The Greens are gone and the scientific advisor to Fine Gael, according to the Irish Times, is a global warming sceptic. For those of us that have become weary of causes that rely more on moral persuasion than on clearly explicable scientific evidence, this is neither a surprise nor a tragedy. It is now time to recall the Hole In The Ozone Layer, which not too long ago was supposed to presage pretty much the end of life as we know it, but which is currently not on anyone's radar. In previous generations people worried about nuclear weapons wiping us all out but, again, nothing is talked of that at all in the present time.
My own attitude to global warming has been mixed. I found it hard to give credence to the Jeremiahs that foretold Armageddon but, at the same time, I felt that anything that tended to reduce the consumption of petrol and other fossil fuel derivitives was a good thing because they are being depleted, and the price at the pumps is a solid, deterministic piece of evidence of that which is apparent to all.
Is global warming caused by human intervention? Again, I simply don't know. However, I am convinced that the world is overpopulated with humans and anything that will bring attention to bear on this fact is also to be welcomed.
As for the policies that were put in place by the Green Party when it had some power in Ireland: these had nuisance value at best. None of the measures were such as would not have come about as a result of EU directives in due course. At the same time the Department of Finance was never going to be in the looking-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth business when it found itself to be the beneficiary of windfall carbon taxes.
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