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Leitrim activists join rally at the Dáil against LNG terminal plans
Leitrim activists join rally at the Dáil against LNG terminal plans

Irish Independent

time6 days ago

  • Politics
  • Irish Independent

Leitrim activists join rally at the Dáil against LNG terminal plans

Climate activists from the Stop Shannon LNG Coalition including Love Leitrim, Extinction Rebellion, Slí Eile, and other groups gathered outside the Dáil to express concern that the government is planning Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) infrastructure in Ireland. The activists strongly oppose such infrastructure because of its negative impact on the climate, public health, and the cost of living. The activists are concerned that when gas is fracked, not all of it is captured, so some of it escapes into the atmosphere, further contributing to climate change. The activists held a 14 metre-wide banner reading 'STOP SHANNON LNG,' referring to a proposed LNG terminal. Leitrim County Councillor Eddie Mitchell from Love Leitrim said the global warming impact of importing fracked gas into Ireland outweighs all our efforts to reduce our annual emissions. 'After acknowledging in 2021 that a LNG terminal would inevitably import fracked gas, the government is now walking away from its obligations to mitigate climate change by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. "While the government struggles and fails to reduce emissions by a target of 8% a year, even just considering fracked gas imports associated with boil off would incur 3.75% of Ireland's total emissions if we were only to use the LNG terminal as a storage unit. "Those are the emissions associated with spending €900 million on a terminal that won't be used. In the real world the emissions will be so much greater,' said Mr Mitchell. According to the campaigners, since late 2023, the government has planned to support LNG import infrastructure and in March this year, that plan was updated to explicitly allow the import of fracked gas. New Fortress Energy is seeking to build their LNG terminal and 600MW gas power plant at Ballylongford in county Kerry, on the Shannon Estuary. The power plant has already received planning permission, and An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanála) is currently reviewing the reactivated planning application for the LNG terminal. In June, An Comisiún Pleanála asked the government to clarify its position on privately owned LNG terminals. The government has not yet clarified its position. Mr Mitchell called on the Minister Darragh O'Brien to clarify policy before August 7. "He must reinstate the ban on all LNG terminals so that planning permission can be refused again, or acknowledge that continuing down the road of facilitating fracked gas requires us to admit failure on environmental policy. "All of us from Leitrim, Fermanagh, Clare, Kerry and Limerick who live on shale gas basins will not allow our country to be a market for fracked US gas,' said Mr Mitchell. Labour Party Spokesperson on Rural and Community Development, the Gaeltacht and Worker's Rights, Senator Nessa Cosgrove reiterated her support for a number of community-based Environmental groups, including Love Leitrim, who oppose the introduction of Fracked Gas into the Irish energy mix. Senator Cosgrove said, 'LNG is a dirty, polluting fossil fuel, which is often extracted through the environmentally-damaging technique of fracking 'If the Government allows the current planning application for Shannon LNG to be granted it will blow a massive hole in Ireland's chances of meeting our legally-binding climate targets. 'The Government have claimed that they are interested only in a Government-led LNG storage facility for an emergency supply, not in commercial exploitation of this gas. 'If there is a shred of truth to this claim, there is no need to lift the moratorium on granting planning permission for privately-owned LNG Infrastructure. 'I am calling on Darragh O'Brien, as the Minister for Energy and Environment to reiterate that the Government's position is that no privately-owned LNG infrastructure is to be permitted within the State, so that An Bord Pleanalla can make the correct judgement, which remains to refuse planning permission for this unnecessary and harmful development,' said Senator Cosgrove.

Restrictions on jury trials will put real justice at risk
Restrictions on jury trials will put real justice at risk

