The Green issue

The publication of the Stern Report in the UK today has pushed the environment to centre-stage yet again, however it’s fair to say that the topic had been at the top of the agenda before this event anyway. In Britain, the green-shift in Tory focus under David Cameron has been the greatest evidence of this, something which has left a situation where all the main political parties there are at least talking seriously about the environment, even if little has actually been done to date.

The question for Ireland now is, with the impending election, what parties are going to move to greener fields in search of votes and, perhaps most interestingly, can the Green Party capitalise on an undoubted explosion in public awareness on all matters environmental?

In response to what Stern had to tell us, Minister for Environment, Dick Roche, said that the Government was committed to the emissions targets of the Kyoto Agreement, and cited the investment in transport as an example of this. Of course, the reality of life in Ireland seems to suggest that little, or even nothing, is actually being done about reaching these targets and as things stand we are certain to fail miserably in our attempts to reach these goals.

When it comes to day-to-day life and hard-legislation it can certainly seem as though the Government, besides producing some nice advertisements, is failing to actually tackle the issue for fear of upsetting somebody. For example, there’s the fact that you can only get a grant on renewable energy devices that provide heating, as opposed to electricity. This seems to be for no other reason than as a tool to protect the state-owned ESB. The idea of a carbon tax for motorists has also been rubbished, with the quite sensible suggestion of replacing road tax with a usage-based system not even being considered. Is that because most drivers are also eligible to vote? That’s a cynical way to look at things, but it makes sense to me.

So will any of this country’s parties, aside from the Greens, make the environment an election issue? Will any of them risk putting it centre stage of their manifesto, in a more substantial form than simply affirming the party’s commitment to Kyoto and renewables?

Then there’s the issue of the Green Party. Going by the heightened awareness on green issues across the country—and globe—the next election could be the best chance for the Greens to gather votes. Can the party get all those recyclers out there to vote for them or offer to make it easy for people to save on their rising energy bills by making renewable energy devices accessible? In other words, can the Greens get people who think green to vote Green? The reality is that, while perhaps unfairly, the Greens are seen as a single-issue party (it’s all in the name!) but they’re fortunate enough to find this issue is something of growing concern to the public from any background or industry and, with the right marketing, they can show people that tackling climate change isn’t about going without heating or paying extra for your car, it can be done with minimal interruption and perhaps even economic benefit.

Of course, should the Greens suddenly enjoy a surge in support based on environmental issues, you can be certain that the other parties will quickly steal their clothes. However, speaking from an apolitical point of view, that suits me fine; I don’t care what party implements practical environmental change as long as someone does.

Read also: WorldbyStorm’s piece on the issue of green in Irish politics; he’s of the opinion that the main parties will begin to take the rug from under the Greens very soon.