{"id":1333922,"date":"2024-06-20T16:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/?p=1333922"},"modified":"2024-06-21T10:00:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T09:00:55","slug":"thomas-duffy-ignoring-climate-targets-isnt-an-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/thomas-duffy-ignoring-climate-targets-isnt-an-option\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Duffy:\u00a0Ignoring climate targets isn\u2019t an option"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
No one would question that the language around climate commitments has shifted considerably across the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was previously hard language about the unavoidable cuts needed have slowly been chipped away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We saw it in the run up to the European elections both from powerful players in the centre right European People Party (EPP) and not least from EPP member and commission president Ursula Von der Leydon around climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This approach ultimately played out in the European elections as the centre-right European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) gained 14 seats while in contrast the Greens\/EFA group lost 20 seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year farmers’ protests captured much of the headlines, not least for their antics around fires and heavy machinery, behind the scenes powerful interests were cutting away at the Green Deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Massive economic players such as the EU\u2019s auto manufacturers, despite their public commitment to the EV transition, secured modifications to the EU<\/a>\u2019s planned ban on combustion engines by allowing for e-fuels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Decried by environmental activists and more importantly many scientific experts stating this e-fuel is just a smokescreen for continued fossil fuel burning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is due to fears that e-fuels are likely to be produced using national grids despite claims that they will be produced solely via renewable energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the same automakers have successfully pushed the EU to attempt to restrict access to cheaper Chinese made EVs due to their lower prices, hindering the inevitable switch to electric transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly the aviation industry seems nearly untouchable as despite rising carbon taxes on home heating kerosene, the nearly identical kerosene burnt in planes remains untaxed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n