climate change

Categories under climate change

National’s dilemma – business as usual is failing them.

Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, July 6th, 2020 - 99 comments

Audrey Young’s take in Granny Herald was interesting. “No ordinary Labour speech by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern”. That is because the political ‘business as usual’ approach by the business orientation of National campaigning using the politics of fear and envy doesn’t work well in times of crisis. Business simply has too short a viewpoint to be acceptable in government at present – or increasingly in our uncertain future.

Green Party win: RMA amended to include climate change

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, June 28th, 2020 - 15 comments

“In my view, this is one of the most significant policy changes to address climate change that we have done this term” – James Shaw

A World That Just Doesn’t Need As Much Oil

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, June 18th, 2020 - 27 comments

BP yesterday sent a really big message that effectively now, Covid-19 is the break that tips the world away from oil dependence.

The wood, the trees and the ETS

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 3rd, 2020 - 4 comments

It’s a brutal thing to propose more taxes and costs on business during our worst economic meltdown in a century. But yesterday the Government increased the cost of Carbon.  But we need to do more.

Todd Muller is Simon Bridges with less personality

Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, May 26th, 2020 - 68 comments

Todd Muller has announced a front bench that resembles a National Party front bench from 30 years ago.  And his first live interview on national television did not go as well as he hoped.

What would President Biden do?

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, May 4th, 2020 - 59 comments

With President Trump doing what we all expected, and killing 67,000 people and counting through chronic poor leadership, and utterly ruining the U.S. economy as well, it’s time to look at what policies the alternative candidate has on offer.

Covid-19 and climate change

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, May 3rd, 2020 - 55 comments

The International Energy Agency is forecasting that disruptions caused by Covid-19 will reduce CO2 output this year by 8%. To avoid the worst excesses of climate change the world has a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6% for the next decade. How are we going to keep repeating the reductions that we achieved this year for the next decade?

His work here is not yet done

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 1st, 2020 - 71 comments

Former Prime Minister John Key has said that under current conditions employers are going to sack 20 per cent of their workers even if the company is doing well and that employers should never waste a crisis.

Draconian Tourism or no Tourism?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 27th, 2020 - 192 comments

If overseas tourists want to visit NZ, they may have to give up a little bit of their privacy to keep all of us safe.

Russel Norman: Climate change is harder to visualise than coronavirus, but no less dangerous

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, April 24th, 2020 - 6 comments

Executive Director of Greenpeace NZ, Russel Norman writes about the different responses to climate change and covid-19, and the things we can learn from the pandemic.

Greens push for large intercity rail infrastructure to ensure sustainable post-COVID-19 rebuild

Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, April 19th, 2020 - 122 comments

“The Greens are highlighting fast intercity rail improvements as the type of climate-friendly, job-creating project that should be prioritised for post-COVID-19 economic stimulus investment.”

No Right Turn: Climate Change – the need for a green recovery

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, April 15th, 2020 - 7 comments

The Climate Change Commission – the expert panel tasked with getting New Zealand carbon neutral – has written to the government asking it to apply a “climate change lens” to the post-Covid-19 spend-up.

Greenpeace’s Green Covid Response

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, April 12th, 2020 - 77 comments

Oil giant OMV finally leave New Zealand, and Greenpeace releases its Green Covid Response plan to the government.

Tourism is the elephant in the living room

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, April 9th, 2020 - 148 comments

Rather than saving an industry that has multiple sustainability and resiliency failures, how about we regenerate local economies and set them to serve our communities?

What about Climate Change then?

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, March 31st, 2020 - 26 comments

Shouldn’t this global shock from this COVID-19 virus make us all wake up to the power of collective global action on climate change?

Climate change – the right schemes and the left despairs

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 2nd, 2020 - 27 comments

The Australian Liberal Government has signalled a movement away from solar and wind power  to untested technologies including carbon capture, hydrogen and lithium. Meanwhile the woman who led the negotiations for the Paris Agreement is calling for civil disobedience to force institutions to respond to the climate crisis.

Happy cows and land restoration

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, March 1st, 2020 - 12 comments

The point here isn’t to go ‘boo vegans’, it’s to point starkly to the problems with the current food and environment debate, and show case the pathways beyond the meat/no meat binary.

WTAF NZ First?

Written By: - Date published: 6:44 am, February 22nd, 2020 - 148 comments

It has been reported that NZ First will oppose the Green’s attempt to make the country’s car fleet more sustainable and that it may hold up proposed gun law changes designed to address the problems clearly shown by the Christchurch massacre.

Climate and food security: annual cropping vs regenerative agriculture

Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, February 13th, 2020 - 67 comments

Science is showing that global food security is now at risk from climate change, farmers and gardeners are showing us how to adapt and mitigate at the same time.

Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 27th, 2020 - 11 comments

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change.  But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.

Climate change thought experiment

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, January 27th, 2020 - 120 comments

What if…

The right is splintering on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, January 23rd, 2020 - 70 comments

The right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier.  And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.

Power, the Acceleration of Cultural Evolution, and Our Best Hope for Survival

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, January 21st, 2020 - 38 comments

Originally published by Post Carbon Institute, Richard Heinberg writes about humanity’s relationship with power and how this presents both great danger and great opportunity.

The great political heist that wasn’t

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, January 21st, 2020 - 40 comments

National has hinted darkly that the theft of laptops from its headquarters was possibly motivated by political considerations even though it had been told of a similar burglary of a neighbouring office had also occurred recently.

Federated Farmers launches petition against its business model

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, January 19th, 2020 - 157 comments

Federated Farmers has started a petition against an educational resource that teaches about climate change and activism because it does not present their industry in a sufficiently positive way.

News Corp climate change denial attacked by (checks notes) James Murdoch …

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, January 15th, 2020 - 116 comments

News Corp has had a bad week in the media with many questioning its continued climate change denial and its support for politicians refusing to accept the reality of climate change.  But the most surprising opposition has been expressed by Rupert Murdoch’s son and News Corp director James Murdoch.

How fast can we transition off fossil fuels?

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, January 12th, 2020 - 148 comments

We’re at the tension point between the fear a fast transition will deprive us vs the fear that not acting fast enough will lead to climate change depriving us. Climate activists fear the latter, incrementalists fear the former.

A message for conservatives about climate change and nuclear power

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, January 9th, 2020 - 142 comments

David Farrar has criticised young people not for their passion about addressing climate change, but for not supporting nuclear power as a potential solution.  Even though it is too risky, too expensive, and too late.

Australian fires and the climate crisis everybody wanted to ignore

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, January 7th, 2020 - 51 comments

Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog 

Australia is no longer the lucky country

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, January 6th, 2020 - 112 comments

Australia is arguably no longer the lucky country.  And if it does not resolve its addiction to coal it may not have a future.

He wasn’t here to help us, was he

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, January 4th, 2020 - 80 comments

The utter failure of the Australian Prime Minister to lead during the bushfire crisis reminds us that it’s care for our children and communities that drives climate action. When people mobilise politicians will follow.