science

Categories under science

Keep the faith, deep greenies

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 22nd, 2021 - 75 comments

For those that understand the cyclical, interconnected nature of reality and why growth is inherently limited in the physical world, kia kaha, we’re making headway.

Mother Nature gives Groundswell NZ the middle finger

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, July 20th, 2021 - 78 comments

With record floods in Marlborough, half of Westport evacuated, disastrous flooding in Germany and the North East and the threat of record bushfires in the North West of the United States Mother Nature is passing rather cruel judgment on Groundswell NZ’s recent protest.

Why Not Support The Farmers?

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, July 17th, 2021 - 106 comments

The Groundswell farmers movement want the new freshwater policy scrapped, the “ute tax” removed, lots of imported labour for farm work, parts of the ETS dumped the new Significant Natural Area policy dumped, the draft policy on indigenous biodiversity scrapped and Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill stopped.  How likely is this?

If a thousand baby flamingos die in the desert does anyone hear them howl?

Written By: - Date published: 3:06 pm, July 16th, 2021 - 43 comments

Farmers aren’t the problem here, they’re the mirror New Zealand is holding up to itself. We say we want change, despite the evidence.

The billionaire race into space

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, July 12th, 2021 - 90 comments

UK billionaire Richard Branson has won the rich man’s pissing competition by being the first billionaire into space even though 12 months ago he was urgently seeking Government grants while at the same time paying no tax because of his tax residency status.

No Right Turn: Climate Change: Legal action

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, July 6th, 2021 - 2 comments

Lawyers for Climate Action are taking the Climate Change Commission to court over their lax budgets and dodgy accounting.

All the right words on climate have already been said

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, July 4th, 2021 - 19 comments

So I was just driving around thinking, “Ugh it’s hot. Ugh there’s a new fire starting near me at least every other day. Ugh, how is this my life, also this is just the beginning, I feel like I should be waking up from this nightmare at some point and yet I am not,” when the editor finally reached me.

Denis Tegg: Regional Transport Plan Will Increase Emissions And Is Thus Unlawful

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, June 28th, 2021 - 26 comments

Waikato Regional Council (WRC) has approved a transport plan which assigns just 3% of its 10-year budget to walking and cycling, and only 5% to public transport. This must inevitably increase overall transport emission pollution in the region.  In my opinion the law requires the plan to reduce transport emissions to achieve consistency with central government transport policy.  If emissions will rise under the plan this makes the plan unlawful and places WRC at significant risk of a successful legal challenge.

He’s baaack

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, June 21st, 2021 - 30 comments

For the first time since the election Winston Peters has reemerged.  But instead of talking about the country’s problems such as  climate change, child poverty and recovering from the global pandemic he chose to concentrate on the “over” use of Te Reo, cycleways and gangs.

Climate transition transport and the rural road tumbleweeds

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, June 16th, 2021 - 69 comments

Beyond the cycle/car wars.

Fear and loathing in cycleland

Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, June 15th, 2021 - 32 comments

I am pleased the right have moved on from overtly racist attacks on minorities. But I am bemused by the current level of vitriol that has been thrown at a group who apart from wearing lycra is doing nothing wrong.

The Government’s Feebate scheme

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 14th, 2021 - 70 comments

Labour and the Greens have announced the establishment of a Feebate scheme to incentivise the purchase of electric vehicles and disincentivise the purchase of gas guzzlers.

Auckland’s Northern Pathway

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 11th, 2021 - 144 comments

Last week’s announcement of major changes to the New Zealand Upgrade program in my view was welcome.

Greenpeace on the cow shaped hole in the Climate Commission report

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, June 10th, 2021 - 22 comments

Greenpeace says there is still a cow-shaped hole in both the Climate Change Commission’s advice and the Government’s approach to climate action, following the release of the Commission’s finalised climate plan.

The Climate Commission Report

Written By: - Date published: 5:19 pm, June 9th, 2021 - 54 comments

As they said they would, the Government has today released the full advice from the Climate Commission, taking into account all the submissions and all the big fat evidence.

