In Ireland today, there are two types of people.
One group are realistic pragmatists, who understand the concrete realities of life. They accept the facts in front of them, irrespective of whatever whimsical wishes or fantastic ideologies they’d like to believe.
Unfortunately, that sort are few and far between in politics.
The other (much more numerous) variety in political circles are the spoofing out-of-touch space cadets with their heads in the clouds. They think gumdrops should rain from the sky, that cars should run on cotton candy, and they consider “Imagine” by John Lennon to be their personal anthem and guide to life.
And nowhere has this divide been highlighted more clearly than in the spat between Fianna Fáil Minister Niall Collins and his Green Party colleagues.
As reported by Newstalk this week:
“Minister Niall Collins has defied his Green party colleagues and backed the construction of the proposed Shannon LNG in north Kerry.
…
Senator Pauline O’Reilly, Green party Chairman, described supportive statements about the project as “very worrying” but in an interview with Newstalk Breakfast, Minister Collins said it “makes sense”:
The Irish Independent added that “all across Europe, governments are looking to liquefied natural gas.” Which is of course true. Ireland, as usual, is winning the race to be more woke and “climate conscious” than everyone else, while other countries take sane steps to ensure their citizens’ wellbeing.
As we learned this week, in fact, Ireland is the single least prepared European country for the impending winter energy crisis. So evidently, something serious, quick and practical – like Niall Collins’ LNG suggestion – needs to be done to stave off catastrophe in a few months time.
Ireland 'least prepared' for winter gas crisis – expert https://t.co/gJjWJ3dAKt via @rtenews
— RTÉ (@rte) August 8, 2022
Now, predictably, the Greens and other environmentalist groups are livid about the idea of opening a fossil fuel terminal.
The Green Party themselves described the idea as “very worrying,” and One Climate Camp Ireland spokesperson said the plan would “delay the introduction of renewables and all the other measures that we need.”
“For energy security we need renewables and we need reduced demand,” he said.
So, do the greeniacs have a point here? Should Ireland forego LNG, and instead focus on renewables and cutting energy demand this year?
Well, let’s put this in perspective.
Today, when this article is being written, 2.5% of Ireland’s energy came from renewables. 76.4% came from gas, 10.9% came from coal, and 10% came from “other”.
So essentially, on days like today, basically none of Ireland’s energy came from renewables. 97% of electronic things you see around you are being powered by gas, coal or some other fossil fuel source – the supply of which is being threatened internationally.
So to prevent imminent rolling blackouts, we would have to absolutely revolutionise our entire energy sector from top to bottom in the space of around 3 months – despite the fact that you couldn’t even realistically complete such an undertaking in 3 years. It’s fanciful, pie in-the-sky hogwash – you may as well say we should power our cities with fairy dust and magic beans.
As for cutting energy demand, the reason energy usage spikes so much in winter is primarily because of heating costs. In case you hadn’t noticed, Ireland tends to be a cold place at the best of times, and more so in December. So asking granny to use less heating when she’s on the verge of freezing to death in her own home isn’t very practical, is it?
The situation, ultimately, is exactly as Niall Collins astutely said: “the world circumstances have changed.” That’s a simple fact that so many on the green side of the aisle refuse to accept, though it’s right in front of our collective faces.
Ireland can have a long-term green agenda. It can set emissions targets for going “carbon neutral,” and all of that. Whatever you want, go bananas.
But none of that will help anyone in 3 months time when we’re huddling in our cars with the heat on to stop from freezing, as happened in Texas last year when a cold snap led to a power outage. None of that will help when our society has been brought to a stand-still because we can’t keep the lights on.
Wishing upon a star that we could go green tomorrow is all well and good, but we can’t run a society or a State on wishes. Societies run on realities.
Unless more politicians cop on to that fact like Niall Collins, we’re going to be in for a bumpy ride, followed by a rude awakening this winter – of that you can be sure.