TD calls issues around fracked gas and LNGs “the climate movements next big battle”
Bríd Smith TD, the People before Profit spokesperson on Climate, today submitted a report to the Climate Action committee as the committee’s rapporteur on the issue of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) Terminals.
The TD says the brief report serves as a guide to the key issues and explains the urgency involved in action on LNG terminals and the use of gas.
It comes in the week in which campaigners lost a High Court case to have LNG terminals removed from the 4th EU PCI list (projects of common interest) and in which it was reported government subsidies to fossil fuels reached a high of €2.4 billion in 2019.
Speaking on the report, which she said she hopes will result in a full committee hearing with national and international witnesses invited to address key issues, the TD said:
“The report is brief and outlines the key issues but is calling explicitly for a policy which sees the state ban LNG infrastructure. There is simply no justification given the science and the time frame we have to align with our climate commitments.”
She warned that government promises of some policy around fracked gas did not deal with the wider issue of proposals to build LNG terminals here from several private companies. One proposal remains on the current PCI list and could in theory remain entitled to some form of EU backing.
“There is a real urgency in dealing with this, given the escalating climate crisis and the dangers of getting locked into a new generation of fossil fuel infrastructure for 40 to 50 years that would crowd out renewable investment.”
The TD thanked the campaigning group Not Here, Not Anywhere for their help in compiling the report and also acknowledged the help of climate activist Ciarán Ó Carroll.
