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The Green Party has accused the
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen of attempting to limit Ireland's
commitment to tackling climate change.
Following news that EU ministers
agreed to reduce emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020,
Green Party Environment spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said: "Minister
Cowen is playing 'béal bocht' politics with the important issue of
climate change by suggesting that that not everyone is starting from
the same position. Minister Cowen must show leadership and indicate
how Ireland intends to reduce its own emissions in the years ahead.
"Continuing with a
business-as-usual policy of building more roads and peat fired
powers stations will clearly not help in reaching our emissions
targets. "The agreement
reached at the EU Summit to cut emissions by 20 per cent from 1990
levels by the year 2020 is a good starting point, but in reality 30
per cent cuts will be needed. We are sceptical of the current
Government's ability to meet even the lower target by 2020 in light
of its abysmal performance on emissions reductions to date. I do not
believe that, under this Government, Ireland can meet the target
within the stated timeframe.
"Ireland's emissions increase by two per cent last year and the
Environment Minister Dick Roche has failed to indicate how he will
reverse this trend. For example, will he and his Cabinet colleagues
take immediate action to rectify the current transport bias for road
building and provide greater resources for public transport?
"The Green Party is fully committed to
tackling the problem of climate change at source, by investing in
clean, efficient transport solutions like more Luas lines and
improving the energy efficiency of our public and private
buildings," concluded Deputy Cuffe. |
