Papers Today

// Pollution claims overly gloomy: IBEC

IRISH business yesterday accused Earth Summit Ireland of scaremongering by painting an overly gloomy picture of the country's environmental record.

Employers group IBEC accused the green campaigners and Green Party of "lazy environmentalism" in failing to acknowledge improvements in areas like air and water quality. But ESI stuck to its guns, saying the examples it cited in its report 'Telling it like it is: Ten years of unsustainable development in Ireland' demonstrated the country's "wholesale failure" on implementing the resolutions of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro World Summit. However, Donal Buckley, head of IBEC's environment unit, said Earth Summit Ireland's report made "a one-sided contribution to the debate that does not acknowledge the enormous progress made on environmental, social and economic issues in Ireland." The report presented a false picture which was counter-productive to efforts to improve environmental policy, he added. "Recent statements from the Green Party smack of lazy environmentalism. "They are scaremongering, inaccurate and don't provide solutions." The past 10 years had heralded many successful new policies and over 100 pieces of environmental legislation, such as polluter pays, producer responsibility and the national hazardous waste management plan. ESI spokesman Tony Lowes countered that the report made clear they accepted air quality, and to some degree, water quality had improved. "But the better air is due entirely to removal of coal fires dating to the 1980s. "All other emissions have rocketed and Ireland is a leading light in increasing pollution - the cost of which must be shouldered by the whole of the world. "I just don't think it can be argued that, with the examples we have considered, the conclusion to be drawn is that there has been a wholesale failure in addressing the resolutions passed 10 years ago." Helen Bruce (c) Irish Independent