TD Smith says action on liquefied natural gas terminals urgently needed

People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has submitted a report to the Climate Action committee on the issue of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminals.

Deputy Smith, who is the party’s spokesperson on climate and rapporteur on LNGs for the committee says the report highlights the urgency to take action on the use of gas and LNG terminals.

The report arrives in the week where campaigners lost a High Court Case to have LNG terminals from the EU Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list.
It has also recently been announced that the Government spent €2.4 billion in 2019 on fossil fuel subsidies.

“The report is brief and outlines the key issues but is calling explicitly for a policy which sees the state ban LNG infrastructure.
“There is simply no justification given the science and the time frame we have to align with our climate commitments.”

Deputy Smith said that the government promises of some policy around fracked gas did “not deal with the wider issue of proposals to build LNG terminals here from several private companies.”

One proposal remains on the current PCI list and could in theory remain entitled to some form of EU backing.

“There is a real urgency in dealing with this, given the escalating climate crisis and the dangers of getting locked into a new generation of fossil fuel infrastructure for 40 to 50 years that would crowd out renewable investment.”

The TD thanked the campaigning group Not Here, Not Anywhere for their help in compiling the report and also acknowledged the help of climate activist Ciarán Ó Carroll.