Ireland’s environment minister abandons climate change legislation but denies being a denier.
The Irish Examiner reports,
ENVIRONMENT Minister Phil Hogan said claims he is a climate change denier were “misinformed” as he came under attack for saying legislation in the area is not a priority.
His predecessor, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, said Mr Hogan had “abandoned any real commitment on climate change” by claiming laws in the area are not urgent.Mr Hogan said he was not “walking away” from the issue “without targets or ambitions”, but was focusing on shaping policy aimed at reducing carbon emissions and “the right policy must be in place before legislation is introduced”.
He was speaking as he published a review of climate change policy, which said Ireland will meet carbon emission targets for 2012 under the Kyoto Agreement. But it said the 2020 targets cannot be met “on the basis of existing policies and measures”.