@shaneogruagain.bsky.social
Nobody disputes that having access to a car in a car-dominated society is good. It gives one access to jobs, healthcare, food, education, social opportunities and more. All we're asking is for people to go one step deeper and ask why access to such basic rights requires buying and operating a car.
Romeo Kokriatski@vagrantjourno.bsky.social · 3w agoI grew up in Jackson Heights in Queens and we still had a car, and our lives got measurably better when we did.
Another day - another Government TD announcing a Transport project which has no funding, nor is there any commitment in the NDP Luas Bray “COULD” begin next year…. In the same way Ireland “COULD” meet its emissions reduction targets…. But it won’t dublingazette.com/dublinlocalm...
Luas line set to be fast-tracked – O’Connell
A charity has had to employ additional chaplains to help residents cope with the trauma of homelessness in Dublin
dublingazette.com
Sheds for houses, sheds for hospitals and sheds for schools. F/FG is the party that builds sheds. www.rte.ie/news/2026/06...
€1.3bn spent on school prefabs in five years, PAC hears
The Public Accounts Committee has heard that €1.3 billion has been spent on modular buildings for schools in the past five years.
rte.ie
“For an Irish Government Minister, no movement is imaginable unless the Minister experiences an external pressure. Making decisions because the actions might be a good idea doesn't even enter the discussion.” www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
The Gist: The Promise of No Change
For every action needed, why is there an equal and opposite inaction? This is the Gist.
thegist.ie
IMPORTANT: The Dutch invested €595 million annually on urban biking, resulting in €19 BILLION saved in public health care costs alone. That’s how smart governments do the math on investing in better mobility. Let’s be clear— it WASTES public money to NOT do it. #CityMakingMath HT @modacitylife.com
Bicycles are hugely space efficient, which is why they make a lot of sense in congested cities. This video demonstrates why there aren’t traffic jams in bike lanes. Just imagine the traffic queues if every bicycle here was a car.
Do renewables make wholesale electricity cheaper or more expensive? The answer: renewables share doesn't really move the needle - it's markets where natural gas generation sets the price that are the expensive markets. Aka more gas = more expensive electricity. Here's the mic drop graph:
Jan Rosenow@janrosenow.bsky.social · 3mo agoNEW ANALYSIS: Do renewables make electricity cheaper or more expensive? I pulled together wholesale and retail data across Europe and the US. Wholesale prices track gas exposure, not renewables share. Retail prices barely track either. Read full piece👇 janrosenow.substack.com/p/do-renewab...
When radio became popular, people worried children would sit around listening to it instead of playing outside. The same happened with TV, the internet and smartphones. But none of those stop children playing outside. Only cars do that.
V good article: "The reason our European peers have seen a 12 per cent drop in road deaths since 2019 in the same time we have seen a 31 per cent rise in ours is because we simply are not using the evidence-based solutions that already exist." www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
We underestimate the true impact of our dangerous roads
The real burden of road trauma on the health system is far greater than the fatality count might suggest
irishtimes.com
Water is our great truth-teller. You cannot fake your way to a drinkable river. www.irishtimes.com/life-style/2...
Is there an Irish river I can drink from without vomiting?
In the 1980s about 500 Irish rivers were classed as the very best of the best but, today, there are about 20
irishtimes.com
“They cut speed limits, changed street design, removed space for cars… Now it appears that work is paying off. #Oslo & #Helsinki are reaping the rewards of committed action on making their roads safer, reducing pedestrian fatalities to zero last year.” What if your city actually MEANT #VisionZero?
How Helsinki and Oslo cut pedestrian deaths to zero
After years of committed action, neither city recorded a single pedestrian fatality in 2019
theguardian.com
Food security depends, above all, on a healthy biosphere, which is the sum of the Earth's natural ecosystems. No nature, no food.
@davidpowlson.bsky.social · 3mo agoFood security for all is a pretty important goal to aim for.
“Paris has embarked on a grand transformation, planting 155k trees, adding hundreds of kms of bike lanes, pedestrianising 300 school streets and banning cars from the banks of the Seine. Parking has been turned into green space…Fewer parents fear their child being run over when they walk to school.”
