Wheels Of Democracy Oiled As Ordinary People Feel The Friction Globally

by DV8 Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:55

Gas should have been used to generate electricity in a modern turbine plant, writes John M Simmie.

The ongoing saga of the Corrib gas field rumbles on generating much heat, not just in the media, but also on the streets of Galway and elsewhere.

How have we arrived at this point? What were the key decisive moments that have prevented this vital project from going ahead smoothly and have led to such an unsatisfactory situation for not only the country, but also the Rossport Five?

Some have argued that the problem stems from the original deal - that national assets were given away and that this has resulted in the present impasse.

This is a complete misreading of the situation. At that time, the country had neither the trained personnel nor the funds to wildcat for oil and gas. It would have been a giant gamble at a time when our economy could not have sustained such a shock.

It must not be forgotten either that the actual success rate in terms of discoveries per wells drilled has been poor in comparison to other exploration areas, with some commentators putting it as low as a one in 50 chance of hitting "paydirt".

So the Government was desperate to get some effort under way, and at the time, there was little dissent. Of course once commercial reserves were discovered, then the hindsighters came into their own and twaddled on about the theft of national assets, etc, etc.

I believe that the decisive error arose at a later stage when the Government, on the advice of their civil servants, decided to bring the gas ashore, process it and pipe it to major conurbations.

This was the Kinsale model which had worked well in its time, but no thought was given to changed circumstances, not just in Ireland but in our post-Kyoto world.

It was clear to me that determined local opposition could be built solely around the fact that there was little or no benefit to the local community, either in terms of long-term employment or even in terms of enjoying the benefits of supply.

Although arguments were put forward on safety issues, these would never be as convincing since all human activities carry some risk, and gas pipelines and treatment plants rate pretty low on this scale. A major road, for example, poses more risk every day of the week to the communities that it traverses than a pipeline.

The situation would have been totally different if the natural gas had been used to generate electricity in a modern gas-fired turbine plant close to the landing site. The resulting electricity would have been easily distributed to each home, farm and factory throughout Ireland, including Mayo.

Since the electricity grid is in a ramshackle state, as we have been warned by the electricity regulator, an additional investment in the grid would have been utterly beneficial, and would have paid further dividends when wind and wave generated power becomes more prevalent as they must if we are to meet our target of 25 per cent from renewables by 2025.

In addition, we have little spare capacity and our existing electricity generating plants are running well below international norms. In contrast, the solution chosen of distributing the gas to some regions of the country to be burnt in small and largely inefficient domestic boilers, is equivalent to frittering away a precious resource.

None of this happened, so we are now in the situation where the lack of security of supply is putting the future economic health of the country at risk. With rising oil and gas prices driven by the four horsemen of declining levels of discovery, political instability in producing countries, peaking of production and the booming economies of China and India, this is not the time to be so exposed.

What conclusions can we draw from this sorry tale?

In technical issues Government ministers must rely on their in- house advisers; since few of these have either a scientific or engineering background they must learn to cast their net more widely and consult those with expertise.

Professor John M Simmie is professor of chemistry at NUI Galway

© The Irish Times

by karl roenfanz ( rosey ) - n/a Sun Aug 21, 2005 20:33 k_rosey48 at hotmail dot com 1306 john evansville, ind. 47714

it sounds like ireland has become part of the u.s.a. we don't have a constitution or human rights either.

by eeeekkkkk Sat Aug 20, 2005 17:57

"The Decaters practice community-supported agriculture. Their 40-acre farm provides food for 160 member families, totaling some 300 people, over a 30-week growing season. The families pay a subscription that provides operating fees for the farm and a modest income for those who work it. And when the Decaters christened their farm "Live Power," they meant it. Five full-time farmhands and an array of draft horses do all the work on the farm with the exception of hay baling, which is done by tractor because the farm has been unable to acquire a horse-driven baler. Apparently, they don't make them anymore.