Cycling Politics is Winnable Politics

Written By: - Date published: 3:43 pm, May 29th, 2021 - 100 comments

This Sunday Aucklanders have an opportunity to protest the catastrophic failure of NZTA to generate a cycleway from the North Shore to the CBD, and to promote a practical proposal to “liberate a lane” on the Harbour Bridge which would do the job in the meantime.

Cycling Politics Is Damn Serious Business

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, May 26th, 2021 - 73 comments

Don’t knock local politics until you’ve had to stand up and defend a cycleway in public.

Regenerative agriculture and climate solutions

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 6th, 2021 - 94 comments

Research is now showing the advantages of regenerative agriculture. Are we wise enough to make best use of them?

The problem with coal

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, May 1st, 2021 - 38 comments

New Zealand is about to enter a transition phase in energy that’s going to affect absolutely everyone.

Climate change. It’s still happening.

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, April 27th, 2021 - 35 comments

This is tough information to take in. I feel better when I try to take action to support the Climate Justice Movement which has known for decades that capitalism must be transformed and replaced for decent survival. Individual-collective action is possible. Keep going. – @climateben

Biden is serious about climate change

Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, April 24th, 2021 - 70 comments

One of the many regretful aspects of the Trump presidency was the United States open hostility to doing anything about climate change. It looks like Joe Biden will do his best to make up for lost time.

Too much too far?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 23rd, 2021 - 97 comments

As we lead up to Budget 2021, there’s much more shape to the whole direction of this government.

Climate Commission Hope Versus NLTP Reality

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 19th, 2021 - 19 comments

The very hardest climate challenge New Zealand has is in transport, but the latest National Land Transport Plan is pretty much like the wind being resisted by the Climate Commission air conditioning unit. Time to face our reality not our words.

A new lever on the standard model?

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, April 12th, 2021 - 10 comments

For me the most notable thing about the last week hasn’t been the repetitive and ill-informed braying from the opposition about covid-19. It has been about the announcement that Fermilab in the US has partially confirmed that there may be a wobble in the behaviour of muons. Definitely showing promise of a lever into the 1970s standard model of physics. Explaining this is likely to open new technologies and more subtle ways of working with our universe.

Sustainability and learning from forest gardening

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, April 11th, 2021 - 30 comments

The Guytons’ 25 year old food forest in Riverton is a showcase of sustainability practice and knowledge.

Greta Thunberg is now 18

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, April 2nd, 2021 - 59 comments

Greta Thunberg is now aged 18.  And her activism is still strong.

No Right Turn: Climate Change: Heading for uninhabitability

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, March 13th, 2021 - 8 comments

it looks like just 1.5 degrees will be enough to cook most of the tropics:

Greenpeace: Another win for the movement against deep sea oil exploration

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, February 22nd, 2021 - 6 comments

The announcement comes with little fanfare, but marks another huge moment for people power, for iwi, hapū, environmental groups, and the hundreds of thousands of people who for the last decade have maintained one of the most relentless campaigns of the modern era to put an end to deep sea oil exploration in New Zealand.

Texas’s power crisis

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, February 18th, 2021 - 89 comments

Over in the US of A in the great state of Texas and in surrounding states locals are experiencing unusually cold weather and are suffering from the effects.  But instead of blaming their not fit for purpose electrical systems they are blaming the Green New Deal, even though it has not been implemented.

The unlucky New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, February 17th, 2021 - 107 comments

The first New Zealand study to look at the effects of food hardship on pre-schoolers’ nutrition has found that nearly half of families struggle to access healthy food in their child’s first year of life.

Will Technology Solve Climate Change?

Written By: - Date published: 6:01 am, February 14th, 2021 - 87 comments

What if we actually planned to reduce energy usage significantly while revamping the economy to promote happiness and well-being? Then it would be far easier to replace our remaining energy usage with renewable sources. – Richard Heinberg