Hollywood actor and anti-fracking advocate Mark Ruffalo has thrown his weight behind the campaign against the planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the Shannon estuary.
America’s New Fortress Energy is behind proposals for the onshore liquefied natural gas facility with a deepwater jetty, storage tanks and gas-fired power station at Ballylongford, Co Kerry.
But their plan to bring fracked gas from the US to Ireland has been mired in controversy since the High Court quashed their planning application in 2020.
The State backed away from the plans in its 2020 Programme for Government but a new application has divided political views since Russia’s war on Ukraine sparked gas disruption fears.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said in January a new application would not be blocked if approved by planners and has since met with the firm behind the project.
But Environment Minister and Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan, told An Bord Pleanála it shouldn’t be permitted “under any circumstances”.
Fianna Fáil MEP, Billy Kelleher, later said: “Minister Eamon Ryan must explain why he is ignoring the advice of Ireland’s energy regulator when it comes to the need for an LNG terminal in Ireland.”
An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the €650m plant in September.
This week activists from Ireland and the US have been gathering at a climate camp in Kerry to voice their opposition to its approval.
Speaking out in support of them, Mark Ruffalo, said: “I’m proud to support the Climate Camp in Ireland that is raising awareness about the dangers of the proposed Shannon LNG terminal that would import gas from Pennsylvania and further devastate those communities.”
The Hulk and Dark Waters star says he lives near the proposed LNG export terminal along the Delaware River.
“Ireland rightly banned fracking because of the environmental and public health impacts and should reject this terminal for those very same reasons,” he added.
Ray Kemble, a former gas worker and resident of Pennsylvania, is visiting Kerry for the camp with US based Frack Action’s Julia Walsh.
Ray said: “I’m here to tell my story and as a proud Irish-American, I’m hopeful that the people of Ireland will listen. This isn’t just an environmental and climate issue, this is a human rights issue.
“Those of us who live in the areas of the United States that are being fracked are fighting for our lives. It’s a public health disaster.”
Julia added: “To import fracked gas from the United States would be to ignore the health of our global community. They must reject this disastrous LNG terminal by New Fortress Energy.”
Climate Camp spokesperson Séamus Diskin said: “The time for incremental reform is over. With climate change rapidly approaching irreversible tipping points, the survival of life on earth is at stake.
“We need to build a strong, radical climate movement that stands up to the powerful vested interests that are driving the planet towards destruction.”
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