During their presentation to WELL in April, the Decaters used simple math to solve Willits' potential future food shortage, at least on paper. Divide the town's 13,300 immediate residents by the 300 people Live Power Community Farm can feed, and it's easy to see that all that's required to feed the town is 44 similarly-sized farms. These plots would only take up a modest 1,733 acres in total--roughly the same area as the 2.8 square miles within Willits' city limits. Because the Decaters' numbers are based on a partial diet--an unintentional vegan slate that doesn't factor in dairy or meat--the actual acreage might have to be doubled or even tripled. Still, it's doable, and in fact, it's the way things were done not too long ago, before the automobile came along. Since then, Gloria Decater told the audience, "We have not thought of farms as permanent places. As the next generation left farming and development encroached, the farms have been cashed out. . . . With peak oil, we now have a new perspective. This may not only be sad, but it's also a matter of future survival."

by The Bush Demonaic WMD Choir Fri Aug 19, 2005 22:47

Bush: "Sorry to Oil the Azores Summit, Carpet Bombings, Napalm, and other WMD's used on Iraqi Civilians but Oil comes first."

by eeeekkkkk Thu Aug 18, 2005 01:17

Is redundant as a phrase. It is in the shell case for the gain of a plutocracy. It is gain for the very very no matter how nouveaux rich. The irish economic elites will profit from the mayo situation down the line because they're buying up the pumps. That is not personal- it is a self selecting reckless (memories (and experience in some cases) of deprivation of the 50s) minority burning money and democracy to keep themselves warm because they are (justifiably) afraid of the near future. An elite who do not give a shit about what happens when they are dead.

Post-colonialism gone mad, bad and dangerous to know.

They would run a road through their own mothers for a few quid. Once she was dead.

Gated villages coming to a town near you soon if you don't live in Wicklow already. Cages for kids too. Ones you have to pay for your kids to get into. Run by FFers.

by Niall Harnett - Rossport Solidarity Camp / ShelltoSea / Gluaiseacht Thu Aug 18, 2005 01:12

Graham Strouts, yurt maker, cob builder, tree grower, liver if a sustainable lifestyle and recent appointee to the job of teaching the permaculture course in Kinsale will be giving a talk on 'Peak Oil & Fuelling the Future' at the Rossport Solidarity Camp this coming Tue 23rd Aug as part of the Solidarity week ending in Grassroots Gathering Mon 22 - Sun 28.

Click below for Graham's site.

by Rising Tide Thu Aug 18, 2005 00:56

Capitalism and Climate Change – an analysis of the interconnections and why we cannot leave solutions to world leaders.Climate change, a global disaster entailing melting polar icecaps, rising sea levels, the possible elimination of the Gulf Stream, freak weather and overall climatic catastrophe. It’s a seriously bleak future, the product of a‘profit first, look after number one’ system headed mostly by a patriarchy of men who won't live to see the
effects of their greedy gamble with the future of the planet. With this future comes the depletion of animal and plant species which support the eco-systems that have sustained the planet for millions of years. It also means a massive reduction in land mass, destructive weather and climatic change, panic, poverty and death. Millions of people will become refugees fleeing the devastation, remaining resources will be stretched beyond breaking point, governments will close their already fortressed borders and will continue to imprison, torture and murder those in most desperate need. Even for those with money and technology, battling the forces of nature is an impossible task and according to 'world class' scientists this scenario cannot be prevented unless the whole world STOPS burning fossil fuels NOW (‘60% cuts now, 90% cuts pretty damn soon’).

HOWEVER that is a future, an abstract picture of chaos which most people in the West cannot truly imagine.Sadly, that future is an everyday reality right now and has been so for many years. The very system which has created this future of climate chaos has been practicing destruction of the environment, livelihoods, homes and
lives of millions, to produce a global market of cheap labour and maximum profits for the corporations, their owners and shareholders. In every corner of the planet, communities are being poisoned by chemicals and emissions from power plants, oil and gas extraction, mass production of plastics, chemicals, metals and mass agriculture, including the
contamination of huge areas with toxic chemicals and GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms -http://www.safe2use.com/ca-ipm/03-10-10a.htm). Indigenous land is stolen by corporate-sponsored state paramilitaries, fragile ecosystems embodying their cultures and health are razed to the ground, the people displaced, removed and killed. Community opposition and resistance are the only tools local people have to
battle this threat on their culture and lives. They live it everyday and suffer the consequences of torture and death while those of us in the rest of the world continue to feast on the products of their exploitation. Multinational corporations and private corruption each establish themselves in positions of power and wealth the same way, through violence and oppression, condoned by governments through multilateral and bilateral trade agreements allowing profit and production to be valued well above life. Environmental impact assessments, reports and science are ignored or falsified, costs are cut in wages and health and safety procedures for workers, any form of collective resistance is suppressed and industrial accidents are rarely acknowledged or
compensated for. Minimum costs, maximum profits, often subsidised by the taxpayer - An all round picture of who NOT to trust with our planet.


