Ireland to rescue world from warming

or so Frank McDonald writes

the piece is about the Open Climate Network, and you can check for yourself which Irish institutions are involved

it also remains to be seen whether the Open Climate Network has any impact

16 replies on “Ireland to rescue world from warming”

A fairly mean-spirited characterisation of McDonald’s article, but that is what we have come to expect from the Great Tol.

McDonald’s article is a bit vague. Am I right in saying that Open Climate Network is to collect, analyse and compare climate policy data across countries? If so, it seems a good idea. The article’s headline is a quite OTT though.

Richard,

Climate change didn’t rate a mention in any of the speeches on yesterday’s budget. From what I can see, the annual carbon statement that over the past three years has taken place in the Dail a couple of days after the Budget is not even on the schedule of Dail business this week.

Cancun is being pretty much ignored worldwide and nationally, climate change has fallen below the political radar: people have other things on their minds and public support for expensive carbon policies no longer exists. One presumes that Frank McDonald has to file some copy to justify his presence in Cancun, at the IT’s expense, to his editor.

Richard,

Thanks for that link. I’d agree that it’s senseless trying to get everyone to agree when only a particular half-dozen or so are required.

After reading it I moved on to your most recent Vox contribution here. Surprised you didn’t mention this here on the blog- it’s a very interesting piece.

It seems a bit churlish to seek to deprive the Greens of the warm and fuzzy feeling that they’ll get from this alleged intervention, when everything they’ve touched in Ireland has either turned to dust or has resulted in excessively high costs for consumers and the economy.

It reminds me of an occasion when the Labour Party was going through one of its periodic bouts of soul-searching and the then leader, Frank Cluskey, called a special meeting of the parliamentary party in Tipperary. Frank looked around and noticed that Michael D Higgins was absent. ‘Where’s Michael D?’, he asked. ‘Oh, he sends his apologies’, was the response. ‘He’s in Nicaragua at an international peace conference.’ ‘Jaysus,’ growls Cluskey, ‘give Michael D the choice between saving the world and saving the Labour Party and he takes the soft option.’

I searched the FMcD article for the words “Canada” or “oilsands”, “United States” or “China” and failed to find them. When I do, I’ll conclude this thing might go somewhere.

Instead of legally binding targets, there should be a system of pledge and review.

Oh, so self-regulation? That’ll work.

@ veronica

One presumes that Frank McDonald has to file some copy to justify his presence in Cancun, at the IT’s expense, to his editor.

Lovely. Speaking of money, what’s your going rate (for lobbying) this weather?

The plan is to offset Chinese future consumption with Irish austerity…………………… …………. …… .. . —————————————
Rothars Bitches

@Shay Begorrah
+1
very funny ! and I would venture to say an element of truth to what you say as well ! Prof Tol appears to have an agenda with his green bashing – very little contextual analysis of policies – his posts come across as arrogant righteousness – what he accuses others of.

@ Holbrook Fields

Prof Tol appears to have an agenda with his green bashing – very little contextual analysis of policies – his posts come across as arrogant righteousness – what he accuses others of.

I believe someone coined a phrase (the ‘lukewarmers’) recently, for a certain type who “of course” accept the scientific consensus, but who only ever seem to wish to share with us any old anti-AGW agitprop that comes through their mailboxes.

@Holbrook fields
The complete ignorance of the green movement with regards to monetory flows and its ability to drive consumption is predictable – their genius to a large extent derives from the club of Rome agenda.
Almost exclusively they concentrate on fiscal tax measures which feed into the banking matrix.
In a closed system such as the earth with its present monetory system it is impossible to reduce consumption as one area or individual who assumes a altruistic ,autistic , austere consumption will merely transfer their surplus to another.
Its all about gaming the maximum consumption on the economic savannah when we all can produce unlimited credits.
Use money with limited credit expansion abilities before you can talk crediabily about righteousness and “Green” self love.

Correction – ” we all can produce unlimited credit ” – count the paddy’s out of that chosen circle for now.
We are a experiment again perhaps.

@Keith Cunneen

Not sure what you are on about – but I guess you are saying the Greens are economically illiterate or something akin to that – and I’d agree you may have a point when it comes to some policies – but there is economics, and then there is climate change and peak oil and energy shortages, and there is long time horizons and short term economic considerations – where the right or wrong lies with regard to Green policies is a matter for debate – I just wish Prof Tol would contextualize his criticisms more and try to bring people along with him instead of preaching to the anti-Green converted – I think it would make for a better debate – I can’t keep up with a lot of the economic theorising – it goes over my head. Giving grants for insulating homes, promoting EVs and wind energy – all these and other green policies like sound planning legislation, civil partnership and an absence of corruption sound good to my non-expert mind.

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