I regret none of the climate policies we pushed in Ireland. But we underestimated the backlash | Eamon Ryan
by martinmarprelate
I regret none of the climate policies we pushed in Ireland. But we underestimated the backlash | Eamon Ryan
by martinmarprelate
26 comments
The Green Party carried themselves as if they were above everyone else. Nobody likes condescending people.
Nobody likes change (necessary change), and we all know people’s first reaction to change
No one wants having to pay for some adult asshole in the future to live even if that asshole is them or their kids.
I’m not a Green voter but I actually admire them for being one of the few parties that actually stick to the principles of their party’s philosophy.
However, climate policies should be much more carrot rather than stick.
The Greens were a surprisingly effective minority party.
I’m sure the people who voted for them were very happy with their performance.
Well maybe if the minister for transport wasn’t such a dick stopping infrastructure development because it wasn’t green, then people would have been happy to keep voting for them
The Green Party is a rare thing in politics – a party that will actually stick to its principles and its manifesto, or the parts of it it got into a program for government on a relatively small slice of the vote.
On climate, I think the majority of people would agree with them that it needs action. But as soon as it begins to impact us in our lives, a great many people get into magical thinking about how it should be solved without affecting them. I suspect our children and their children will think quite poorly of us when they look at what they have to suffer and look back at how we argued and dithered.
Eamon needs to go off gently into the night now. It’s too late for excuses and regrets. He’s not the leader anymore. The party needs a period of genuine self reflection on why, having objectively delivered so much on what they promised, the electorate turned on them.
The sticks I was and am beaten with were what changed me from being a green voter in the last election, to just totally ignoring anything any politician says about climate and environment this time. And unfortunately for the greens that is the only string to their bow, so they might as well not have existed for me this time.
Stupid ass bicycle lanes? Really!
Were they that neccessary?
I understand ( not agree) city center ones but there are quite a few dodgy ones tgat are never going to be used and that create headaches for the motorists! That is just one of their stupid policys in my opinion!
No real taught went in!
I think the anti climate change sentiment he created far outweighs any benefit he did. We need everyone on board with change but his narrow minded views ruined that for decades.
A lot of buddy-buddy love for the Greens now they’re out & it’s safe for the rot (that’s an out-of-government thing, not a Green one) to put the rose tinted glasses in & speak up. The thing I found with Greens is that they use the same kind of deflecting tactics talking about road infrastructure that we see from FFG talking about health spending & housing.
Absolutely useless minister for transport
Yet again, not a single reference to the Green’s direct involvement in the Mother & Baby Homes Redress mess, the sealing of the records, the continuation of horrific DP conditions, the National Mat Hospital mess, the Brian Leddin situation, Vincent Martin’s court case, etc.
If every Green insists on pretending that “the backlash” was only related to environmental policies, then they don’t really have a big hope of effecting significant change in the future.
Acting as though most voters simply just don’t want to make sacrifices for the environment is reductive & unhelpful.
What are you talking abiut Mr. RYAN. I used to scooter to the train station, take my scooter on the train and scooter to work.
Now im back to driving due to your govenments (through the NTA) ANTI climate action policies.
Dear Old Eamon is not the leadership climate needs.
I think some people do care about the climate and the negative impact humans have on it. Going so far as to make changes to their lives that benefit our eco systems.
But the vast majority do not give a shit about the damage being done. It’s a problem for future generations, even if it ultimately destroys the planet.
Make 520d’s great again…..
The greens achieved the 2nd worst climate performance in the EU, collapsed cycling numbers in Dublin, transit in complete disarray. Traffic has never been as heavy, and we’ve never had so many cars on the road.
Those are the facts and fuck the gaslighting greens claiming it’s a success and they’re misunderstood. Lying bastards.
Forced through plenty of tax increases and have a lot of blame for the increased cost of construction. That will be felt for generations and all to put panels up on the roof of some middle class family with spare cash lying around via a grant.
“Renewable subsidies for the rich, climate taxes for the poor” just isn’t very popular, is it…
Perhaps if we _reversed the priorities_ there, and hit the rich with (_effective_) climate taxes, and subsidized/completely-paid-for all renewable-generation + retrofitting for the poor, that might have gotten somewhere…
The Greens are the Fine Gael of climate policy. We need an actual _progressive_ party with _progressive_ climate policies.
A simpler green solution would have been to push development of infrastructure for public transport first, then tax as a disincentive once the option is viable for people to use. The standard here unfortunately is to always penalise via tax first to “possibly” fund the improvements needed which is why they get slammed in election cycles
Ireland produces 1/16th of 1% of global greenhouse emissions. The island could sink into the Atlantic tomorrow and take everyone with it and it wouldn’t even move the needle 1 iota. Taxing ourselves into poverty is an exercise in futility.
I don’t know if people are pushing back against climate policies at all. I think the extreme loss of seats boils down to:
1. Housing & Cost of Living being top of mind, something the Greens aren’t traditionally looked towards to address.
2. The change in leadership meant the loss of continuity and a trusted voice in Eamon Ryan.
3. Socially minded individuals are more preoccupied with geopolitical affairs, notably Palestine and Ukraine, and those issues are more top of mind and driving activist and potential green voters compared to climate change or environmentalism (and on Palestine, that might _actually_ be an area voters are punishing Greens if they perceive them to have propped up a government who they perceive didn’t do enough).
What’s a bit sad for me is that the older generation (based on my elderly father and his peers) don’t give a shit about the climate as they won’t be around.
Others might say they care about climate action but many want centrism, the status quo and “stability”. There’s a reason we’re among the worst in Europe for decades at reducing emissions.
The illusion of endless economic growth is seen by many as the only valid way to live.
Whatever about the political performance of the Greens, imo we’re already screwed and with the likes of Trump going backwards on climate, it’s not going to improve anytime soon.
The greens goals are good, how they want to achieve them is regressive, punishing those who have the lowest carbon footprint and the least capability to pay for the transition. There was a huge opportunity in the early covid days to borrow at insanely low rates, could have used that to fund transformative public transport changes, home renovations etc. with those in place, then you could go ahead and start taxing emissions usage, carrot before the stick and all that.
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