The carbon budget published this week by the Climate Change Advisory Council is a truly fascinating document. As I wrote when legislation establishing this format was first introduced one year ago amid a public clash between the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, carbon budgeting is intended to depoliticise scientific input into climate policy decisions that will affect business interests and the daily life of citizens across society. While Nphet never had the power to shut down pubs or international travel, it did tell the government what was known about Covid-19 and how many people could…

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