Environment

Categories under Environment

English rising anti-fascism

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, August 8th, 2024 - 68 comments

This is more hope than I have felt about humans in a long time

Maritime Union v Willis

Written By: - Date published: 12:16 pm, August 7th, 2024 - 49 comments

National’s decision to cancel the replacement Cook Strait ferry project is developing into a full blown political crisis for the Government with estimates that it could cost the Crown up to a billion dollars and with further costs to come.

National’s carbon budget is a crock

Written By: - Date published: 7:26 pm, July 18th, 2024 - 16 comments

It is now clear why Simon Watts rushed out a three page brochure setting out what this Government’s response to climate change will be. It knew that the latest Climate Change Emissions Reduction Plan was coming out for consultation. And that it could not come up with a credible plan.

Tui: National Party’s Local Water Done Well – A more expensive 3 Waters with potential for privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, July 18th, 2024 - 4 comments

Simeon Brown is working on National’s New 3 Waters called “Local Water Done Well.” But is it just a more expensive version with a privatisation catch?

Remember that time we had a global pandemic?

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, July 16th, 2024 - 5 comments

how’s it going five years on?

Government is paying lip service to climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, July 14th, 2024 - 6 comments

This week Change Minister Simon Watts showed the depth of the Government’s thinking by releasing a three page brochure outlining its collective thoughts. If the Government is at that level of thinking the country is well and truly stuffed. And meanwhile ACT’s Mark Cameron wants to prevent local government from considering climate change when formulating regional plans.

Winston Peters – lazy hypocrite on ferries

Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, July 11th, 2024 - 15 comments

My ire was raised this morning when I read a pile of PR drivel from acting PM Winston Peters about the Interislander. If he wanted to be useful looking at “critical part of our infrastructure” – then there are number of better things he could usefully do – rather than chasing headlines.

Mountain Tui: The Kiwirail Interislander saga continues

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, July 11th, 2024 - 40 comments

Nicola Willis’s decision to cancel the Kiwirail i-Rex contract without a back up plan is coming back to bite. As costs pile up for the taxpayer, we have already lost half a billion dollars, but that won’t be the final bill. And there are still no ferries.

The best carbon capture device is a tree

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, July 10th, 2024 - 18 comments

The Government is hoping that Carbon Capture and Sequestration will reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emission levels. But it is refusing to protect forests and trees, which are the best Carbon Capture and Sequestration devices going.

Mountain Tui: New Zealand deserves better than marketing

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, July 7th, 2024 - 6 comments

Last week the Coalition Govt said they were doing away with the name “fast-track.” This is a Govt of professional lobbyists so I am not surprised by their attunement to marketing. “Fast-track” became bad for business. The name had to go. They have also weakened regarding fast-track because of opposition.

The implications of UK Labour’s success for NZ Labour

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, July 7th, 2024 - 79 comments

What should New Zealand Labour learn from UK Labour’s success in the recent election?

Bishop wants to accelerate urban sprawl

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, July 4th, 2024 - 36 comments

Chris Bishop has announced proposed changes to planning laws that will increase urban sprawl and damage to the environment.

Ferry sweary

Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, June 27th, 2024 - 45 comments

The Government is in a rather precarious position relating to the contract to replace the ageing Cook Straight ferries, which clearly need replacing.

What the Aratere Grounding Means

Written By: - Date published: 4:24 pm, June 22nd, 2024 - 67 comments

The grounding of the ferry Aratere is potentially a political gift to National.

Safer streets or unsafer streets?

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, June 16th, 2024 - 18 comments

The Government is planning to reverse Labour’s previous policy relating to permanent safe speeds around schools. The change will decrease safety and walking and cycling and increase car use. And the upside is?

National announced more subsidies in farming for capital gains

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, June 13th, 2024 - 19 comments

National and their minion parties just announced another massive $400 million R&D subsidy for agricultural greenhouse gases by taxpayers for the low profit industry of pastoral farming. This joins the other large and hidden subsidies levied on tax and rate payers to support rural and state roads capable of sustained heavy agricultural and forestry trucks.

Haere ra He Wake Eke Noa

Written By: - Date published: 1:42 pm, June 13th, 2024 - 21 comments

It was always going to happen but it still rankles that an attempt to get farming to at least confront the damage it causes to the climate is being put on hold.

Respect existence or expect resistance

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, June 9th, 2024 - 16 comments

Yesterday’s Greenpeace’s War on Nature protest in Tamaki Makaurau suggests growing unity on the left and an increasing determination to stop the Fast Track Projects Bill from being passed.

Fast-Track to Fast-Fail

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 pm, June 8th, 2024 - 35 comments

Only a fool insists on furiously flogging a dead horse to go faster on the track.

March for Nature

Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, June 7th, 2024 - 21 comments

Be there, bring your whanau, bring friends. Make it noisy and passionate and make it count.

Is our investment in defence value for money?

Written By: - Date published: 4:31 am, May 29th, 2024 - 30 comments

Defence cost us more than $6.7 billion in 2023/24. Why does our small, remote country have such a costly defence force? Is it fit for purpose – and in 2024, what is that purpose?

Is Shane Jones Right About Mining?

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, May 25th, 2024 - 36 comments

Maybe Shane Jones is at least partially right about mining.

The Luxon Government’s War on Nature

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, May 25th, 2024 - 10 comments

“But the truth is that real gains only ever come out of a mobilised civil society and achieving a mobilised civil society is exactly what we have to do.”

– Russel Norman

Speech time

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, May 21st, 2024 - 6 comments

In the past week Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins have both delivered future vision themed speeches. With some dramatic contrasts.

Power cuts or Powerdown?

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, May 10th, 2024 - 60 comments

Powercuts in a wealthy country like New Zealand don’t make us third world. It’s bog standard neoliberalism which has both impeded upkeep of our infrastructure and blocked meaningful climate transition. Third world is when you can’t afford to fix, maintain and futureproof society. Neoliberalism is when you do that by choice.

2.5C and our choices: the bad news and the good news

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, May 9th, 2024 - 10 comments

The Guardian published a major report yesterday on what top climate scientists are saying about the climate crisis.

In defence of Julie Anne Genter

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 pm, May 2nd, 2024 - 203 comments

Yesterday in Parliament Julie Anne Genter lost her cool when Matt Doocey misrepresented what the last Government’s NLTP priorities were. Should she be sanctioned? Or should she get a medal for pointing out that Doocey was totally wrong?

The best of climate communication

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, April 30th, 2024 - 6 comments

Environmentalist and journalist Bill McKibben nails it in two minutes.

This is fine

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, April 27th, 2024 - 8 comments

There is absolutely nothing to worry about if the Fast-track Approvals Bill gets passed into law and Shane Jones gets extraordinary powers to decide on consent applications which normally would be subject to enormous rigour and oversight.

What does this Government have against the environment

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, April 24th, 2024 - 5 comments

It is almost as if the environment was really cruel to senior members of the Government when they were kids. But whatever the reason this Government appears to be intent on wrecking the local environment with a degree of vengeance and stupidity not seen before.

How to slow down the Fast Track Bill

Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, April 19th, 2024 - 19 comments

UPDATE: government forced to release the list of companies it wrote to about the Fast-Track application process.

Yesterday was the last day for submissions on the nature and society destroying Fast Track bill.