Environment

Thu 28 Nov, 08:26

It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic May 30 00:01 by indy 0 comments

This month was designated as a Chemtrails awareness month and therefore it is an appropriate time to visit this controversial topic.

The story of chemtrails goes back awhile but it appears they really ramped up in the early 2000s. The key argument is around the difference between a contrail which is a water vapor trail caused by jet engines at high altitude and represent the rapid cooling of the ater vapor in tiny ice crystals that quickly evaporate again as opposed to chemtrails which do not disappear and linger in the sky for hours. The proponents say these are fine dust particles intentionally realized.

The skeptics simply say these long lasting trails are simply contrails. However this does not stack up and on any day you can simply look up and find aircraft with short contrails that disappear quite quickly and at the same time see chemtrails that linger across the sky.

The real controversy is over what are chemtrails made of and what is their purpose. More on this in the article referenced below.

Another key observation can be made through the use of the rather now famous website https://www.flightradar24.com/ which tracks and displays nearly all civilian aircraft over the entire world. This works because each plane has a transponder which emits key data about the aircraft height, speed, position, origin and destination and other data. You can buy a relatively cheap receiver that can pick these up at least 100 miles away and it is the linkage of all these hobbyist and professional receivers linked into the internet that send all the data for all the planes to a central server for display on the website.

On any day when an aircraft flies over your house, you can go to the website and easily find the plane and details about it. BUT you will find that for aircraft emitting the long lasting trails -i.e. chemtrails -they never show up on FlightRadar24. This would suggest that they are military or covert. And the reason is simple, they don't want people tracing back where they came from. For regular aircraft in the sky with short contrails, you can easily find them on FlightRadar24

So now it is on to a selection of previous stories covering Chemtrails. The whole area is filled with lots of confusing and conflicting theories and information and undoubtedly some of it is there to misdirect and discredit any serious investigation. But one should always start off from the observations and work from there. And that is something you can do by standing outside and taking notice.

Press Conference to highlight Ennis Data Centre’s 66 diesel generators ‘threat to human he... Aug 21 22:27 by foie 0 comments

Ennis Data Centre’s 66 gas generators ‘threat to Local Health’ – expert

Ennis Data Centre will add ‘nearly 1%’ to Ireland’s nitrous oxide emissions

A gas plant consisting of 66 generators required under the planning permission for the Ennis data centre is a ‘threat to local health’, the public will be told at a forthcoming Press Conference.

Organised by members of the local community as well as an alliance of local and national environmental groups, Professor David Carpenter of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany will outline the effects of the 66 diesel generators that are required for the data centre backup power. According to the environmental impact report (EPIR) submitted by the applicant during the planning process, nearly 1% of Ireland’s total nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions are predicted to come from this development.

Clare County Council Decision to Approve 66 Diesel Generators for Data Centre 'Threatens E... Aug 12 00:14 by foie 0 comments

Clare County Council Decision to Approve 66 Diesel Generators for Data Centre 'Threatens Ennis Residents Health'

Ennis Data Centre and Gas Plant ‘totally unsustainable’

‘The plans to build one of the largest data centres in the country here in Ennis brings with it an additional threat to the health of people here as the plans include a gas burning plant that will only make the air quality here worse than it already is, leading to asthma and other respiratory problems.’

Despite the concerns of local residents, multiple environmental groups, as well as Eirgrid , Clare county council has made the abhorrent decision to give planning permission to an unknown company (Art Data Centres Ltd.) to construct a data centre on the Tulla Rd, Ennis which will consume as much electricity as 200,000 homes and emit 657,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

€108m Bord na Mona rehabilitation questioned in East Galway bog video Jun 06 23:25 by foie 0 comments

Video urges Bord na Mona to ‘do better’ on bog restoration
€108m Bord na Mona rehabilitation questioned in East Galway bog video

A video of a bog restored last year by Bord na Móna in East Galway published by the environmental defenders Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] urges Bord na Móna to ‘Do Better’ in its bog restoration program.

EU Court Must Decide If EU Ministers Have Illegally Set Unsustainable Fishing Limits. Feb 10 23:10 by foie 0 comments

Legal first: European Court of Justice must decide if ministers broke law with unsustainable fishing limits

In a legal first in the history of fisheries, the Court of Justice of the European Union has been called on to decide if EU ministers have illegally set unsustainable fishing limits.

