‘No silver bullet’ to save planet - Minister Richard Bruton in the Dome, Thurles

Minister Richard Bruton rose to the challenging task of explaining and defending the government’s climate change action plan before a critical audience in the Dome, Thurles, on Friday.

The ambitious plan identifies 183 areas such as transport, recycling, home-heating, renewable energy and agriculture, where Ireland must change and adopt new technologies to meet its environmental commitments.

Minister Bruton told the Tipperary Star: “I think the main message is that it’s in all of our interests that we make sure that our homes are resilient for a rapidly changing future, that our farms, that our enterprises - that we need to act now to ensure that.

“The changes we have set out here are the most effective things to do, and the least burden to the community, to try and make those changes.

“We’re trying to ask people to get on board, to get involved in their sustainable energy communities - look at your choice of fuel if you’re buying a new car, look at how you travel, look at the fabric of your home and whether it’s being heated efficiently. These are the practical things you can do, look at how you handle waste and materials you bring into your home.

“Young people are telling us, pointing the finger at our generation, and saying ‘we’ve lost the plot here’. By acting now, we copperfasten the future for our children, and the generations after them.”

There is no “silver bullet” but rather the accumulation of habits over many years that must change and adapt, said Minister Bruton. “We’re 85% dependent on fossil fuels. We have massively increased the amount of waste we generate, without recycling it to the extent we need to.

“Over time we’ve slipped into bad habits, and it’s time to look at those things afresh, and try to make sustainable choices. If there was a silver bullet, it would have been shot ages ago.”

Over 100 local farming representatives, members of the Cloughjordan eco-village, and business and alternative energy groups, quizzed the Minister in areas as diverse as the new Mercosur/EU deal, how Council planning laws can affect renewable energy projects, transitioning from fossil fuels, the protection of peatlands, forestry, and much more.

The full plan can be found at www.dccae.gov.ie