The Kyoto Protocol
The world has been fooled these past 13 years waiting for the Kyoto Protocol to be agreed upon and ratified. For many the problem with Kyoto is that the USA (singularly the biggest contributing country to climate change) has not signed up. Unfortunately however, what is far more significant is the overwhelmingly corporate influence on policies to implement carbon dioxide reduction. Multinational corporations have held power over the protocol, due to the consequences of real effective legislation on economic growth. (i.e. to really slow climate change would radically change the current system). Over a decade in the making the Kyoto Protocol hasbarely managed to come up with any real emissions reduction policy, (currently stands at 5% of 1990 levels).This is laughable (in a hysterically depressing way) when reductions needed are at least 60 - 90% (as advised by the IPCC amongst others). The whole process has been dominated by industry with Carbon Trading, Carbon Sinks (www.sinkswatch.org) and Clean Development Mechanisms (www.cdmwatch.org) which promote and subsidise, monoculture forestation, landfill gas extraction, nuclear energy facilities and hydroelectric dams being built under the false banner of a 'green, environmentally friendly' solution to climate change. These projects however, are just as socially and environmentally destructive in their effect. What it means is that current industry can continue to pollute and destroy as long as someone else, somewhere else 'appears' to be
doing less. Unfortunately for the Quilombola, Tupinikim and Guarani people who were removed from their land for eucalyptus monoculture (now sold as a Clean Development Mechanism project), their livelihoods, sustenance and homes have been destroyed. The monoculture has removed all the nutrients from the ground, left the ecosystem deserted and contaminated with GMO and the trees are either burnt every few years or made
into paper (see www.carbontradewatch.org). This kind of mechanism neither helps the climate nor the people but further adds to the profits of capitalist business. Furthermore across the globe thousands of roads, airport runways and terminals, bridges, dams and industrial infrastructure are being constructed despite scientific evidence and advice that such things are seriously detrimental to the future of the planet as well as the present
inhabitants.



Western governments like to blame corrupt leaders in the South for the inequality that is rife there, omitting to mention that massively unjust policies emanate from G8 dominated structures such as the World Bank, the WTO (World Trade Organisation) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund), as well as trade agreements such as GATS (General Agreement on Trade and Services - www.gatswatch.org), GATT (General Agreement on
Trade and Tariffs), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas - http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/ftaa/topten.html). These institutions impose policies which will never benefit and in many cases directly damage the people and the environment. ‘Free Trade’ laws override just about everything; protection of the environment, human and animal rights, loan conditions such as cutting public expenditure on health and education services, the export of mass produced food stuffs and the appropriation of resources for debt repayment (for example oil - http://thereitis.org/printarticle930.html). Whilst publicly blaming state corruption, Western governments impose (through clandestine agencies and wars) leaders
who will tow their line and along with corporations finance many brutal regimes with weapons, money and lessons in repression.

Why capitalism can never be ‘ethical’.
A prerequisite for capitalism is market expansion which requires the constant turnout of more goods and services whether needed or not (hence built in obsolescence.) Even if produce is made in a more environmentally friendly way, the sheer level of consumption and transportation negates all efforts to curb negative effects. It's not just about emissions it's also about over-consumption! It is interesting that the state gives a harder time to none profit making activities like earthships/low impact development than to mainstream property developers (who may get extra grants for slipping in the odd solar panel).
'Ethical Capitalism' is historically based on land ownership / class division - so even Fair Trade does not offer any escape from the cycle of producer/consumer. Furthermore, there is a big industry employing a lot of the comfortable minority of this planet attempting to reform capitalism (the dominant faction of the dominated) who have their own agenda. A desire to make a company more environmentally sound and remain competitive, reveals that the major concern is not the environment or our human brothers and sisters, but money. Money is just a conceptual idea brought about as a trading devise, and as a way to separate and disconnect, as well as a power tool. Ideas such as ‘green capitalism’ are like placing a plaster over an arterial wound, or better still leaving ones children with the psychopath next door because its better than leaving them home alone.

