Greens learn the hard way
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Friday January 04 2008
It appears the Environment Minister's plan to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs next year is to be nobbled, at least for the time being, by the EU Commission. The Commission is concerned that the ban might create more problems than it will solve in he short term, a view likely to be shared by Irish light bulb manufacturers, their employees and consumers generally who have been left, rather inappropriately, in the dark about the Government's intentions.
A central element of last year's first 'green budget', Mr Gormley's bulbs must now be added to a long list of Green rethinks, some voluntary, others enforced.
Ask a Green supporter about ministerial pay rises, hospital co-location, incineration, stag hunting, neutrality and the Nordic battlegroup, Tara, Shell to Sea, rendition, or Shannon.
One wonders what the Green grassroots think about their ministers' stance on these issues.
Not all the issues on which the Greens in Government have compromised are of national importance.
Perhaps the most serious one is yet to come.
Recently the ESRI pronounced the Government's strategy for tackling global warming, led by the Green Party, as potentially disastrous for the economy.
The targets for emission reduction in the years ahead could only be met by draconian measures and would be better abandoned, the Institute declared.
Otherwise we could choose between reducing the country's cattle population by half, or persuading half the human population to emigrate, or ordering people to desist from using televisions, dishwashers and washing machines and to refrain from using their cars for four days of the week.
Perhaps the strangest conundrum at the moment is the party's dilemma over the proposed referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Some time this year we will vote on the EU Treaty, the only country to do so.
If passed, the Treaty will give the European Parliament more power, redistribute the number of seats for each country, introduce new voting procedures and create a charter of fundamental rights.
The fact that we still don't know when the EU referendum is to be held is probably a measure of the Government's lack of confidence that it can deliver a 'yes'.
Will the Treaty Referendum be linked with the referendum to strengthen the protection of children, as the Taoiseach has suggested?
Perhaps not. There is some controversy about the precise wording and impact of the children's referendum.
If this were to give rise to acrimonious debate, the Government may fear that it would cast a negative shadow over an EU referendum held on the same day.
A 'no' vote would embarrass the Government hugely and would represent a personal slap in the face for the Taoiseach.
In the middle of all this, the Green Party has adopted a two-pronged approach whereby the Green ministers will vote "yes" with Fianna Fail and the PDs, even if their party backs the "no" side, as they might be expected to do.
Certainly the former Green Party MEP and Euro sceptic Patricia McKenna has aligned herself with the 'no' lobby.
It will be remembered that during last year's tussle for the leadership of the party, Ms McKenna expressed her fear that the Greens would be "gobbled up by Government."
Yesterday Green Communications Minister Eamon Ryan told an interviewer that compromise on certain issues was "all part of the job".
Yet the people who voted for the Green Party last year, giving them enough seats to enter government after almost 20 years in opposition, will have done so because of the party's stated position on some of those issues.
Many Green voters will see Green compromise as an abandonment of core values.
If Eamon Ryan is right, Green supporters will judge that their ministers are paying a fair and decent price for power.If he is wrong, they will consider that Patricia McKenna's prediction of last year has been proved correct.
