Analysis and opinion on environmental issues. Updated first of each month.
Latest from COMMENTARY
James FitzGerald, “Agriculture Under Ireland’s New Coalition”
Environmentalists will have to remain vigilant and ensure that the new Irish coalition sharpens its commitments on climate policies impacting agriculture
1 Jul 2020“Uber pollutes more than the cars it replaces – US scientists”
Ride-hailing services like Uber are increasing car travel, climate emissions and traffic congestion, according to a new US study.
2 Jun 2020John Sweeney, “Looking Beyond Our Living Room Window”
How do we protect the earth after the virus crisis has passed. What lessons have we learned.
1 May 2020Riccardo Nigro, “European Commission funding coal lobbyists is unacceptable, it’s time for answers about the RFCS”
An obscure European Commission fund, ‘Research Fund for Coal and Steel’ (RFCS), is incompatible with the EU’s Green Deal and climate ambitions
1 Apr 2020Niall Sargent, “The Green Wave: The Impact on the Next Irish Government.”
The recent Green Wave in Irish politics and how it will affect the formation and operation of the new Irish government
1 Mar 2020Michael Northrop, “The most courageous climate action isn’t national”
While the big GHG emitters, including the United States and China, shunned their responsibility at the Madrid talks, cities, states, regions, businesses, and especially the youth showed courage.
1 Feb 2020PIVOTAL, “Climate and Biodiversity in Northern Ireland”
Current status of Northern Ireland’s climate inaction
1 Jan 2020Jean-Pierre Schweitzer (EEB) and Melissa Zill (ECOS), Climate Action Needs Better Products
A new EU law obliging manufacturers to make home appliances easier to repair has caught global attention
1 Dec 2019Faig Abbasov, “LNG remains a deadend for decarbonising maritime transport”
LNG requires massive investment in bunkering infrastructure and LNG-compatible ships, which cannot deliver carbon-free transport but run the risk of creating stranded assets some of which will be publicly funded.
1 Nov 2019Joe Romm, “One of the world’s largest banks thinks the writing is on the wall for the oil industry”
We think the economics of renewables are impossible for oil to compete with.
1 Oct 2019Frank Convery, Economics and Environment over the past decade – a global perspective
Global progress in the past decade in renewables for electricity production, plus good news from China and EU and bad news from US and Brazil
1 Sep 2019European Commission, “Going Climate Neutral by 2050: A Strategic Long-Term Vision for a Prosperous, Modern, Competitive and Climate Neutral EU Economy”
The Commission’s long-term strategic vision to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, showing how Europe can lead the way to climate neutrality – an economy with net-zero GHG emissions
1 Aug 2019Joe Romm, “Renewables are winning the economics battle against new coal and gas, stunning study shows”
By 2030, wind and solar will undercut existing coal and gas almost everywhere.
1 Jul 2019“Weakening the EU Water Law: Industry’s Wish List”
In Europe, only 40 percent of EU rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands are healthy today, largely due to pressures from industrial agriculture and hydropower, as well as other sectors, such as mining.
1 Jun 2019Joe Romm, “Earth Day founder thinks we’re close to political breakthrough on climate”
Denis Hayes, a principal organizer of first Earth Day, predicts the 50th anniversary in 2020 will be “the largest, most diverse action in human history.”
1 May 2019Dan Gearino, “100% Renewable Energy Needs Lots of Storage. This Polar Vortex Test Showed How Much”
Energy analysts used power demand data from the January deep freeze and wind and solar conditions to find the gaps in an all-renewable power grid
1 Apr 2019Laurie Laybourn-Langton, Lesley Rankin and Darren Baxter, “This Is a Crisis: Facing Up to the Age of Environmental Breakdown” (Institute for Public Policy Research)
The historical disregard of environmental considerations in most areas of policy has been a catastrophic mistake
1 Mar 2019Michael Northrop, The Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS): Actions and Possibilities
How “sub-national leaders” (local, regional and corporate decision makers) are taking concrete actions on climate change as national and international actors falter
1 Feb 2019Joe Romm, “Rapidly disintegrating Arctic sea ice leaves scientists ‘shocked’”
And that means faster sea level rise, faster global warming, and more extreme weather for us.
1 Jan 2019Clemmer, Richardson, Sattler and Lochbaum, “The Nuclear Power Dilemma: Declining Profits, Plant Closures, and the Threat of Rising Carbon Emissions”
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ assessment of the current status, and usefulness, of nuclear power in US
1 Dec 2018Max Muenchmeyer, Ireland’s Energy And Climate Plan: Consolidation, Cohesion, Consultation (IIEA)
Challenges for Ireland to meet obligations under the EU’s Energy Union Flagship Project
27 Oct 2018Water in the city – from EEA Signals (2018)
The challenge: ensuring a reliable clean water supply, treating waste water and preparing for floods or scarcity
1 Oct 2018Emily Macintosh, “Local communities work to stop Northern Irish mining boom”
A focus on Northern Ireland where 5 companies currently hold 10 mineral prospecting licences for different locations
1 Sep 2018Joe Romm, “The argument for fracking as a climate solution just went down in flames: Methane leaks from natural gas production wipe out any climate benefit”
New study of methane leaks in the oil and gas industry is the final piece of evidence that natural gas is not part of the climate solution.
1 Aug 2018