27% of Irish want nuclear energy to fight climate crisis
The Government has said it will not consider generating electricity from nuclear energy and the ESB is banned from doing so.
Twenty-seven percent of people said they believed it was the answer to greenhouse gases. This is close to the EU average of 30%.
On the other hand, 68% believed there should be a decrease in nuclear energy compared to an EU average of 61%. Normally in Eurobarometer polls of this kind more than 90% of Irish people say they are against having nuclear installations in Ireland.
Plans for interconnectors with Britain will see Ireland getting some of its electricity from nuclear plants.
And Irish people are the most adamant in wanting EU-wide safety standards for nuclear installations — something the government has fought against on the basis that they should cover not just installations but the entire industry that would include reprocessing plans such as Sellafield.
But Irish citizens’ biggest demand is to have a choice of companies from which to buy their electricity and gas. A massive 96% said they wanted to be able to choose and just 10% said this was related to price.
The findings challenge the Government and the union to take firm action over energy and climate change. They come just days ahead of a summit of EU leaders where the main topic will be reducing greenhouse gas emissions and countries will be asked to sign up to new targets to reduce CO” and replace fossil fuels with greener energy.
“Climate change is happening. EU citizens expect EU leadership on this issue.
“The EU must use this political momentum in order to put Europe and the world on the path to a more energy secure and low carbon future,” said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.
Ireland is one of the worst culprits when it comes to failing to meet the current target of reducing CO” emissions, partly due to the rapid growth in the economy over the past few years.
But more Irish people than any others say Europe has to change its everyday energy consumption habits and believes that countries should get a specified amount of their energy from renewables. Over 80% say they would be happy to pay more, while almost half believe the Government should subsidise energy-efficient solutions and 40% believe there should be tax breaks for developing cleaner technology.
But just over one-third say that they buy domestic appliances for their energy efficiency, compared to an average of 45% in the EU. Another 39% say they include it in their calculations when making such a purchase.
