Catching up on Gas Campaign

To bridge the gap between gas and plastic, Meaghan, who is our Head of Mobilisation, joined the panel for our Sick of Plastic webinar and spoke of the connection between the global glut of plastics on the market and the fossil fuel companies.

Approximately 99% of what goes into plastics is fossil fuels. If you saw the film ‘The Story of Plastic’ you’ll know that the fossil fuel industry and the petrochemical industry (that makes plastic) are owned by the same companies. They use liquid gas that comes from fracking to produce plastics. Plastic is not driven by demand – it’s driven by supply. Fossil fuels know that their days in generating energy are numbered but by pushing the market for plastics, their business is safe - so they think.

If you missed our Sick of Plastic webinar, you can watch it back here - Meaghan’s presentation is at about 29 minutes in.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies - the elephant in the room. We published this report on Fossil Fuel subsidies in March, and commissioned the making of a video to go along with it - which we’ll be sharing with you in the coming weeks. Below is a screenshot of the finished product.

Ireland banned fracking in 2017, and we could soon be celebrating a ban on new off-shore drilling and halting construction of LNG (liquefied natural gas terminals which would import fracked gas) if the Programme for Government is voted in. The draft document states; “We do not support the importation of fracked gas and shall develop a policy statement to establish that approach”.
Ireland could very well become a fossil free champion!

Our favourite celebrity anti-fracking activist, Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk, was invited on to Prime Time recently where he praised the Irish Government for stating that Ireland would not be importing fracked gas from the US via LNG and expressed thanks for Irish solidarity. You can watch that clip here at this link.

Although we may soon have another nail in the coffin for gas in Ireland, we know that climate change knows no borders, and to achieve climate justice we need to think and act global.

Having strong allies like Mark Ruffalo and other anti-fracking and fossil free groups in the US has brought great strength to our campaigning here in Ireland. We need to continue and build on this solidarity with other countries and communities impacted by the fossil fuel industries to prevent and put and end to projects like Shannon LNG elsewhere. We cannot forget that our neighbours in Northern Ireland are still living with the threat of fracking today.

So the battle against fracking and fossil gas infrastructure continues.

This evening at 5pm - we’re teaming up with Food and Water Action Europe, Not Here Not Anywhere and the Gastivists to host a zoom call to support activists in making a submission to the European Commission to change the rules that recklessly supported Shannon LNG. We have a small window of time to do this. Jump on the call and we’ll run you through process with a handy cheat sheet and we’ll answer any questions you have along the way. Register here!