Irish Parliament Votes to Ban New Fossil Fuel Exploration

[Rhiannon12866]

Ireland's Dáil Éireann, the country's lower house of parliament, voted 78-48 Thursday to advance a bill to stop the government from issuing new contracts for both on and offshore oil and gas exploration.

Despite strong opposition from the Irish government, the legislation was backed by thousands of activists, campaigners, parliamentarians as well as a surprising supporter who believes in life after oil: Cher.

The "Climate Emergency Measures Bill," introduced by Solidarity-People Before Profit deputy Bríd Smith, underscores how fossil fuels are major contributors to climate change and how keeping them in the ground will prevent further damage to the environment.

"If we take the Paris climate agreement seriously the Oireachtas (parliament) will support this bill," Smith said during the vote.

Music icon Cher threw in her weight after a tweet from Green Party member Sinéad Mercier stating: "Ireland has 250,000 bottlenose dolphins visiting our seas every summer—we want to become the fourth country in the world to ban oil and gas drilling to protect them!"


More: https://www.ecowatch.com/ireland-fossil-fuels-2532749165.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=7ba8d8acdc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-7ba8d8acdc-85350385

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. meanwhile, in the U.S.

There's an article that begins on the same page as the OP:

'Short-Term Folly': U.S. Adds 38 Percent More Oil and Gas Rigs

Webb links the increase in drilling, in part, to the recent rise in prices for crude oil and natural gas. "Oil is now above $60 a barrel, which is what the industry always said that they needed to ramp up production," she said.

Experts also connect the boom to the policies of the Trump administration, which has prioritized the extraction of oil, natural gas and coal over the development of renewable energies even as the planet continues to warm. "That the hottest years in human history coincide with a dramatic increase in U.S. drilling for oil and gas is a reminder of what a rogue nation we now live in," said noted environmentalist Bill McKibben.

https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-rig-count-2532830719.html

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I saw that.

What was an ancient civilization is moving forward to support clean energy while here in "the new world" we're being dragged back to the bad old days of coal mining and unrestrained pollution.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. rogue nation of corruption

It's not that Pruitt, Tillerson, et. al. can't remember burning rivers and days of deadly smog; it's that they don't care. Greed over sense or science.