There is no doubting that industrialisation is the cause of climate change (along with the many other abuses it has created and furthered). It has been added to by other systems, like the Marxist state in Russia, with its industrialisation, but capitalism is ever becoming the only system of economic, political and personal relationships on the planet.
The basic premise of capitalism is to add value; this can be broadly interpreted as using and abusing. As Martin Wolf explains in 'Why Globalisation Works’ (Yale University Press) '”the business of any company is to look for the opportunity to turn something cheap into something more expensive. It is to add value. The better it is at identifying them, the more successful a company will be. One of those opportunities is to use resources (including people) that have historically fallen outside the global market economy and are, correspondingly cheap”. So capitalism’s very basis is built on abuse and power. Hence capitalism is the cause of climate change and must be dismantled if we have any hopes of slowing the environmental meltdown.

Correspondingly, State and Socialist ideologies of providing a ‘comfortable’ living standard for mass society rely on the continuation of mass production, heavy industry and therefore the depletion of global resources. This in no way addresses issues of climatic, environmental and ecological destruction. Nor does it address issues of community autonomy. Very few (if any) people would choose to work in dangerous, health threatening factories or spend their days mind numbingly plucking endless chickens, picking out non-uniform pies or monotonously screwing in the same nut and bolt sequence. State control still means that everyone is supposed to live by rules
which have been decided without the participation of the people. Real grassroots participatory decision-making on a mass scale of millions is difficult if not impossible. State level legislative power and the means to reinforce laws of social control result in the violent repression of resistance and any calls for change or accountability.


Only when there is a return to small scale communities living with the land rather than abusing it can these issues be rectified. With a global peak in fossil fuels upon us and the means to fuel mass industry lessening with every coming year, eventually there will undoubtedly be very little choice. Why wait until we are forced into living in way we have not prepared for. The industrial and technological eras have taken away the skills and knowledge we had to live with the land without destroying it. Convenience products have taken over our leisure time which has been squeezed to almost nothing for most people. Our lives have been turned into robotic parts in the mega-machine of mass production.Scarily the world’s governments do not want to acknowledge that the pursuance of industry which requires the depletion of finite resources (anything involving plastic, uranium, oil, gas, coal etc) is a game where the wholeplanet loses. A game which the G8 currently has on their table, playing the nuclear energy card (as well asignoring the World Bank’s own Extractive Industries Review which concluded that fossil fuel industries do not alleviate poverty or promote sustainable development). They wish to continue economic growth (the kind that grows into the pockets of a comparatively tiny elite with enormous power) regardless of its effects on our present and future ability to survive. The contamination of the ecosystems that sustain us and the climate which supports them has to stop now. The repression of indigenous peoples and activists fighting for freedom from domination has to stop, now.


Government and corporate structures cannot be trusted (as the record shows) to find or implement solutions tothe escalating destruction and "climate apartheid" facing everyday people and the natural world. Climate Chaosis the final blow from the perpetrators of a global system of oppression and control, exploitation and violence.



Take action, everywhere we are!
The G8 leaders meet every year as a symbol of their dominance over the world. This is the summit of ministerial meetings where they decided how to influence and control everything from trade to immigration laws, on a global scale. The G8 dominate the decisions and policies of other global institutions of similar control like IMF, WTO and World Bank. They encourage each other to create the same laws in each member
state and the final summit is the final farce, a 'kodak moment' before the press to show their power and pretend they have the interests of everyone at heart. They haven't.
Actions and demonstrations against these summits are important, as a global symbol of resistance to capitalist and state control over all life of this planet. What is also important is that symbolic resistance is supported by creative, diverse and inspiring action, everywhere we are locally, nationally and internationally. Resistance and effective action against projects which are products of these global institutions in the places they are happening, are needed to prevent the oppression, rape and murder of indigenous peoples and
their lands.
…When we take our dreams for a future where compassion overrides exploitation and weave them into ourresistance to these global institutions and their impacts, then there is hope..