Ireland’s Opposition To Direct Transmission Of Farmers Pesticides Records To Be Challenged... Feb 01 22:11 by foie 0 comments

INVITE TO VIRTUAL EU WIDE PESTICIDES PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW MORNING AT 9 AM

IRELAND’S OPPOSITION TO DIRECT TRANSMISSION OF FARMERS PESTICIDES RECORDS TO BE CHALLENGED.

Friends of the Irish Environment, Pesticides Action Network [PAN] Europe members, GLOBAL 2000 and ClientEarth, invite you to a press conference to present our new findings on the Regulation on Statistics on Agricultural Input and Output [SAIO] on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 9.00 AM Irish time.

Judicial Review For Dursey Island Cable Car And Visitors Centre Jan 25 22:38 by foie 0 comments

JUDICIAL REVIEW CLAIMS ALTERNATIVE PLAN TO €10M DURSEY ISLAND CABLE CAR NEVER ASSESSED

An Bord Pleanála’s decision to approve a €10m visitors centre and cable car for Dursey Island in west Cork may face a Judicial Review after Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] were given permission today by High Court Justice Niamh Hyland to bring an application on 31 January, 2022.

Court hears failure to end overfishing breaches Common Fisheries Policy Dec 07 22:42 by foie 0 comments

Irish High Court hears EU overfishing challenge

Court hears failure to end overfishing breaches Common Fisheries Policy

European fishing quotas are being challenged before the Irish High Court this week after Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) lodged a Judicial Review in June 2020.

According to the conservation charity, ‘setting unsustainable fishing quotas goes against the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, which contained a legal obligation to end overfishing by 2020. Yet the national regulations implement EU quotas which are consistently above the scientific recommendations.’

Glasgow Climate Deal Renews Pledge to Support Developing Countries Nov 17 16:15 by Comms Manager, [email protected] 0 comments

Two hundred countries finalized an agreement during COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland to limit global warming. In 2009, developed countries promised $100 billion of annual climate funding to developing countries by 2020. According to the OECD, funding estimates will not be met before 2023. The agreement expresses regret about the missed finance target and calls for increasing support for developing countries.

70th Human Study Links Fluoride to Lower IQ Nov 15 00:37 by NYSCOF 0 comments

Ingested fluoride, neither a nutrient nor essential, is ineffective at reducing tooth decay and is harmful to health. Yet, it is added to drinking water. But modern science proves fluoride gets into the brain, where it was never inteneded, which is lilnked to kids lower IQ

Leitrim Farmers Left In Dark On Mineral Prospecting Licenses Nov 12 21:56 by foie 0 comments

Objection claims prospecting company failed to liaise with Leitrim farmers and landowners

An objection to the granting of prospecting licenses to Flintridge Resources Ltd in County Leitrim includes 12 letters from potentially affected farmers and landowners claiming that there ‘has been no liaison’, let alone the ‘full consideration and close liaison with relevant landowners and regulatory authorities’ required by the Department’s Guidance for Good Environmental Practice in Mineral Exploration.

Salmon Farm’s 80,000 Mortalities ‘Partly Cause By Farms Themselves’ Nov 12 21:53 by foie 0 comments

SALMON FARM’S 80,000 MORTALITIES ‘PARTLY CAUSE BY FARMS THEMSELVES’

FISH FARM CLAIM THAT ALGAE BLOOMS ARE ‘NATURAL’ CONTESTED AS 80,000 SALMON DIE

Mass mortalities reported by Mowi (formerly Marine Harvest) because of algae blooms at two of their salmon farms in Bantry Bay are ‘partly caused the farms themselves’, according to local group Save Bantry Bay.

Algal blooms are becoming an increasing problem worldwide, with salmon farms in Chile reporting losses recently of 6,000 tons of fish. The recent death of 80,000 mature salmon at two of Mowi’s sites in Bantry Bay is said by the company to be as a result of a toxic algal bloom in late October. The true extent of the losses has not been fully established yet. The deaths have occurred only a few kilometres from the controversial proposed new mega-salmon farm site at Shot Head.

Less than 50% signatures required from Ireland for EU pesticide petition to date Sep 13 22:52 by foie 0 comments

Less than half the number of signatures required from Ireland [1] to join in a European Citizens' Initiative on controlling pesticides have been gathered with less than one month left to meet the quota.

The Initiative seeks the goal of a 50% reduction phasing out the use pesticides by 2030.

