‘Trumpian’ infrastructure bill undermines Tipperary’s climate action efforts, councillor says
A Tipperary councillor has accused the Government of undermining Tipperary County Council’s Climate Action Plan through its newly passed Critical Infrastructure Bill.
The Government passed the Critical Infrastructure Bill earlier this month, which will allow projects which are deemed as being critical, to be fast-tracked and jump to the head of the queue for assessment by decision-making bodies.
Infrastructure Minister Jack Chambers said that the bill is aimed at addressing “unacceptable delays in our approval processes.”
“The bill will reduce ambiguity and ensure that critical projects and programmes go to the top of the queue for assessment by decision-making bodies and receive fast and coordinated attention,” Minister Chambers added.
However, independent Nenagh councillor Seamie Morris said that the bill undermines the local authority’s Climate Action Plan, calling the move “Trumpian.”
“Tipperary County Council has a very substantial Climate Action Plan, unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks, the Government are after completely undermining it by making the Critical Infrastructure Bill pass through.
“This will have serious consequences for climate action. Section 15 of the Climate Action Bill has been dropped in this Critical Infrastructure Bill, and what will that do? It means that a Government minister can decide what is critical infrastructure,” Cllr Morris said.
“They could decide to put a data centre in Nenagh, sucking up all our energy through this bill, it doesn’t have to be climate action proofed, which is shocking. It’s Trumpian actually,” the independent councillor hit out.
Referencing the Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project, which aims to take water from Lough Derg in Tipperary and pump it 170 kilometres to Dublin, Cllr Morris said that climate action would not be able to be raised as a concern for projects such as these.
“The fact that we’re in a drought situation eight months of the year in the midlands, they’re talking about pumping 330 million litres of water a day to Dublin. The possibility is, if they don’t get planning permission this time, that they can come back again and that this project then can’t be taken on in terms of climate action,” Cllr Morris explained.
“All the good work we’re doing to try and protect our climate, our Government go behind our back and absolutely squander it.
“To see our own TDs in Tipperary voting to take out climate action out of this Critical Infrastructure Bill - nothing we do now can be climate action proofed if the Government decide it is critical infrastructure,” he claimed.
Labour TD Alan Kelly and Workers and Unemployed Action Group TD Seamus Healy were the only TDs in Tipperary to vote against the bill in the Dáil.
“At the stroke of a pen, our TDs took the work of our Climate Action Plan away from us,” Cllr Morris concluded.