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Eamon Ryan and Mark Ruffalo during tonight's live stream. Zoom

Mark Ruffalo says fossil fuel companies want to 'junk Ireland up' with fracked gas

The Greens have brought in some Hollywood big guns to get the PfG over the line

LAST UPDATE | 22 Jun 2020

US ACTOR MARK Ruffalo joined Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin of the Green Party in a webinar tonight as voting continues on the programme for government (PfG) . 

Ruffalo is a high-profile opponent of the use fracked gas and has previously lent his support to the campaign against the proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Co Kerry

This evening he joined Ryan, Martin and a number of other anti-fracking campaigners from both Europe and the US as part of a live discussion. 

It comes following commitments in the PfG to prevent the importation of fracked gas.

Green Party members are currently voting on whether to accept the PfG, with party rules dictating that two-thirds support is required. 

Speaking this evening at the end of the live stream, Ruffalo said the proposals in the PfG represent “a win” for the movement against fracking. 

“I love you, I appreciate you, I hear you, let’s keep doing this, we’ve got a long haul ahead of us, but this is a win,” he said.

This is a win, see it as what it is and celebrate it and then let’s move on to the next one.

Fracking works by drilling down into the earth and using a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals to release gas trapped inside rock beneath the earth’s surface.

The process is seen as advantageous for fossil fuel companies because it allows them access difficult-to-reach resources. It comes at a high environmental cost, however, because it uses huge amounts of water and has been shown to release potentially carcinogenic chemicals during drilling. 

The proposed LNG terminal in Kerry would likely be used to transit fracked gas extracted elsewhere, such as in the US.

The PfG states that the parties: “do not support the importation of fracked gas and shall develop a policy statement to establish that approach”. 

It also states the government will: “withdraw the Shannon LNG terminal from the EU Projects of Common Interest list in 2021.”

Ahead of this evening’s webinar, the Green Party quotes Oscar-nominated Ruffalo as saying the pledge would represent “a monumental achievement for Ireland”. 

“For years, US and Irish campaigners have worked together to achieve a ban on fracking in Ireland. Now the PfG is an opportunity for a monumental achievement for Ireland to become the first country in the world to ban fracked gas imports. This is crucial for our shared climate, as well as for the public health of Americans,” Ruffalo said.

I have been advocating for ten years with Americans who have been poisoned by fracking, many who live in the areas that would supply Ireland with fracked gas. I’m thankful that US anti-fracking activists contacted Green Party leaders to support the Programme for Government and that I can lend my support in this critical moment.

shutterstock_753597286 Ruffalo plays The Incredible Hulk in the Marvel cinematic universe. Shutterstock Shutterstock

During the live stream, Ruffalo said that fossil fuel companies were attempting to use Ireland to export fracked gas around the world:

“In the face of all these new technologies that promise so much better live, so many better lives for people, whether it’s your job or your health, or just the beauty of your surroundings. Why would you move forward in creating more natural gas use, more fossil fuel use in the world.

And taking Ireland. I’m telling you, they’re using you. You hear the plan, they’re gonna junk your country up, they are using you to bring this product into your country and disseminate it through the rest of Europe. And you are going to be the suckers on the end of the line here. I’ve seen it time and time again, and this is not hyperbolic, this is the way this industry works.

Julia Walsh, campaign director of the New York-based activist group Frack Action, also said the PfG represented “a tremendous achievement” in what it does to combat fracking. 

“There’s a chance here to choose between forming a coalition and getting some really significant accomplishments and achievements that would set Ireland on a course as a world leader on climate,” she said. 

“Or you can be an opposition party and that’s a choice for your members and we wanted to just make sure that you could hear from those of us on the ground and hear more about this tremendous achievement of this program for government.” 

Policy statement

Despite the pledge in the PfG, some have questioned whether the government’s policy statement would actually prevent the importation of fracked gas. 

Speaking this afternoon, Minister for Climate Action Richard Bruton said such statements “clearly have a weight”. 

“The government has committed that a policy statement on fracked gas will be introduced. And you know, those policy statements clearly have a weight and
that’s why there is a desire by many that there would be clear government statements
regarding the use of fracked gas,” he said. 

I think there is genuine evidence around fracked gas and the impact that it has on climate. I think that evidence is strong and that’s why the government has decided that the government should issue a policy statement. What implication will be for private interests is obviously a matter for them.

“It also clearly is an issue that various bodies will take into account, what government policy statements are, so I think many would feel that having a policy statement would be a significant factor in any decisions.”

Asked how soon such a statement could be made and whether it would actually lead to an effective banning of fracked gas, Bruton said: 

I think that that remains to be seen. I mean, obviously that statement is to be put together but I think we have made the decision already to ban fracked gas in Ireland because of the adverse environmental impacts, and I think there is growing concern about fugitive methane, as it’s described, that is associated with fracking.

“I think that is why there is a broad agreement within government that the importation of fracked gas is not something that the government supports and that we will go a step further and issue a policy statement to that effect.”