Listen to Marine Protection Areas ‘while doing the dishes’ Aug 23 23:28 by foie 0 comments

Handbook on Marine Protection Areas published as audiobook
Listen to Marine Protection Areas ‘while doing the dishes’

An extensive Report on the status of Marine Protection Areas [MPAs] in Ireland has been made available on line both as a pdf and an audiobook from the library of the website of Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE]. A new 'MPA' tab on the organisation's Home Page gives direct access to the publication, which is being made available for no charge.

Grant for Bantry Bay mega-fish farm comes after 9 years of controversy Jul 01 12:37 by foie 0 comments

Opponents to Bantry Bay Fish Farm ‘Gutted’

A spokesman for the conservation charity Friends of the Irish Environment, which is based on the Beara peninsula where a proposed 18 cage salmon farm is to be located, said this morning they were ‘gutted’ by the decision.

Mayo GAA pitch cited to County Council as breaching pesticides guidelines. May 21 23:02 by foie 0 comments

Call on GAA to quantify pesticides use for International Bee Day
Mayo GAA pitch cited to County Council as breaching pesticides guidelines on International Bee Day

The environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] have written to Liam McCarthy, the GAA President, citing the use of pesticides at a Mayo GAA pitch and asking him to quantify the use of pesticides on GAA grounds and to ensure users have been trained to the standard required by the legislation.

Failure to give Ireland’s EU position on pesticides a ‘democratic deficit’. May 12 21:14 by foie 0 comments

Ireland's position on bee mortality permitted by pesticides questioned.

Failure to give Ireland’s EU position on pesticides a ‘democratic deficit’.

Six environmental groups have written an ‘Open Letter’ to four Ministers seeking Ireland’s position on the limits of mortalities permitted through the use of pesticides.

The groups are seeking Ireland's position on pesticides in last March’s meeting of the EU’s Standing Committee on Plant, Animal, Food and Feed and what position the State plans to take at the forthcoming meeting in June.

According to the letter to Ministers Ryan, Hackett, Heydon, and McConalogue, a majority of the Member States now favour at least doubling the 5% permitted threshold of mortalities after pesticide treatments (which can be repeated through the growing season) with some member states proposing to allow as much as 25% of a colony to be destroyed under the revised ‘Bee Guidance Document’.

Lack of public consultation leads to quashing of 10 An Bord Pleanala consents Apr 28 21:35 by foie 0 comments

High Court quashes last 8 of Bord na Mona’s ‘ghost’ planning applications
Lack of public consultation leads to quashing of 10 An Bord Pleanala consents

The High Court has quashed decisions of An Bord Pleanala to grant leave to apply for substitute consent, in respect of a number of peat extraction and quarry applications. The two-step, ‘substitute consent’ system, by which developers had to make ‘threshold’ applications to regularise previous unauthorised activities before applying for planning permission, was found not to comply with the EIA Directive by the Supreme Court in July 2020 in cases brought by An Taisce, the National Trust, and Peter Sweetman in relation to a quarry in County Kildare.

A Crisis of Hypocrisy Apr 23 22:43 by Gary Jordan 1 comments

The climate change movement remain tight-lipped when it suits them.

Action on pesticide reductions facing ‘strong political headwinds’ Feb 24 11:20 by foie 0 comments

Call on public to support EU ‘Citizens Initiative’ on pesticides facing ‘strong political headwinds’
5878 more signatures required on pesticides Initiative for Ireland to reach its threshold

Ireland remains almost 6,000 signatures short of the required number to reach its threshold in an EU Citizens Initiative calling for greater control of pesticides.

The Initiative comes as the goal of a 50% reduction phasing out the use pesticides by 2030 is ‘facing strong political headwinds’, according to the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE]

Warning of ‘cowboy contractors’ still ignoring peat planning regulations as Bord na Mona e... Jan 16 17:26 by foie 0 comments

PRESS RELEASE - Friends of the Irish Environment - 15 January 2021

For Immediate Release

Formal end to the Bord na Mona’s peat harvesting ‘major milestone’
Warning of ‘cowboy contractors’ still ignoring peat planning regulations

The decision by Bord na Mona to end all peat harvesting marked a ‘major milestone’ in Ireland’s progress towards controlling greenhouse gases and biodiversity loss, Friends of the Irish Environment said in a statement today.

Felling stopped by residents due to recommence Jan 07 21:21 by foie 0 comments

Call for change in Coillte Principal Objects as illegal felling video released
Work stopped by residents due to recommence

An environmental charity has called on the Government to change Coillte Teo’ Principle Objects to add ‘social’ and ‘environmental’ to its sole current sole ‘commercial’ remit.

