Small, workable changes on a local level. That’s the key to Fine Gael’s environmental strategy. Fergus O’Dowd, the party’s spokesman on the environment, helped to draft the Energy for the Future document, which sets out Fine Gael’s policy on dealing with Ireland’s growing energy needs.
He says the current government is failing to match their Kyoto targets. “I want to acknowledge obviously that there has been a big change in our country, there’s been a big period of growth. But where we’re exceeding our emissions guidelines particularly is in the transport sector. The Government’s strategy has failed.”
Fine Gael’s transport policies include the familiar promise of more buses and trains, alongside newer ideas like the introduction of energy efficiency ratings for cars, with lower rates of Vehicle Registration Tax being promised to those who drive environmentally friendly vehicles.
Fergus is also keen that local authorities should get involved in ensuring new and existing residential developments meet higher standards of energy use. “You would have a very pro-active structure locally,” he says of Fine Gael’s plans if elected, “that would be vetting planning applications, that would be making recommendations.”
O’Dowd suggests that local authorities and businesses should work together to make Ireland more environmentally friendly, with the councils guiding companies on how they can make small changes to benefit the environment.
But O’Dowd says that it would be a mistake to view energy issues as purely an urban problem. “The EPA said that up to 21% of the households in Ireland have no waste collection, and one of the problems with that is backyard burning, which increases air pollution. That must be addressed. Part of the problem is that people don’t realise what they’re doing.”
That’s why Fergus believes that education is central to changing attitudes on the environment. “It should be part of our education curriculum, brought in at a primary school level. That’s where we need to introduce the idea of responsible citizenship.
“We can make small, incremental changes that can have a big impact. A lot of people think that because the government is there, it’s their job,” says O’Dowd, “but I think if we start at the bottom, and if we’re proactive, this is the key to the Fine Gael policy. We’ll be on the ground pushing this policy through the local authorities.”