan
10 days ago we asked for your help to get a Bill to ban fracking over its first big hurdle in the Dáil. You responded like never before, raising money for a legal opinion on the Bill in less than 24 hours. Then 2,500 of you wrote to your local TDs urging them to #BackTheBill.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • fracking • bill
Our Chairperson reflects on her legacy
Posted on October 24, 2016 by Guest Blogger
Our Chairperson, Dr. Cara Augustenborg, reflects on her legacy in honour of Halloween
On October 11, 2016, Rowan Jacobson of Outside Magazine wrote a startling obituary: “The Great Barrier Reef of Australia passed away in 2016 after a long illness. It was 25 million years old.”
Jacobson goes on to describe the legacy of the Great Barrier Reef, from the impressive array of more than 6,000 species it harboured to the food and mineral resources it provided for the humans who lived next to it for 60,000 years.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • legacy
Ask your TD to #BackTheBill to ban fracking
Posted on October 20, 2016 by Kate Ruddock
Will you ask your TD to vote for a ban on fracking next week?
There is a Bill to ban fracking in Ireland scheduled for debate in the Dáil next week (Thurs 27th Oct, 3:30 - 5:30). If we can mobilize enough support it will take a crucial step towards becoming law. But we need your TDs to agree to it.
Most political parties have either a stated policy or declared in their election manifesto's that they are opposed to fracking. Have a look at this infographic of what the different parties have said about fracking.
Now we need to make sure they keep their promises.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • fracking • bill
Taoiseach, it's time
Posted on September 29, 2016 by Oisín Coghlan
The Taoiseach was addressing the Seanad today and a couple of Senators were interested in raising climate change with him. Here's what I would have said.
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Taoiseach,
Your government has adopted a National Policy Position on Climate Action, underpinned by the Climate Act, that defines Ireland's transition objective for 2050 as an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between energy, housing and transport, and carbon neutrality for agriculture and land use, in line with the lower end of the EU's emissions goal for 2050. And your Government's White Paper on Energy has a target of reducing energy emissions by 80-95% by 2050, in line with the higher end of the EU's goal, and proclaims a vision of a "carbon-free" future for Ireland.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • Enda Kenny
Stop Enda abolishing the Department of Environment
Posted on May 18, 2016 by Oisín Coghlan
On his re-election as Taoiseach, Enda Kenny announced he was restructuring Ministerial Departments to better reflect the new Government's priorities. With that, he promptly abolished the Department of the Environment and scattered its functions across three Departments.
We have very little time to get this decision reversed. If this goes ahead, the words ‘environment’ and ‘heritage’ would be dropped from the titles of any Minister or Department, and Ireland would become the only EU member state without a Minister for the Environment.
We're asking you to do a couple of things:
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • waste • water • biodiversity
Tonight's telly, tomorrow night's cinema and our April Fool's
Posted on April 05, 2016 by Oisín Coghlan
I meant to tell you yesterday about a new TV series starting tonight on TG4 at 8pm about the trees on Ireland (it's repeated on Sunday at 7.30).
It looks sumptuous (see the trailer here) and it's presented by the ever engaging Manchán Magan. Described as a "feast for the senses" it looks like the next best thing to a real walk in the woods.
By contrast, if you're around Dublin tomorrow I'll be talking in the IFI at 6.30pm before a screening of "The Day The Earth Caught Fire" (you can book here). It's the first film in a Science Gallery / IFI season on "How the cinema of the past had imagined our future".
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
Win tickets to see Naomi Klein in Dublin - and triple your gift to support community energy
Posted on April 05, 2016 by Oisín Coghlan
For the next 10 days every euro you give us will be tripled by an EU grant to support our work on community energy.
We had real success last year in getting the Government to recognize the role of communities in the transition to a zero-carbon energy system. The new national energy policy, the White Paper, launched in December is very strong on a commitment to energy citizens and communities.
Now we need to get the next Government to follow through with the concrete steps to make it happen.
Our priorities include:
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
