It is important when talking about “the greens” to differentiate between the Green Party on the one hand and the Green movement, which the Green Party serves, on the other hand. I write that because as yet, the Irish Green party has not, to my knowledge, directly proposed any kind of limitation on having children. The Green movement, on the other hand, is all about the idea that there are too many humans on the planet, and that the population should be reduced. Which is why every few months a mainstream media outlet will run a piece about the hip new generation that is childless by choice in order to save the planet. The latest was in the Guardian, just six days ago. Emphasis mine:
The study, by a team of academics at University College London, is believed to be the first systematic review to explore how and why climate-related concerns may be affecting reproductive decision-making.
Their analysis found that, in 12 of 13 studies, stronger concerns about climate breakdown were associated with a desire for fewer children, or none at all.
Smart says the reasons for her decision were twofold. “It was, one, that moral responsibility of do you bring a child into a world where potentially they might not have a pleasant, even livable future,” she told the Guardian.
“But then there is the secondary moral dilemma of the kinds of emissions behind having a child.
These views run deep in the green movement, which is, at heart, an anti-human movement: Greens believe that people, after all, are destroying the planet. Fewer people, and the planet will do better. Some are more overt about that belief than others, but it’s a foundational principle of the Green approach to the world.
It is not surprising, therefore, that anti-family and anti-child attitudes would sneak into Green Party policy, either deliberately or subconsciously because such policies align with the instincts of the Green movement. These policies manifest themselves in obvious, and less obvious ways. One perhaps less obvious way is the proposal from the country’s green dominated Sustainable Energy Authority to drive up taxes on larger cars:
A boiler scrappage scheme to encourage homeowners to install electric heat pumps and an SUV tax to discourage them from buying fuel guzzlers are among the emergency measures the energy watchdog is seeking.
Flight restrictions, a ban on new data centres and a halt to the expansion of existing large energy-using industries should also be considered, it says.
Surprisingly, the only political voice in the country to notice the impact of an extra tax on large vehicles was somebody who has yet to even be elected: Aontú’s Eric Nelligan, who is seeking a council seat for the party in Limerick:
The SUV tax proposed by the Greens and their ‘eco socialist’ allies in the form of Labour, PBP and Soc Dem should be just remained as
🚗the ‘FAMILY CAR’ tax 🚗
Families with children being disproportionately targeted again, aided and abetted by many in the opposition. pic.twitter.com/DmFqDUWite
— Eric Nelligan Aontú (@eric_nelligan) November 16, 2023
Taxes on larger cars and larger houses and using more resources are, of course, taxes on having more children and larger families. The difference to the climate between driving a Toyota yaris for five years and driving a Toyota RAV4 for the same period is absolutely miniscule: But the difference to your ability to transport your children around the place may well be very significant. We cannot say if those who are advocating for this kind of policy have actively considered that, but based on everything we know about the Green movement, it’s likely that they would consider it a feature, not a bug.
Sadly, this is the kind of thing that simply isn’t on the political radar as evidenced – and no disrespect to the man – that it took a council candidate for a small political party to raise the issue. All I can do here is amplify his voice, and hope that some others might notice.
The birth rate in Ireland has been falling for years, and is now substantially below replacement rate, meaning that our population will age over time, driving up the cost of pensions and healthcare, while increasing the burden on taxpayers. The Government has eschewed pursuing any policies, of any kind, that might encourage people to have more children, and instead seems intent instead on driving the birth rate down while making up the difference via immigration.
If this is what the public really wants, so be it. But it seems to me that yet again, it’s an example of the country adopting policies without really considering the consequences, either in the short term, or the long.