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Sound bites more important then the enviroment for the Greens.
Read more about: Galway West, Green Party 
Niall O’Brolcháin Green candidate in Galway West is trading in the Mayoral jag for a more environmentally friendly car. Yet what he is doing is not enviromentally friendly at all.
In 1994 the Environment and Forecasting Institute in Heidelberg, Germany conducted a survey on the energy and environmental impact of a car through out its life time. Having driven 13,000 km a year for 10 years. It will produce 2,040m cubic metres of polluted air driving and 922m in production. This mean that about 40% of the emissions coming from a car in its 10 year lifetime comes from the manufacture. Or to put it another way. If you buy a new car every 4 years the greatest factor in the emissions in the car comes from the manufacture not the fuel.
Now in Galway Niall O’Brolcháin Green candidate in Galway West has been elected mayor. And quiet proudly on there website this little story is told.
Emerging last night from Galway Chambers in full robes and chain, he crossed the car park to where his new Jaguar and driver waited, and in a few quiet and polite words sent them both home for the evening. Mayor O’Brolcháin says he will not need such a large car or one that has a high emission output.
“I probably will need a car to carry out my Mayoral duties but I think using a large petrol vehicle is sending out the wrong message. I will need to negotiate with the Council to ensure I am driving am environmentally friendly car with a low emission output.”
Now according to a poster on Boards.ie the mayoral Jag in Galway is a 2.7 diesel which gets about 40mpg. So it is by no means a gas guzzler. And even if that poster is not correct in that. I am sure that the current mayoral car is newer then 4 years. Thus by insisting that the current mayoral car is changed for a new environmentally friendly car he is in fact causing more emissions and more environmental damage then if he did not change the car and insist on keeping the car that has already been produced and thus has already emitted pollutants into the atmosphere and not create the demand to create one more new car which will produce more toxic waste and carbon dixoide.
Thus the only thing I can conclude is that this is a publicity stunt. Driving a Prius makes you look a lot more environmentally friendly then driving a big old Jag. It maybe good for the image but certainly not for the environment.
On his blog John Gormley TD said.
In relation to the new green ministerial transport, Dick Roche and Noel Dempsey are now in the same league as David Cameron – having their cake and greening it. Cameron is poser. He cycles to work but has his minions transport his clothes and papers to Westminister in a car. Were are the CO2 savings there?
I would like to ask him the same question where is the CO2 saving in Niall O’Brolcháin car?
Lovely twisted logic, you are to be commended.
If Ó Brolcháin had insisted that the Jag be brought back to his mayoral palace and parked around the back for the year while he was driven around in the Prius, then perhaps this argument would have some validity. However, I think it is safe to assume that the Jaguar will be sold on to somebody else who is in the market for such a car. No additional demand for the production of cars is created by Ó Brolcháin’s decision, and the net increase in carbon emissions due to the production of automobiles is zero. You say that the Jag was “already produced” – do you think they started up the Prius production line specially when they heard Galway had elected a Green mayor? Perhaps you should have thought this through before posting.
I think it is safe to assume that the Jaguar will be sold on to somebody else who is in the market for such a car.
Yes and that person is going to be trading in there own car. Hence by selling the Mayoral Jag there is one extra second hand car in the market then their would be if he kept the car. Thus this is leading to 1 extra car being produced. And I realised that a new production line is not being created but 1 extra car is being produced.
If the Green party were doing this as an excerise in leading by example they should be encouraging people to keep their cars longer not buying a new one ever second year be they Prius’s or not.
Joe,
I’m with Simon on this one, and it’s good to have some facts being quoted to support the argument.
BTW you haven’t responded to my last question to you about the M50 and, by implication, all the extra emissions that would be generated by the lengthy detours around Dublin necessitated by the lack of an Eastern Bypass http://www.irishelection.com/06/interview-with-ciaran-cuffe-why-not-pedestrianise-college-green/
Simon: “Yes and that person is going to be trading in there own car. Hence by selling the Mayoral Jag there is one extra second hand car in the market then their would be if he kept the car.”
I’m afraid that only works if the eventual buyer of the Jag decided to change his/her car as a direct result of Ó Brolcháin rejecting the Jag offered. Otherwise the car will simply be satisfying existing demand. If you can come up with a scenario whereby Ó Brolcháin refusing the car compels somebody else to buy it then I would very much like to hear it.
If you were a bit clever about it, you could say that by promoting the idea of getting a hybrid or low-emissions car, the Greens are encouraging people to buy new cars, and thus have some responsibility for the emissions released in the production of these new cars. There are counter-arguments to this proposition of course, but at least it’s not crippled at birth by a basic logical fallacy. If you need my help in composing your next Green smear just let me know.
Frank: “I’m with Simon on this one, and it’s good to have some facts being quoted to support the argument.”
It is your right to associate yourself with whatever dodgy argument you wish. The facts in this case are not at issue, it’s the logic being applied which is the problem.
“BTW you haven’t responded to my last question to you about the M50…”
Thanks, I will check it out.
The simple fact is that if Galway City has to osupply a new car for the Mayor, it is an additional unit to be manufactured and shipped, not to mention paid for.
The downstream arguments are a red herring IMO
“The simple fact is that if Galway City has to osupply a new car for the Mayor, it is an additional unit to be manufactured and shipped, not to mention paid for.”
Again only if Galway City decide to scrap the Jag or keep it around unused. Otherwise no additional demand or production is created by Ó Brolcháin’s decision, as explained above. If you wish to pretend that what happens downstream is of no relevance, I don’t suppose I can stop you.
The Greens tend to be populist messers. The Galway antics are typical.
I can’t think of any more relevant method of assessing the additional emissions resulting directly from the manufacture of new automobiles than by counting the number of new automobiles manufactured in a given reference period.
Go on then, count them. And then compare this figure to… what exactly?
this figure to… what exactly?
Al gore?
i think the manufacturing calculations come from cost of extrating materials, transport said materials, electricty and energy used to build car and energy to transport car to dealer
Simon, I’m not disputing the figures about the carbon emissions attributable to the manufacture of cars. I’m disputing the contention that Ó Brolcháin’s refusal of the Jag resulted in an additional car being manufactured.
Refusal to use the Jag won’t lead to additional emissions. Ordering of a new Prius for purchase by the council to enable O’Brolacháin to carry out his mayoral duties will. Any alternative argument is sophistry.
Nice one: Frank has spoken, resistance is futile. At this stage I suppose we can leave it to readers with an elementary grasp of logic and common sense to make up their own minds. However remind me not to hire either of you to prepare my annual accounts.
Be wary about any assumptions your eventual book-keeper makes, Joe.
Good post, Simon.
Yes, he might decide that I’m liable for VRT on cars that I’ve test-driven.
Joe,
Someone has to pay the VRT for the car to be registered, before it can be driven.
Are you suggesting that the Green Mayor of Galway might pick up the loan of a Prius for his year in office courtesy of a multinational car manufacturer?
I can’t see why the mayor a small town like Galway needs a special vehicle to perform his occasional ceremonial and promotional duties.
Do you know if he has a car of his own and if the council has a car pool?