Have the Greens been 'neutered' in Govt. ?

R

redstar

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With the inability of Green ministers to stop the Poolbeg incinerator and reroute the M3 have the Greens been rendered useless since entering Govt ?

The Greens are now having to implement policies which they would totally oppose if not in Govt with FF.

What can the Greens do now to get their policies implemented, or have they given up too much in order to get into power ?
 
They've turned Yellow, stuck 2 fingers up at those who voted for them and are basically FF on bikes !
 
redstar said:
With the inability of Green ministers to stop the Poolbeg incinerator
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An incinerator is "greener" than landfilling the waste and is cleaner than a coal fired plant.:

"Alternatively the waste could be landfilled. In the landfill, one tonne of MSW would produce approximately 62 m³ methane by anaerobic digestion of the biodegradable part of the waste. This amount of methane has more than twice the global warming potential than the one tonne of CO2, which would have been produced by incineration."


I am not defending the Green Party (as they oppose the incinerator) but pointing out some facts missed in the debate.
 
I'm not so much concerned with the rights or wrongs of incineration - just the inability of the Greens to implement any of their main policies in Govt.
 
Whay are people worrying about the effectiveness of The Greens right now, they have been useless since the start!! It is very easy to participate in objection politics in Opposition and come up with lovely sounding, eco-right on policies that would never work and thankfully could never be tried.

Now that they are playing with live ammunition and playing for real, the Greens find that it is not so easy. Every decision they make or influence now has a consequence that affect everyday lives...
 

They are not alone on this. Witness the reports of Eamon Gilmore promising to "halt climate change" last weekend. Who does he think he is? King Canute?
 
ubiquitous said:
They are not alone on this. Witness the reports of Eamon Gilmore promising to "halt climate change" last weekend. Who does he think he is? King Canute?
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Just for the record, what Eamon actually said was;

More details at [broken link removed] for anyone interested.
 
Have they been neutered, or have they sold out? Hats off to Mr. Sargent - the only one in the party with any dignity left.
 


Indeed you are right about incinerators. The Swiss are actually digging up old landfills at huge cost and incinerating them.
 
redstar said:
With the inability of Green ministers to stop the Poolbeg incinerator and reroute the M3 have the Greens been rendered useless since entering Govt ?
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They may have been useless anyway. In addition to the above, they have abandoned their position on troops through Shannon and they're going to support the European Constitution. FF are just smarter (in a cute hoor way) than the Greens. I gave the Greens a No. 3 last time, and a friend of mine gave them a No. 1. Neither of us will be voting for them again (except that I'll probably vote for Patricia McKenna if she runs for Europe). I expect the Greens to be devastated in the next election with a Daily Mail headline of "Electorate say 'On-your-bike' to Gormless and Co.".
 
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I wonder why the Greens have actually increased their support according the latest SBP/Red C opinion poll ?
 
redstar said:
I wonder why the Greens have actually increased their support according the latest SBP/Red C opinion poll ?
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I suspect that because they're less Green (maybe sap green), now that they have accepted/sanctioned such things as the M3 and Incineration, they may attract more support.
 
ClubMan said:
Supporting incineration does not necessarily make one "less Green"!
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Indeed. Agreed. But the Green Party view it as less Green. I'm merely suggesting, in relation to redstar's question, that the Greens may have attracted increased support because they seem to have abandoned many of their core policies; and for what? slightly better insulation standards, to tax motorists out of existence, their cosying up to the European Constitution is the hardest pill to swallow. They've traded principles for power.
 
ClubMan said:
I guess redstar was referring to the stated GP policy on this matter and not necessarily whether or not this made sense?
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Correct.

I'm interested in seeing what can happen to a party who take a strong stand on certain issues, who then get into Govt. and find its not so easy to take a strong stand anymore.

Its important in a democracy to at least hope that when you vote for a party, they will try and implement some of their 'core' policies.

I know smaller parties will always have to make big compromises in Govt, but it appears to me that the Greens have ditched 'core' principles just to get into power.

And I suspect that, as others have said, they will attract support from elsewhere while losing some of their own 'traditional' supporters.

Will emerge a lighter shade of Green by the next election ?
 
redstar said:
I'm interested in seeing what can happen to a party who take a strong stand on certain issues, who then get into Govt. and find its not so easy to take a strong stand anymore.
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Oddly enough the PDs used to do better in elections they fought while they were in power, as opposed to ones they fought while they were in opposition. That is until all the chickens came home to roost at once, earlier this year.
 
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