Bríd Smith TD calls for radical measures in budget 2020 to address transport, agriculture and corporate emissions
Ireland must ban the further extraction of fossil fuels and pass Climate Emergency Measures Bill
TD calls for support for Global Strike for Climate on 20th September
People Before Profit TD and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action Bríd Smith has said that the CSO report ‘Environmental Indicators 2019’ makes for sobering reading which “copper fastens Irelands status as a climate laggard.”
She said: “The report confirms the utter failure of this government to tackle Co2 emissions.”
The TD called for the government to introduce radical measures in Budget 2020 to address the emissions emergency.
She said: “This report published by the CSO is shocking reading. The political establishment in this country needs to wake up to the fact that we have under 11 years now, according to the IPCC, to avert catastrophic climate change that will make this planet uninhabitable for billions of people.
“Our government’s response is to support continued oil and gas exploration, hope private investors will build renewable energies and hope people buy a million EVs while imposing a regressive carbon tax on working people who have no alternative at present to how they travel or heat their homes.
“We need to tackle the corporate polluters in this country. We need to ban fossil fuel extraction so that Ireland can lead the way internationally against fossil fuels. We must put more buses on the road and make public transport free. A mass afforestation programme is essential and emissions from agriculture must be capped.
“If we do not take these radical measures and instead amble along and rely on the plans of this government we will not curb our emissions in any meaningful way and we will remain the climate laggards as we are currently viewed.”
Deputy Smith concluded by saying: “We need everyone to come out on the 20th September and support the Global Strike for Climate. We need to send a message to this government that they are not taking the climate emergency seriously and, come the next election, they will feel it in the ballot box. I am calling on all Trade Unions, workplaces and everyone who cares about the climate and the natural world to support the Global Climate Strike.”
