Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520947
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 MAY 2024 6 INTERVIEW Ralph Cassar: 'Green is the colour of progressives and environmentalists in this election' RALPH Cassar believes the strongest message voters disillusioned by politics can give is to "vote green" because not voting does not worry the big parties. "Not voting is not a message to the Labour and Nationalist parties; it does not worry them be- cause the choice will still be made," he says. "The strongest message is to vote green because we have shown consistency and done politics seriously for years." This is the message Cassar delivers at the tail end of a 30-minute interview in which he defends green politics and addresses the perception that it is socially and economically detrimental to ordi- nary people. Cassar insists climate change is a reality that will not go away and its impacts are being felt every- where by ordinary people. Transitioning to a more sustainable green economy is a must, he argues but insists it has to be socially just. He cites as an example the blanket subsidies on fuel and electricity, which ADPD has opposed. Cassar says the blanket provision simply "encour- ages waste" and benefits most those who use most. "Of course, there should be subsidies on the amount of energy needed to live comfortably, but should someone who lives in a small apartment who has only one airconditioned room subsidise someone who has 10 rooms all with ACs running 24 hours a day? This is squandering of tax money," he tells me. The he millions spent on subsidies should have been spent on alternative modes of public trans- port, support for those with mobility issues and investment for a quicker transition towards more domestic renewable energy sources, he says. When I ask him about the pushback towards green policies across the EU, Cassar blames this on the European People's Party that abandoned the Green Deal when it saw the popular mood on the continent shift. "Instead of trying to strengthen the European social fund to support the transition, they [EPP] simply changed course because they do not have strong [green] principles… In Malta, the PN was proposing in parliament a motion to declare a cli- matic emergency but in the European Parliament the EPP was doing otherwise," he says. Active for more than 30 years in politics, ADPD Secretary General Ralph Cassar is contesting the 8 June European Parliament election. He sits down with KURT SANSONE to discuss the green transition, how its impact on everyday life can be mitigated and why voters should look out for the colour green on the ballot sheet. We do not feel the same panic that others living in countries bordering Ukraine and Russia are feeling… The fear risks opening the doors to more militarisation but I am not in a position to tell these people not to worry.