The Guardian

time14-07-2025

  • Politics
  • The Guardian

Restrictions on jury trials will put real justice at risk

A likely by-product of the plans to make drastic changes to jury trials to help deal with the backlog in the criminal courts will be the effect on those campaigning for transformative social justice (Jury-free trials proposed to save criminal justice system from collapse, 9 July). We can think of three cumulative effects. First, trial by jury represents the only chance for activists who are prosecuted to put their moral case to 12 of their peers, to seek civic exculpation from the reach of oppressive criminal laws. History is replete with examples of acquittals by juries performing the role of conscience of the nation: in January 2022, three Extinction Rebellion activists who stopped a rush-hour train for a little over an hour in central London were acquitted. A jury is also uniquely positioned to understand the experiences of striking workers facing police brutality (as during the 1984-85 miners' strike), or those defending their communities against racist violence (such as the 10 Asian men acquitted in 2016 after confronting far-right extremists in Rotherham), and its absence in such cases would open the door to countless wrongful convictions. Finally, removing jury trials reduces the 'communicative space' in which activists can engage with people and share their concerns on, say, the climate catastrophe. In the race to streamline the procedures of justice, we risk greater costs to obtaining real Joanna Gilmore York Law SchoolProf David Mead UEA Law School It used to be said that British justice was the best in the world. If ever that was the case, the Leveson review of the criminal courts shows that this is no longer the case. When I was a crown court judge (2011-19), colleagues and barristers in the criminal courts had to put up with strictures on their ability to do their job. Cuts to the proper funding of cases, to the maintenance of buildings (or their selling-off) and the limiting of 'sitting days' have contributed gradually to the criminal courts' lamentable state. Sir Brian Leveson was presented with a fait accompli. The court system is broken and prisons are overflowing. No wonder he has had to make recommendations that are not made on principle but purely as a matter of expediency. They are very radical. Two things need to happen to prevent a great injustice in the long term. First, the measures proposed, many of which require legislation, should come to an end when the backlog has been cleared. We could then debate whether any of them should be made permanent. Second, the judiciary must be given a proper voice. With the redefining of the role of lord chancellor in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, there has been a succession of politicians whose primary duty has been to support the government in its fiscal policies. We now live with the consequences. The 2005 act should be amended to make the lord chancellor a lawyer and to make their primary duty the welfare of the judicial Davies KCLondon I am a sitting justice of the peace. Magistrates are the experts in juryless trials already. More than 80,000 trials were held in magistrates courts in 2024. As magistrates are unpaid volunteers without formal legal training, appointed from within the communities they serve, it might be argued that they bridge the gap between the paid judiciary and the citizens who currently sit on juries in crown court. They are therefore ideally placed to supplant juries in the situations suggested by the Leveson and address supplied Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Google New York office vandalized by climate group that targeted Apple store earlier
Google New York office vandalized by climate group that targeted Apple store earlier

Hindustan Times

time09-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Hindustan Times

Google New York office vandalized by climate group that targeted Apple store earlier

Two Extinction Rebellion activists were arrested after pouring paint inside Google's New York City office as part of the climate group's protest against Big Tech's 'climate hypocrisy.' This protest comes just two days after a climate change activist associated with the Extinction Rebellion spray-painted the word 'Boycott' on an Apple store. Extinction Rebellion activists threw green paint inside Google NYC office (Instagram/@ginamrandazzo) These protests are typical of the attention-grabbing stunts that the group is (in)famous for – it had earlier faced backlash when Extinction Rebellion activists glued their hands to a Pablo Picasso painting in Australia. Vandalizing Google's office On Tuesday, Extinction Rebellion activists reached Google's St. John's Terminal headquarters in Hudson Square, New York City. 'Shortly before noon, two activists poured paint in front of Google's prominent interior branding signage, climbed onto the desk, unfurled a banner reading 'Tech Loves Trump,' and chanted Google! Dump Trump!',' the group said in a press release. Both climate activists were arrested, the group confirmed. Photos shared on Instagram show the activists standing on a desk while holding a banner that reads 'Tech Loves Trump'. Green paint is spilled on the floor in front of them, while the Google sign can be seen in the background. What is Extinction Rebellion demanding? Extinction Rebellion is demanding that tech companies like Apple and Google cut ties with US President Donald Trump. Notably, Donald Trump's inauguration was attended by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, among others tech tycoons. 'Big Tech had a choice—and they chose Trump,' said Nate Smith, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion NYC. 'They're propping up a regime that's torching climate policy, reopening coal plants, and putting our future on the line. This is a betrayal of everything they claim to stand for.' The climate group has accused Pichai, Cook, Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs of 'endorsing a regime committed to dismantling environmental protections and powering AI data centers with coal.'

