Quentin Gargan

Green Party Candidate calls for re-writing of NDP in light of dire warnings from IPCC

Quentin Gargan, Green Party Candidate for Cork South-West today called for a total re-writing of the National Development Plan in light of the report from the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) published today.

“Its time to stop pussy-footing around on global warming” said Gargan “the world is facing a very serious situation and Ireland is going hell-for leather in the wrong direction, spending heavily on motorways, poorly insulated houses and airport terminals as if nothing was wrong. Ireland’s economy is based on a construction boom that has been building all the wrong things, and while this has brought short-term prosperity, it will leave us with houses we can’t afford to heat and a dearth of the state-of-the-art rail systems enjoyed by our European neighbours” he said.

“We urgently need to re-think how we do everything. In Fingal County Council, Green Party councillors have successfully pushed through regulations that new houses must have 60% more insulation than that required by the building code, and obtain 30% of their energy from renewables. People will be living in cosy warm houses with reduced heating bills. Why aren’t all houses built this way?” he asked.

“Wind farms in Ireland find it very difficult to get a grid connection, yet we are currently planning a gas fired station equivalent to 400 wind turbines in Whitegate. With new technologies that allow energy storage from wind farms, this is a ludicrous proposition. The Whitegate station is to be a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) which cannot easily have its output increased or decreased, effectively making it more difficult to put wind energy onto the grid. We should only be building gas turbines as a backup to wind energy for long calm periods, and these should be systems unlike CCGT which can quickly respond to demand.”

“As individuals, we must also play our part. When we build our own houses or replace our cars, we should make choices which will decrease our personal carbon emissions. But even in these areas, the government can lead by example. State cars provided to Government Ministers produce almost double the level of CO2 emissions that the EU target for cars lays down. The hybrid Toyota Prius was considered insufficient for the needs of a Minister. This sends out the wrong message and contributes to a culture where we assume that gas-guzzling cars are a fashion accessory. Instead, small economical cars should be the new status-symbol.”

“The most worrying aspect of this report is that it indicates that even were we to curb emissions immediately, global temperatures would continue to rise for many years. If they increase by more than 2 degrees, this would start other irreversible effects such as a methane release from melting tundra which would cause temperature rises to spiral completely out of control. Were the polar ice-caps to melt, it would raise sea levels by over 40′, wiping out all our coastal towns and villages.”

“We know we are going to have to meet very stringent CO2 targets in the future. The earlier we start to develop appropriate housing, heating, transport and electricity production, the easier this transition will be.”

ENDS

For further information, contact Quentin at 027 52773 or 086 869 3140