science

Russel Norman’s Campaign Conference Speech 2014: Going Solar

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:59 pm, February 16th, 2014 - 239 comments

The text of Russel Norman’s speech to the Green Party Conference given today.

Role of Government

Written By: Bill - Date published: 10:56 am, February 11th, 2014 - 46 comments

Governments are holding on to their traditional roles and functions, but the world has changed. We need something else.

xkcd: Global Warming

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:58 am, January 28th, 2014 - 55 comments

Deep sea oil drilling

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:34 am, January 23rd, 2014 - 91 comments

Deep sea oil drilling is in the news.  Labour’s position is to require increased environmental standards and drillers would have to display an effective ability to clean up any disasters.  The Greens would prefer to leave the oil in the ground.  If there is a change of Government this year resolving this issue will pose a fascinating test of the parties.

UBI (2) Why should we push for a UBI? (Universal basic income).

Written By: KJT - Date published: 3:37 pm, January 17th, 2014 - 27 comments

Why a UBI?

Firstly. To overturn some paradigms:
That a great many people should lead poor and constricted lives, so a very few can be rich.
That ordinary people are disposable economic production units.

The politics of food: Oxfam report

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:08 am, January 16th, 2014 - 10 comments

Some MSM reports crow about positive economic indicators, & decreases in the time people spend on benefits. Such statistics fail to show inequalities, & struggles of people on low incomes.  An Oxfam comparative international report on food security is not good news for NZ, or the world.

Its not easy being Green

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:39 pm, January 11th, 2014 - 175 comments

There is an important debate for both Labour and the Greens to have about the level of cooperation they should display this year.  Some commentators have suggested that the Greens will be sidelined and that the battle will be between Labour and National but this is MMP and every vote counts.  The goal for progressives has to be to increase the overall left vote.

New Zealand is doing nothing about climate change

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:56 am, January 5th, 2014 - 178 comments

The latest report on New Zealand’s performance under the Kyoto Protocol is out and the news is disturbing.  Net emissions compared to  our 1990 CO2 equivalent emissions are predicted to treble by 2030 at a time where they should be trending to below the 1990 level.  And Government policies are shown to be making little difference.  Meanwhile a report by Prof Euan Mason advocates that Agriculture should be in the scheme and that with a proper price for ETS credits significant reforestation with attendant benefits could occur.  And meanwhile RWNJs continue to show their belligerent lack of understanding of the science of climate change …

The lighter side of left

Written By: karol - Date published: 6:14 pm, December 21st, 2013 - 41 comments

How will the media report the apocalypse? And other fun videos, images & links.

NRT: Climate change: More windfall profits

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:10 am, December 9th, 2013 - 19 comments

The Emissions Trading Scheme was never a particularly good way of curbing greenhouse emissions and the way that National gutted it made it distinctly worse. Now we are in a position where National has found a way to use it to providing even more polluter welfare.

1979: the year that the climate changed for me

Written By: lprent - Date published: 8:55 am, November 27th, 2013 - 34 comments

On the site we now have a a simple little graphic that shows how much heat has accumulated on our planet. It is expressed as multiples of of the heat energy of Hiroshima sized A-bombs. I’ve picked 1979 as being the start year because that was the year that I became aware of the effects of changing climate. I was a 19 year old student in my second year of a BSc in Earth Sciences, and the topic under discussion was the WMO’s recent World Climate Conference.

Oil rigs – coming to a beach near you?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:58 am, November 19th, 2013 - 98 comments

The Government is in the process of handing out oil exploration permits which would if unchanged allow drilling 6 nautical miles out from the west coast beaches of Auckland.  And Auckland Council had the chance to submit on the proposal and did so, in a very gentle way, but forgot to ask the locals including the local board.  There has to be a better way.

Groser says govt ministers in denial of reality

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 7:25 am, November 14th, 2013 - 145 comments

3news has shaken out hidden science denialists in National. This follows the disgraceful booing of Russel Norman by National MPs who did not want to hear him ‘inappropriately’ quote a Filipino official attributing the typhoon to climate change at a time apparently meant for empty platitudes. Meanwhile, the Filipino official that Norman was quoting has written to thank him.

Quote of the day: “Atlas shrugs off climate change”

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:59 am, October 23rd, 2013 - 37 comments

Kennedy Graham’s post on NZ’s appalling record on climate change:  ‘Atlas shrugs off climate change – a New Zealand policy failure of monumental proportions‘, includes a great quote about Key shrugging in the face of his (and “neoliberalism”) failures.  So apt.

Well done Greens!

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:16 am, October 13th, 2013 - 115 comments

Yesterday was a very good day for the Greens (and the left).  Congratulations!  It’s hard to predict outcomes for next year’s parliamentary elections based on local elections, especially when the voter turnout is so low.  But the left does get a boost from the results.  Local councils need to be improved so that are more democratic. [Update: Clow (Labour) for Whau- preliminary result. Waitakere Ranges Board]