Longford Leader columnist Mattie Fox: Change must be orchestrated slowly rather than imposing taxes

In recent weeks a sixteen year old Swede, Greta Thunberg, has been an inspiration to hundreds of thousands, of her own generation, and indeed many of older generations, all over the globe to take action.

She has addressed the UN in New York, and has been nominated for a Peace Award.

The wave of idealism and enthusiasm of this young movement is proving infectious, but the practicalities of how we live is for adults to work out.

I am old enough to have seen teenagers cycle eight and ten miles a day - in all weathers - in order to get a secondary education.

I also remember when everyone shopped locally and very often had a “book” in their local shop which was settled at the end of every month, when the cheque from the creamery arrived.

There were few cars on the road, and we could easily identify the Volkswagen or the Ford by the sound of their engines.

Lying on the grass and watching the jets cross the sky was our cinema.

The air was clean, recycling was a natural part of how we lived, and nobody travelled very far.

The ideal lifestyle for a healthy environment, mentally and physically.

But can I see us returning to this way of life?

No.

Turning back the tide of what is considered progress is not going to happen.

Yet we desperately need to make changes, and in order for that to happen we need courageous leadership from the front.

So far the Government has first decided to impose a carbon tax!

So they intend collecting more money from us all. Why?

How is that going to be used to better the environment?

The most recent solid indication, and contradiction, is that the carbon tax, is going to be used to reopen Lanesboro Power plant! Now we are all glad to see the workers being looked after, but don’t tell us that this is going to help the environment?

When is public transport going electric?

Is there a strategic plan at all? I wonder, and despair.

Then they want to cut down, or cut out, beef farming. But look at the panic that ensued in recent weeks when the farmers closed down the factories by their actions; the realities of trade, employment, and international confidence became the new priority.

Electricity is going to be the sole source of power in the future, it seems.

Even though timber is a renewable fuel, we are now building houses with no chimneys, and electric heating only.

Even the air to water system needs an electric pump. So when we have winter snowstorms and the electricity fails because of overhead wires strung across the lands, we can freeze to death to save the environment?

I don’t think so. There has to be an alternative.

While all this is being done, on the one hand, we have a brand new gas line now as far inland as Ballymahon!

Put there with significant contribution by Center Parcs Longford Forest.

The point I’m trying to make here, is where’s the joined up thinking?

Recycling is one thing that can work well if managed properly, and it is high time that those already doing a good job here are given a bit of credit.

Many many moons ago I witnessed the homeless in NY, around Central Park, pushing a shopping trolley from bin to bin, picking up cans for recycling, which they could exchange for money (dollars) at the recycling center nearby.

Could this work in our own cities today? Maybe at our festivals?

We cannot go on punishing the working taxpayer for everything. We need people who lead from the front to guide us in practical do-able changes.

I believe that rural Ireland is the answer to a lot of problems; get employment into every county where communities will be smaller and less centralised density for pollution.

This would also lead to less social medical problems.

Should immediately open the door to a better quality of life all round.

But change must be orchestrated slowly, rather than imposing more taxes on the public.

The Government must be careful, and for once, protect our citizens.