By Gar Smith / Environmentalists Against War
During the 15 November Democratic Presidential Debate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sounded an alarm that “climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism”. Citing a CIA study, Sanders warned that countries around the world are “going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you’re going to see all kinds of international conflict”.

By David Swanson
The poor frog has of course been slandered. A frog will die in boiling water, but jump out of a slowly warming pot. The homo not-so-sapiens is another story.

By An Taisce
A recent article (note 1) by meteorologist Professor Ray Bates, and prominently featured in an Irish national newspaper, claimed that “increased uncertainty” in recent IPCC reports on the likely course of future climate change means that Ireland need not take steps to urgently or aggressively reduce its greenhouse gas emissions; rather, Prof. Bates argued, we should prioritise protection of our own, Irish, economic interests.

By An Taisce
An Taisce welcomes the statement by Minister Alan Kelly that the Government is willing (finally) to accept some limited but meaningful amendments to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015. We especially note the proposed formal reference to the April 2014 National Policy Position on Climate Change, which sets out specific, minimum, national targets governing emissions reduction between now and 2050.

By The Noah's Ark Campaign
“And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be” – Paul McCartney
A UK-based environmental group is planning to sail an ocean liner to the South pacific islands in a bid to globally highlight the extent of global warming and the consequences if it is left unchecked.

By An Taisce
In the face of figures from the EPA that show we are unlikely to meet our Climate Change Targets and Ban Ki-moon's call for ‘Ireland to do more to curb Climate Change’ An Taisce is calling upon TDs to put forward amendments to strengthen the Climate Action Bill.

By An Taisce
The Government's Climate Bill now going through the Oireachtas is deeply deficient compared to climate legislation already passed by other European nations. The recent independent analysis by ClientEarth, a London-based international environmental law firm, shows that the proposed legislation is politically compromised, legally ineffective and unlikely to aid in delivering any substantive climate action beyond bare compliance with EU targets.

By An Taisce
An Taisce has expressed dismay at reports by Euractiv¹ that An Taoiseach Enda Kenny allegedly ordered Irish MEP, Seán Kelly, to drop his support for a €5 billion ring-fence for energy efficiency projects in the €315-billion Juncker Investment Plan.

by An Taisce
The Government's approach further undermines the proposed Expert Advisory Council on Climate Change mitigation, says An Taisce, which today expressed dismay regarding the government's request for tenders, published on Monday, for an environmental analysis of the national climate change mitigation plan.

In its response (3) to the public consultation A discussion document on the potential for Greenhouse Gas mitigation within the Agriculture and Forestry sector, held by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) (2), An Taisce says the Government’s mitigation discussion document is not ‘climate smart’ and fails to deliver.

The European Commission 'Country Report Ireland 2015', published today states: “Ireland is not on track to reach its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. It is committed to reducing its GHG emissions in the non emissions trading system sector by 20% between 2005 and 2020. According to the latest national projections it is likely to miss this target by a wide margin, with the authorities expecting emissions to decrease only by 3% in 2020 compared with 2005.”

By An Taisce
An Taisce, The National Trust for Ireland, fully supports efforts to enshrine a framework for an effective Irish response to the vast threats posed by climate change in strong, unambiguous legislation. Unfortunately, the current Bill fails utterly to deliver on this ambition. Instead, in our view, the Bill endorses wishful thinking and climate inaction.

By An Taisce
Confirmation from the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  and NASA that 2014 is the hottest year in recorded history underlines the  extremely worrying trend of record-breaking global average temperatures being  recorded with ever-increasing frequency. Further, 14 of the 15 hottest years  on record have all occurred since the year 2000.

By An Taisce
Irish agriculture claims it can dramatically increase the size and output of the national dairy herd while not increasing net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the sector. An Taisce believes these claims to be manifestly incorrect. It now calls on Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney, as well as the Irish Co-Op Organisation Society (ICOS) to publicly guarantee the Irish taxpayers that they will not be forced to pick up the tab for massive EU fines as a result of spiralling agriculture sector emissions arising from the expansionist 'Food Harvest 2020'.

Claims made by Agriculture Minster Simon Coveney that the Irish dairy herd can be expanded by over 300,000 cows in the next five years "while maintaining the existing carbon footprint of the agriculture sector" are inaccurate and misleading because a major increase in herd size by will by any objective measure sharply increase dairy emissions, An Taisce has said..

By David Swanson
A snowstorm is the ideal time to write about climate disruption, as it allows us to immediately set-aside the cartoonish claim that if any spot on earth isn't warmer than it was yesterday then all is well. The following things we know:  There are giant snowflakes falling outside my window.

The world faces "severe, widespread and irreversible" effects if moves are not made to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new climate change report.

New science in the fifth IPCC assessment shows that the amount of future global warming is directly related to the total amount of accumulating human-caused emissions of greenhouse gase—past, present, and future, they all add up. If our emissions continue to rise then temperatures will continue to rise, extreme weather will be more frequent, sea level will rise ever faster, and more land and sea ice will be lost. Only sustained and substantial emission reductions by all nations, especially by wealthy ones like Ireland, can limit climate change and reduce future severe risks to our future.

The UN Climate Summit brought together a hundred Heads of Governments, alongside the financial world, business and civil societies to give new momentum to the search for answers to the challenges posed by climate change.

By Joy First
Washington, DC - On 23 September 2014, hundreds of people are expected to gather at 10 am in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. for a rally to protest war, poverty and environmental destruction. This demonstration is being organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) and is part of Campaign Nonviolence with over 220 demonstrations occurring in every state in the country during the week of 21-27 September.

By David Swanson
I appreciate that there's more happening than just a march for the climate today on the International Day of Peace and I get the idea that keeping the safe and obedient march-to-nowhere separate from protests actually at the United Nations where our corporate overlords are determining the rate of the earth's demise is intended to please all of the people some of the time, but I can't help wishing that the march would just turn left instead of right when it reaches 42nd Street, in order to march to the United Nations rather than to nowhere.

Need for Action on Greenhouse Gases Backed by Scientific Evidence
Geneva, 19 September 2014 (WMO)
There is still a window of opportunity to prevent dangerous climate change and preserve the planet for future generations. But it is closing fast, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which says that the urgent need to cut greenhouse gases is based on overwhelming scientific evidence.

An Taisce is calling on the world’s leaders to agree and enforce a cap on global Cumulative Total Emissions at the UN summit in New York next week. Climate science is now clear that Cumulative Total Emissions (CTE) is the essential measure that must be used when calculating the needed reductions—not delayed percentage targets as presently used. Cumulative Total Emissions (CTE) are critical to climate action that ensures local and national efforts are not undermined anywhere now or in the future.

by David Swanson
We are at a crossroads, faced with a climate crisis that threatens to end our world as we know it. The signs of climate change are all around us. They include: increasingly severe weather everywhere (floods, heat waves, droughts, cyclones and wildfires), as well as melting polar ice and glaciers, rising acidic oceans, and thawing of Siberian permafrost, which threatens release of huge, devastating, methane gas emissions.

Just Forests NEW Wood of Life travelling exhibition on the importance of timber/forests in the fight against Climate Change is being launched this evening, Tuesday 11th January at European Union House, 18 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 at 6.30pm. Its is being launched by Duncan Stewart.