Telling the truth about Ireland’s climate future

To avoid the political polarisation we see in the US, climate action needs to remain a shared national priority, grounded in evidence rather than ideology

If offshore wind is to be a pillar of Government strategy, we need to see the roadmap of scenarios, decision points, trade-offs and choices informed by the best research evidence and followed by a plan of action to deliver it. File picture

In 1979, long before climate change got a mention in nearly every major political speech, former Fine Gael TD, later minister and one-time Dublin lord mayor, Michael Keating first raised the issue in the Dáil. Referencing recent UN reports, he asked what would happen if we kept burning fossil fuels and the consequences for the reported "greenhouse effect".

The answer from the late Des O’Malley, then Fianna Fáil minister for energy, was cautious: the science was uncertain, but the best policy was to “develop diverse sources of energy” so we weren’t over-dependent on fossil fuels. Yet the question remains: how can we cut emissions without cutting people out of prosperity?