Climate activists converge on department to demand an end to Shannon gas plans
ENVIRONMENTAL activists yesterday ‘wallpapered’ the front of a Government department with pages of scientific reports detailing the climate impact of fracked gas.
A group of protesters, many dressed in boiler suits, pasted printouts of a study by climate scientist Professor Robert Howarth of Cornell University in the US, showing the effects of fracked gas on climate and the environment.
The group pasted the pages on the walls and windows of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment on Dublin’s Adelaide Road.
The move marked the fifth day of the Extinction Rebellion group’s week of protests in the capital. Campaigners are
‘Decades of fossil fuel dependence’
calling for the Government to reverse its decision to back proposals for the Shannon-based liquefied nitrogen gas (LNG) terminal in Co. Kerry.
Campaigners and environmental scientists have voiced their concerns over the proposed plans for the gas terminal.
Professor Howarth told the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action on Wednesday that the methane content of fracked gas made it 100 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
‘I urge Ireland to prohibit the importation of fracked shale gas from the United States,’ he said.
Speaking outside the department, Anne Marie Harrington, a member of campaign group Futureproof Clare, said: ‘Shannon LNG would turn Ireland into a pipeline for fracked gas into Europe and would lock us into decades of fossil fuel dependence.’
The group of around 100 activists waved posters calling for an end to Shannon LNG, which was approved by the Government last week as an EU Project of Common Interest (PCI), meaning it can bypass normal planning laws and receive hundreds of millions of euro in EU funding.
Forty-four TDs and most Irish MEPs signed motions opposing the project.