Protestor spray paints at Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store, writes "Tim + Trump = …."
Protestor spray paints at Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store, writes "Tim + Trump = …."

Time of India

time08-07-2025

  • Business
  • Time of India

Protestor spray paints at Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store, writes "Tim + Trump = …."

An Extinction Rebellion protester was arrested Sunday after spray-painting "Tim + Trump = Toxic" and "Boycott" on the glass entrance of Apple 's iconic Fifth Avenue store in New York City, as environmental activists accused the tech giant of climate hypocrisy . The demonstrator used green spray paint to deface the store's glass facade while other protesters chanted "Dump Trump, Apple!" inside and outside the flagship location. Apple security staff quickly cleaned the vandalism as the lone spray-painter was taken into custody. Tech CEOs under fire for Trump support Extinction Rebellion targeted Apple over CEO Tim Cook 's donation to President Trump's inauguration and his appearance at the ceremony alongside other tech leaders including Google's Sundar Pichai and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. The environmental group criticized these executives for previously supporting the Paris Agreement on climate change while now "backing an administration that's gutting environmental rules and funneling billions of dollars to fossil fuels." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like One of the Most Successful Investors of All Time, Warren Buffett, Recommends: 5 Books for Turning... Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Click Here Undo "In 2023, Tim Cook called combating climate change one of the most urgent priorities of our time," said Miles Grant, an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson. "Fast forward to 2025, and he's donating to Trump—the man leading the charge to roll back all climate progress." AI's growing environmental impact The protest also highlighted the environmental costs of artificial intelligence expansion across the tech industry. Google's carbon emissions surged 11 percent last year to 11.5 million tons, largely driven by energy-hungry AI data centers, according to the company's sustainability report. Microsoft similarly faces challenges meeting climate goals as it invests heavily in AI infrastructure, which is projected to consume more power than Bitcoin by year's end. Extinction Rebellion called for boycotts of tech companies that "enable authoritarianism and expand fossil fuel use," reflecting growing tension between environmental advocates and Silicon Valley's relationship with the Trump administration. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now

Everyone Is Yelling at Apple
Everyone Is Yelling at Apple

Gizmodo

time07-07-2025

  • Business
  • Gizmodo

Everyone Is Yelling at Apple

Apple just cannot make anyone happy right now—and that's not even taking into account the tepid response to its new 'liquid glass' design principles. Its stores have become the latest target of climate activists looking to hold corporations for their role in the ongoing climate crisis, while it's also getting hammered by the Trump administration for its failure to quit China cold turkey. The first hit of the recent barrage of blows that Apple has taken came over the weekend when protesters with the global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion spray-painted the company's retail store on 5th Avenue in New York City. Demonstrators painted 'Boycott' under the Apple logo on the building's entrance. Another message read 'Tim + Trump = Toxic,' referring to company CEO Tim Cook, who gave money to Trump's inauguration and seemed to have the president's ear as he tried to navigate the Trump administration's extreme tariffs. In a press release, Extinction Rebellion called into question Apple's commitment to addressing climate change given its dealings with the Trump administration, which has made a point of peeling back green energy commitments and approved the use of coal-fired power plants to help support the rapidly growing electricity demands of artificial intelligence systems. On Monday morning, Apple caught a jab from the other side of the aisle. Trump advisor and tariff plan architect Peter Navarro went on CNBC and took a shot at Apple for still doing business in China. 'Going back to the first Trump term, Tim Cook has continually asked for more time in order to move his factories out of China,' Navarro said during an appearance on CNBC. 'With all these new advanced manufacturing techniques and the way things are moving with AI and things like that, it's inconceivable to me that Tim Cook could not produce his iPhones elsewhere around the world and in this country,' Navarro said. The whole 'manufacture iPhones in America' thing has been a well-tread fantasy at this point, with estimates suggesting such a device would cost $3,000 or more. It's not going to happen. But Apple's preferred alternative, which is moving production to India, hasn't managed to satisfy Trump, either. In May, the President claimed that he told Cook, 'I don't want you building in India' and threatened to apply a 25% tariff on every iPhone not made in the United States… which is going to be every iPhone. Turns out there are downsides to trying to play both sides.

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