Fossilised

You have to know your Climate Change policy is on pretty thin ice when you're comparing yourself to the three of the bottom ranking nations in the world concerning emission reduction targets. Yet, this is what John Key and Nick Smith did in parliament this week - to the applause of his party - saying New Zealand's emissions reduction target of 10-20% (let's go with 10%) is 'credible' considering the woeful ambitions of Australia, America, and the brain dead conservative government of Canada.

"New Zealand cannot afford a higher target" is the Prime Ministers message. Their fiscally responsible approach to climate change along with their winking disapproval of Brash's 2025 Task Force Report has made our government look positively independent and focussed on New Zealand's economic future... or is that indecision? Yet the continuing relegation of Climate Change behind vague economic priorities has earned New Zealand more shame internationally.

New Zealander's may be slow to learn that the "clean and green" myth is actually just a myth, but the international community is catching on quickly. Where is the international leadership? Where is the groundbreaking experiment of New Zealand? Is it chasing Australia, swimming to catch up with the Titanic?

New Zealand needs shame in Copenhagen. It needs to be lavished on. The Sign On and 10-20% Pure New Zealand movements here at home aren't moving the boulders, and protest just ostracise's those realists who want real action take on climate change as 'lefties'. International pressure however, that can be more credible. New Zealander's need external perspectives on National policies to swipe away that curtain of 'common sense' and view the portrait for what it really is: deformed.

I'm glad John Key is at Copenhagen. Maybe someone will throw a shoe at him.

A Winter Made

One of the problems the environmental movement is facing is the ambivalence of the media. The destruction around us does not suit the dogmatic principles of those in power and is therefore ignored. For the many kiwis who do care about the environment, the consequences are sometimes hard to see. We don't see ecosystems destroyed, water ways polluted, or the overall consequences of the consumer lifestyle when they are not reported.

This is highlighted by Paul Henry's quite incredible ignorance when discussing the environmental impact of plastic bags on Breakfast the other week. He said "what will a plastic bag do, honestly? One plastic bag does not a winter make".

Well on Midway Atoll the albatross are facing extinction, due to parents feeding their chicks plastics - which look like food - they find in the polluted water. On a diet of human trash thousands of Albatross chicks die every year on Midway alone from starvation, toxicity, and choking. Midway is 2000 kilometres away from it's nearest continent.

So for all to see here are the unaltered consequences plastics are having on the bird life on Midway Atoll:

So thank you once again for your opinion Mr. Henry, but I think the world is better off without it.

Source

From Frogblog

I wish to quote a post from Frogblog in full:

A few Quotes from John Key - Pre Election
“National will have policies that reflect the fact that living on a diet of carbon will be increasingly bad – bad for the world and bad for our economy. We will have policy that encourages ‘climate friendly’ choices like windmills, hydro power and tree planting, and reduces the desire for ‘climate unfriendly’ behaviours, like burning coal”

“Any political party with an eye to New Zealand’s future success must pursue policies that protect and promote our environmental assets.”

“National will provide Kiwis with good signals about the cars that are the best for the environment. We will do this by ensuring our emission and noise standards for new vehicles keep up with international standards and practices and by introducing more sophisticated emissions and noise testing for existing vehicles. If Kiwis have a highly polluting or excessively noisy car, we think they should know about it and have an incentive to do something about it”

“National proudly shares many of your values: like you, we want to protect our unique native species. We want our children and grandchildren to be able to swim in our rivers and lakes. We believe in sound environmental science. We are committed to high environmental standards”

“Government policy decisions over the next few years will have consequences that keep reverberating not just for the next 10 or 20 years but for the next 50 and beyond. So it’s vital we get them right.”

and lastly:

“We should always measure a government’s environmental rhetoric against its environmental record”

Thanks to Forest and Bird for pulling these together.

So how are those nice words stacking up? Well, so far National has:

• Announced ETS Review to find out if climate change is real
• Repealed Biofuel Bill, including sustainability standard
• Scrapped “Love NZ” public place recycling
• Scrapped $1bn insulation fund
• Introduced the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act, which, amongst other things, prohibits councils from making general rules about trimming or felling trees.
• Hiked the fee for commencing appeal or inquiry proceedings in the Environment Court from $55 to $500, so community groups can’t afford to file against environmentally damaging projects.
• Cut funding to Enviroschools
• Cut funding to the Department of Conservation, including natural heritage management
• Cut funding to the Ministry for the Environment
• Cut funding for fisheries sustainability, biosecurity
• Refused to stop the import of palm kernel, despite overwhelming evidence and public outcry
• Opposed (and killed) Marine Animals Bill
• Introduced terrible ETS Bill
• Budget for environmental education: cancelled.
• Renewable electricity preference: cancelled.
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy: cancelled
• Fuel economy standards for cars entering New Zealand: cancelled
• Minimum energy performance standards for appliances: seriously delayed
• DoC’s budget: cut by $13.5m/year
• Plans to mine in National Parks

I’m seeing a wee disconnect here. Are you?

Is it just me ...

... or are S.U.V.s on the rise around town?

I swear I see them every time I turn around a corner, and not the modest kiwi off-road jap-import 80's models either. I'm talking big fuck-off European luxurymobiles. Is Wellington full of that many over-compensators?

Climate Change Panel

Tonight I attended a student organised panel discussion at Vic on Climate Change Economics. On the panel was Russel Norman, Ganesh Nana, and Vic ENVI lecturers Sean Weaver and Ralph Chapman.

The turn out was really good, all seats being occupied. But I took little away from the discussion that I didn't already know, and I had a similar feeling for those around me. Really, for the knowledge to be gained from that discussion which ranged from (start to finish) NZs 2020 Emissions Reduction Target to investment in a green economy, the wrong crowd turned up. That is it did not attract the audience that needs to hear about climate change economics, but instead one that is already passionate about fighting global warming... which I suppose is to be expected.

We have students working hard to organise these events and get the voices heard which the media is so skilled at muting. If you see Just Action or 10-20% Pure New Zealand posters or events around Wellington, please go to them. The $0 entry fee is really worth the knowledge gained.