This article is from page 21 of the 2006-12-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
A CLARE councilor has accused the Government of trying to “buy it’s way out” of dealing with Global wrming instead of facing up to the problem.
Cllr. Brian Meaney of the Clare Green Party said that out of the €300 million announced for the environment in this budget, €270 million will be spent on purchasing carbon credits.
“Ireland ‘s failure to meet its Kyoto obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means that two to four million euro will leave the Irish economy every week between 2008 and 2012 to purchase carbon credits. This exemplifies the current Government’s slow and irresponsible approach to climate change and its serious implications,” he said.
The councilor added that Ireland should be be concentrating on reducing emissions through more investment in renewable energy, public transport and higher building standards.
He also lashed out at the Government’s failure to deliver on carbon tax and added that while his party welcomed the extension of the Greener Homes Scheme, “even the piloting of a National Home Insulation Programme would have been a small step in the right direction.”
But Environment Minister, Dick Roche said the comprehensive package of environmental measures contained in the Budget demonstrated that the environment is now at the centre of Government economic policy.
“We saw the bringing together of the most comprehensive package of environmental measures ever announced in a Budget.”