"Green" policies are destroying this country

That’s a jack hammer.

probably using a compressor ran off a generator

I doubt it. The Judiciary determined there effectively is no constitution and the government can do whatever it likes, under Covid.

I reckon you're not seeing the full picture there. Carbon taxes are placed on both energy production and use and are a significant component of rocketing fuel prices.

Under EU regulations energy supply companies companies ard obliged to buy allowances to cover their carbon emissions, which places extra costs on fossil fuels currently amounting to just under 100 euros per tonne CO2 produced. Companies also face a fine if they emit more CO2 than they have covered by emission allowances, with a fine is 100 euros per excess tonne.

And because renewable energy supply is so unreliable, most EU countries still rely on fossil fuels to meet all their power demands. So as gas and other fossil fuels become more expensive due to demand, supply and carbon taxation, electricity bills inevitably go up and will keep going up as long as the crazy EU marginal price system where electricity costs are linked to the most expensive fuel used.

What you're referring to is local carbon taxation where carbon taxes are applied to usage. So if you use home heating oil, you're paying around €65 per fill towards the carbon tax (for a 900-litre tank). The carbon tax for coal currently comes in at about €2.88 per 40kg bag. Peat briquettes are charged at around 60 cents extra per bale. The average motorist faces extra costs of approx €100 annually with all these costs set to rise over the next decade.

In 2010 carbon taxes was first introduced here starting at €15 per tonne of CO2 and have now risen €41.00 per tonne with further increases planned with carbon tax to reach €100 per tonne of CO2 by 2030.

And none of that is going to make anyone happy regardless

E-scooters are still illegal to use on roads in Ireland so thats a matter of enforcement for the Gardai. Regarding bikes and e-bikes (which are legal once limited to 25kph). How many people per year do they kill compared to cars? How much infrastructural damage do they cause per year compared to cars?

All motorists should have to wear helmets and paint their car high viz

Imagine when we're trying to encourage people to reduce energy consumption and pollution, you have lads trying to disincentive cycling with mad nonsense like registration, licenses, insurance and mandatory hi-viz etc. In reality the government should be buying an ebike for any adult who wants one and it would be a huge step forward. We throw €5k at people who want a ecar but there's no support for an ebike purchase besides the Bike to Work scheme which is only open to employees, and only then if your employer takes part.

And on a windless overcast day everything stops working?

The main trouble with renewables as we have seen this winter across Europe is that they are massively unreliable. Plus electricity prices across the EU are linked to the most expensive fuel used. So whether we have to use 1% or 100% natural gas, regardless of how much or little renewables are thrown into the mix, our electricity will remain priced as if all of it was generated using natural gas.

In the short term we need to concentrate on using our own gas reserves and or imports from the US and that includes removing the stupid prohibition put on that by the greens who have effectively binned all gas exploration in Ireland and its territorial waters.

Not to mention the continued boot in the bollocks when it comes to gas supply and infrastructure.

https://m.independent.ie/business/world/ireland-to-miss-out-on-us-plan-to-supply-eu-with-gas-because-we-dont-have-a-terminal-41289645.html

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/green-party-introduce-bill-to-ban-lng-terminal-as-gas-prices-surge-680574

We'll see. You are right that the ratchet is being steadily turned, in the West at least.

But people don't like falling living standards - regardless of what's on TV.

I wouldn't worry too much about disincentivisation if I was you...... The pissing rain is enough for most people to realise cycling to work is a non starter

It would help but I mean you could halve the world population and if we continued living as we are we'd be goosed in no time anyway. I often find overpopulation used as an excuse by people who are not willing to make any changes at all, it's a lazy panacea for them.

Couldn't be bothered, if you can't figure out why humanity and the planet is in serious trouble on our current trajectory then it's just not worth it.

The more we have of renewables the less we need fossil fuels. Very few days here that there is no wind off the coasts. Solar will still work in overcast conditions. Development of energy storage such as pumped water or giant batteries (as in Australia) must also be done here. We will have little choice when war stops our fossil fuel supplies from abroad.

Well if the greens really cared. Maybe go after the deforestation of the Amazon for a start. Being cut down and burned at an increased rate.

Mostly due to meat production demand by the eu.

But hey its grand.

On the contrary, I find plenty of people willing to get on board. They're just not willing to pile debt onto themselves for the rest of their lives. It's just unrealistic except for the rich. Why can't the greens accept that point?