We can’t tax-cut our way out of an energy crisis – Government must do more to transition economy away from fossil fuels
We can’t tax-cut our way out of an energy crisis – Government must do more to transition economy away from fossil fuels - The Labour Party
Labour’s spokesperson for Energy and TD for Dublin South West Ciarán Ahern has said that the present oil and gas crisis underscores the urgent need to transition towards indigenous renewable energy.
Deputy Ahern stated that while the Government’s temporary excise cuts will provide a brief reprieve to hard pressed households and commuters, the long-term solution to protecting consumers against price hikes is reducing Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Speaking in the Dáil today, Deputy Ahern said:
“This crisis should serve as a reminder to Government – not that they should need one – of the urgency with which we need to transition our economy away from its reliance on fossil fuels towards clean, indigenous renewable energy.
“We have enormous energy generation potential off our coasts and the inertia that we’ve seen from Government in building up our offshore capacity can no longer be tolerated. It’s incredible that we still only have one offshore wind farm that was built over two decades ago. The failure to tap into our greatest renewable resource is leaving us vulnerable to an increasingly unstable geopolitical arena and ordinary households are paying the price.
“The Government’s cuts to excise duty and the NORA levy will provide a brief reprieve for hard-pressed households and commuters, but the reality is that any slight reduction in price at the pump or in home heating oil could be wiped out in a matter of days if Donald Trump wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. These are short-term measures, and we can’t tax-cut our way out of every energy crisis.
“The present situation underscores the risks to which we’re exposed by continuing to rely on fossil fuels, yet the only urgency we’ve seen from Government from an energy perspective is to rush through legislation to allow them to build new LNG infrastructure. We cannot secure our energy supply by further entrenching fossil fuels in our systems and leaving ourselves even more vulnerable to price shocks. If proof of this was needed, the price of LNG soared by as much as 60% in the days following Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal misadventures in Iran.
“Government must abandon its plans to import new fossil fuels into Ireland and instead focus their attention where the solutions actually lie: building up our renewable generation capacity so that consumers are protected against sudden price hikes. We need to see real leadership from Government to deliver a meaningful transition towards clean and reliable green energy. Wind energy generated off the Irish coast cannot get stuck in the Strait of Hormuz.”