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    Mute Tallaght two
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    Feb 21st 2015, 7:32 AM

    I would not want to be in those towers with a fire on the floors below. Very frightening. How everyone got out ok.

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    Mute Tallaght two
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    Feb 21st 2015, 7:33 AM

    *hope

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    Mute Radu Covrig
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:12 AM

    The Torch tower caught fire. Unfortunate and ironic

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    Mute Sacha Mahady
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    Feb 21st 2015, 8:44 AM

    Wow. Another skyscraper fire that burned for hours and did not result in a pinpoint collapse. And still people accept what cr@p is spouted about what happened to tower 7 on that horrible day in sept 11. Great to hear no one was badly hurt in this fire.

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    Mute John Reese
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    Feb 21st 2015, 8:49 AM

    Did a 767 hit it though….duh no

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:06 AM

    With full tanks of thousands of tons of fuel.

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    Mute Horgay H
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:08 AM

    Re Sacha

    Well said

    Re John

    Tower 7, a separate building to the two twin towers, was a 47 storey skyscraper. It received minimal superficial damage from parts of the plane and none of this damage was structural. Apparently the ‘fire’ that raged in a small part of the building caused the whole structure to suddenly collapse in freefall within a clue of seconds. Scientists are still baffled as to how this happened. It was investigated and a model put forward as to how it happened but this data will not be released by the government despite lots of requests and no one else can recreate the findings of the investigators re this.

    Tower 7, is the elephant in the room. It cannot be explained and anyone who believes the official conspiracy theory them please explain Tower 7.

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    Mute Barry Cooper
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:50 AM

    Twin towers were engineered to take a hit from the plane but don’t let facts get in the way. Building 7 fell and no plane hit that. Any thoughts on y that one fell

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    Mute Alan b
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    Feb 21st 2015, 10:01 AM

    Ah boys ye are away with the fairies!

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    Mute Gary
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    Feb 21st 2015, 10:27 AM

    Paul, Scientific fact or Media coverage, you decide. The following information is easily found.
    Extremely high temperatures were evident before and after the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Office and hydrocarbon fires burning in open air (~500° to 1,500° F) cannot reach temperatures in the range that iron or structural steel melts (2,700° F).
    Thermal images from NASA found temperatures at ground zero to be as high as 2,800F.
    Iron oxide and aluminum are the ingredients of classic thermite, an incendiary that burns at approximately 4500°F, producing aluminum oxide and molten iron. The carbon content of the ground zero metal indicates the presence of thermite.
    Thermal images taken by NASA and EarthData satellites show that the “hot spots” remained at the same locations. The phenomenon did not “move” across the site, like one would expect from fire as it consumes the fuel available in any one location.
    University of California professor Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, the first structural engineer given access to the WTC steel notes, “I saw melting of girders at the World Trade Center.” Astaneh also “describes the connections [between supporting columns] as being smoothly warped: “That could only happen if you get steel yellow hot or white hot – perhaps around 2,000 degrees.’”.

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    Mute Andy Byrne
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    Feb 21st 2015, 11:36 AM

    Where was the plane that hit the pentagon? Or the field? Look at the pics!!

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    Mute James Whelan
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    Feb 21st 2015, 1:25 PM

    The difference between conspiracy theorists these days and those from the past is that today the so called ‘Tin foil hat ‘ merchants have all the scientific facts to back up their arguments.

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    Mute Sacha Mahady
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    Feb 21st 2015, 3:05 PM

    No John it did not. I would say it was hit with about the same amount of plane as tower 7 though. I’m not here to educate you. Do your own research before you talk nonsense.
    Separately the energy from the aviation fuel would have burnt out within a few minutes leaving only paper and desks to burn the rest. Computers and copiers don’t make great fire wood. Convenient that a un burnt passport which was apparently on the body of one of the terrorists was found at ground zero in near perfect condition too. The fact is that in every case possible. Everything falls at the line of least resistance. And the line of least resistance is not straight down through reinforced columns.

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    Mute Stephen Earle
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    Feb 21st 2015, 3:33 PM

    Sacha, they dont build towers with the same method of construction like the World Trade Center anymore so referring to it is ill informed

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    Mute Lloyd Hetherington
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:27 AM

    That’s what you get when you use slave labour!

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Feb 21st 2015, 12:30 PM

    I doubt that the architects were slaves.

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    Mute Charlie Mountney
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:31 AM

    Well said Lloyd. Another ultra conservative Middle Eastern shitehole.

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    Mute Paul Cassidy
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:45 AM

    John…you implying a 767 hit tower 7? No plane hit tower 7.

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    Feb 21st 2015, 11:40 AM

    Remember the Towering Inferno. Good film.

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    Mute Vaibhav Borse
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    Feb 21st 2015, 9:17 AM

    i didn’t know Dubai had a torch!!

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    Mute space invader
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    Feb 21st 2015, 5:47 PM

    A few less windows for the window cleaners to clean Monday morning

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