Friends of the Irish Environment released a video on social media over the New Years’ weekend showing residents stopping clearfelling of a Special Area of Conservation by Coillte Teo which was viewed more than 4,000 time over the weekend. The video, taken at Kilsheelan Woods in the Lower River Suir Area of Special Conservation, shows an extensive woodland area between the N22 road and the River Suir undergoing clearfelling.

Machinery at work on 28 protected raised bogs confirmed to Europe by Ireland Dec 19 00:20 by foie 0 comments

State refuses release of 2020 images recording ongoing turf cutting on protected raised bogs

Machinery at work on 28 protected raised bogs confirmed to Europe by Ireland

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has refused to release images recording ongoing destruction of Ireland’s protected raised bogs during 2020.

The request came from the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] who first brought the activities to the attention of the authorities in 2009. The prohibition on cutting on 56 Special Areas of Conservation {SAC] protected raised bogs was due to take effect in 1998 but was not imposed until 2009.

Call for government's position on EU subsidizing nuclear power plants Dec 13 19:09 by foie 0 comments

The environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment has called on Taoiseach Micheal Martin to clarify the Irish government's position in relation to efforts to allow the EU to subsidize nuclear power plants. According to a document seen by Friends of the Irish environment, several countries, including France, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, want the EU to allow subsidies to nuclear plants in return for backing a higher EU 2030 climate target. However, other countries including Luxembourg and Austria, are rejecting these plans. The position of the Irish government is not clear.

Records Show 1.6 Million Wild Fish Destroyed In 4 Years Nov 25 20:30 by foie 0 comments

Atlantic Bays stripped of wild fish to eat lice off farmed salmon
Records show 1.6m wild fish destroyed in 4 years

More than 1.6 million wild fish were taken from Ireland’s Atlantic bays to eat the lice off farmed salmon between May 2015 and November 2019. The figures, released to environmental groups through Access to Information on the Environment requests, are the first official record of salmon farming’s practices on these wild fish.

Spread of rhododendron ‘death warrant’ for countryside Nov 11 21:14 by foie 0 comments

Call for Covid-19 ‘track and trace’ for rhododendron
Spread of rhododendron ‘death warrant’ for countryside

The spread of rhododendron across Ireland’s countryside has been likened to Covid-19 by an environmental charity, Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE]. FIE have called for a ‘track and trace’ programme to be put in place to control the increasing spread of this ‘beautiful and picturesque death warrant’.

12-year legal battle quashes planning permission for Shannon LNG terminal Nov 10 20:19 by foie 0 comments

Twelve years after losing their original case against the planning permission for a LNG terminal on the Shannon River, Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] today received a High Court order quashing An Bord Pleanala’s grant of permission and awarding costs in their favour. The proposed terminal was due to process Liquid Natural Gas [LNG] from the USA for consumption in Ireland and to be distributed throughout the EU.

High Court to hear challenge against unsustainable fishing in Ireland and the EU Nov 05 11:20 by foie 0 comments

High Court to hear challenge against unsustainable fishing in Ireland and the EU

The Irish High Court granted leave today to the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] to apply for a Judicial Review aimed at challenging the EU Regulation setting 2020 fishing quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) because of its failure to meet a legally defined deadline of ending overfishing in all stocks by 2020.

Court Update, Waste Management Plans, Novartis Ringaskiddy Incinerator Application Oct 14 23:09 by chase 0 comments

This news update from Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment contains update on: The High Court Case EPA Licence Novartis Commercial Incinerator Application Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy

Action on peat comes two years after environmental complaint Oct 02 16:33 by foie 0 comments

Call on Minister to control private companies as Bord Na Mona quits peat bedding sector

Action comes two years after environmental complaint

Two years after calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, to exercise his powers under the legislation to stop Teagasc, the Farm Advisory Service, and Bord na Mona from promoting the use of deep peat for bedding in animal housing, Bord na Mona has announced that it is exiting the peat bedding market.

The extent of the practice came to light on field trips conducted by Friends of the Irish Environment in the summer of 2018. It coincided with Bord na Mona and Teagasc beginning to market peat as an alternative to straw after the poor harvests led to shortages of straw. The company entered the market in 2017, having reportedly appointed a team to manage sales and grow the market in the wake of reduced use of peat for power generation.