Do not worry that the Green Party had representatives implicated in all sorts of bad ideas and agreements in the past. They were not powerful enough and were coerced like the rest of us with limited information sharing and a certain amount of ignorance as to the wild scale of the renewable energy plans. They probably thought they were doing a good thing but suddenly found that others were just thinking export and money rather than the environment. At this stage, we have all woken up. Naivety is no longer the best word to describe us. Furthermore, Ireland has a lot of clear-headed, experienced and un-corruptible party candidates in the local elections coming up on the 16th May.
I went this week to hear Green Party's Councillor Malcolm Noonan, Rian Coulter and Grace O Sullivan talk about a shared vision, rolled out through consultation and participation. They alerted us that there is even more going on than we thought. For example, a grim central access scheme that some are trying to push through Kilkenny - yes that's beautiful Medieval Kilkenny. When they were clearing trees after the hurricanes here, they snook the opportunity to fell a line of ancient trees to clear a route for a new motorway-style road in. Then there was the genetically modified spuds. This Green Party has guts and dedication, they have already been over to fight it in the European Court. Imagine if Ireland no longer had the rights to their potatoes. It would be like the famine all over again. Everyone paying Monsanto, no potato able to reproduce. If it does you are not allowed to plant them again as someone holds the patent…patented food with pesticides and herbicides bred into them. We need leaders who really understand these issues, who care about humanity, across the board. We must not be bought off!
I just saw that Jamaica, the land of wood and water, has just been entirely sold out. A new mega freight harbour planned by a Chinese company has got an agreement. The area is registered as the main conservation area and this plan will pollute the whole sea, even if there is not a particular disaster, spill or whatever. The same government who got the area officially protected last year have freed it up on the promise of 1.5 billion and 10,000 jobs. The company is already black-listed elsewhere and will never deliver.
The European Green candidate, Grace O Sullivan, used to be in Greenpeace and in the past travelled to the Arctic Circle with them to block a company building something hugely insensitive there. So it would be good to vote for her too. It is not at all easy to join Greenpeace, you really have to prove you hold the right credentials and values. So our very own green candidates are people who have the strength of their convictions and whose interest, vision and compassion extends beyond their own pockets, family, community and country to the whole fragile, but still abundant ecosystem we call earth, we call home! Is there any other party that isn't just trying to please someone and cash in?
What I meant to say before I got carried away was: What a buzz there's been around this week! A feeling that everything is possible. In our geometry group, in Enniscorthy, we cleared the relationship between America, Russia and the Ukraine. We're holding high hopes for a reconciliation and relaxed resolution.
Today, I've also planted old varieties of peas, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, broccoli and parsnips: Lose sleep and profits Monsanto and other pharmaceutical companies! Take a pipet of your own medicine! You've got a warped claim to the world's seeds but these predate you. They're organic and in the ground and ready to rock and roll!
No comments:
Post a Comment