How Paris swapped cars for bikes – and transformed its streets
Under outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo, the French capital added bike lanes, cut traffic and reclaimed public space, but not without resistance
theguardian.com
Going car-free is the best thing most people can do for climate. To reduce car dependency, cities should promote car-free living, supporting compact cities through policy, and investing in public transportation, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and shared mobility options.
These key strategies could help Americans get rid of their cars » Yale Climate Connections
Research points the way to a more climate-friendly, diverse, and desirable transportation system.
yaleclimateconnections.org
Global economy must move past GDP to avoid planetary disaster, warns UN chief - António Guterres says world’s accounting systems should place true value on the environment #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Global economy must move past GDP to avoid planetary disaster, warns UN chief
Exclusive: António Guterres says world’s accounting systems should place true value on the environment
theguardian.com
Reducing - and enforcing - speed limits for ALL vehicles to 30km/hr in urban areas & cameras to detect cars breaking traffic lights would save scores of lives annually, but it might annoy some motorists so instead we get this performative BS from gov’t. www.thejournal.ie/e-bikes-scoo...
Helmets and hi-vis clothing to be made mandatory for e-bikes and e-scooter users
Cabinet will sign off on plans to explicitly ban the use of scramblers on roads this morning.
thejournal.ie
The idea that journalists, politicians, groups or - you know, women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people - should "stay on the pitch" doesn't really hold up. Foreign Minister's account has 60k followers - 40 likes, 13k views? Blue ticks straight to the top of the queue with misogyny, bile.
TJ McIntyre@tjmcintyre.com · 7mo agoThis is the 'engagement' that the Irish government has been using to justify remaining on X. These are the top replies to a randomly chosen recent post.
The U-turns on road safety by this government would make your head spin. Lower default speed limits, RSA reform and red light camera pilot all abandoned while deaths and serious injuries are rising. independent.ie/opinion/comm...
Feljin Jose: Seán Canney has earned the nickname ‘Minister for U-turns’ – and there’s a reason for that
Here’s a riddle for you: if two wrongs don’t make a right, but three lefts do make a right, how many U-turns make you spiral out of control?
independent.ie
The outrageous sanctioning of EU lawmakers and citizens in order to pressure democratically-elected European governments to change their laws shows just how intent the US government is on controlling Europeans' lives. We must go into 2026 with eyes open.
The US can destroy a European's life with the swipe of a pen
This week's US sanctions against European lawmakers and privacy activists is a major escalation. And it shows the dangers of Europe relying on American economic infrastructure.
open.substack.com
Bring back the 2:1 investment priority favouring public transport over roads, say Engineers Ireland www.irishtimes.com/transport/20...
Engineers seek restoration of public transport spending priority
Heavy reliance on private cars for travel cannot continue, Engineers Ireland warns
irishtimes.com
Half-empty charter flight to Pakistan used 79 gardaí and cost €474,000 to deport just 24 people. Our latest set of records available online at: www.thestory.ie/2025/12/12/h...
Below is 'before' and 'after' of website of the US-EPA, after the Stalin-esque purge of facts that the Dear Leader isn't happy about. Those whom the gods would destroy, first, they make mad. Will discuss this & other topics around 5.30 on my weekly environmental slot on The Last Word on Today FM
These two stories are somehow connected. Apparently, if you lobby tirelessly for more pollution & ecological wreckage, that’s exactly what you get.
'Our waters are crying out for a break from the pollution, Irish people are calling for clean water, but our voices are being drowned out in a world of political wrangling and vested interest. And the thing is, you can’t drink politics.' www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Most Irish people want clean water, not a nitrates derogation
Has the Government ever asked the people of Ireland if they agree with pulling on the green jersey to convince Europe to give us another derogation?
irishexaminer.com
Ireland could not stop Santa Claus if we needed to. We would have to rely on Britain to do so. Read more in my latest in the Irish Times.
Great piece from @hannahdaly.ie countering the nihilism of the 'we don't matter' arguement www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
‘Too small to matter’ is the laziest-possible excuse in climate debate
At a time of crisis, co-operation is the only way to resolve the climate collective-action problem
irishtimes.com
