sustainability

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Climate change pedal to the metal

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, July 31st, 2016 - 116 comments

Avoiding 2 deg C warming is a ship that’s sailed. Global warming is now happening at about 4.3x the previous long-run rate. And it might go up to 18x the previous rate over the next few years. That’s what the pundits call “abrupt climate change.”

Climate change and trees – a palliative and not a solution

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, July 20th, 2016 - 108 comments

One alleviation for the effects of climate change is to plant trees, or some other form of vegetation. This is to suck up surplus carbon dioxide and to put it into a solid and relatively inert form. And it does. However it simply won’t work when we have rapid climate change.

God Botherer

Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, July 17th, 2016 - 462 comments

God’s been a bit of a let down recently. Is it time for Him to retire?

Generation Zero – Zero Carbon Act

Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, July 1st, 2016 - 151 comments

“We’re not going to wait around for our politicians to do the right thing any longer; we’re going to draft a bill ourselves with help from experts and collaborators, and work to get all political parties to support it and pass it through Parliament.”

A Tale of Two Droughts

Written By: - Date published: 6:38 pm, June 22nd, 2016 - 44 comments

Climate change is now causing extreme dry weather events and is increasingly blamed for water shortages. But what we are doing on the ground has just as much influence on our experience of drought. As New Zealand farmers call for drought relief this winter, it’s time we looked at how we manage land and water, and the critical role this plays in whether humans can live with variable rainfall in the age of climate change. Here’s a stellar example from India.

Another shocking environmental record

Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, June 21st, 2016 - 16 comments

The world’s news is full of new environmental records. Here’s a shocker.

This is what sustainable fishing looks like

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, June 15th, 2016 - 119 comments

It turns out there will be no jobs on a dead planet.” 

While New Zealand is struggling to maintain integrity around fishing and resource management, an ocean farmer in the US is leading the way in economic and ecologic sustainability. This is how we can do things differently.

Official climate change fraud

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, June 14th, 2016 - 136 comments

Scientists and experts have been knowingly understating the unfolding climate change catastrophe to governments and decision makers. Why? For the sake of what is “politically palatable”.

Good News!

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, June 5th, 2016 - 158 comments

May figures just out…

Strategic Arse Elbow

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, June 2nd, 2016 - 135 comments

Today at about the same time the Government will turn the first sod of the city rail link and then announce more urban sprawl for Auckland.  This is the most massive policy and programme contradiction in a lifetime.

Fine for fox to guard henhouse – says fox

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, May 31st, 2016 - 26 comments

The Nats are happy for the fishing industry to effectively self-monitor, despite the fact that this has already been shown to be massively ineffective. In other news: John Key questioned on National’s closeness to fishing industry.

Indigenous Perspectives

Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, May 29th, 2016 - 30 comments

“It is possible to live in a society with a world view that does not include empire”

– Winona LaDuke

The Mother Budget

Written By: - Date published: 6:21 pm, May 26th, 2016 - 89 comments

There are budgets and there are budgets. And for all the presence or absence of bright ideas, there’s a budget that threatens to subsume all others…

Climate change: time playing tricks

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 pm, May 21st, 2016 - 18 comments

A recap of the 2006 climate change documentary “Dimming the Sun” featuring NASA’s Jim Hansen. Time has definitely not been kind to us.

We’re going to burn it all, until we burn it down.

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 am, May 20th, 2016 - 173 comments

What does it really mean to reduce NZ’s total fossil fuel use by 50% by 2030: a warm up discussion for an upcoming thought experiment.

Portugal

Written By: - Date published: 12:28 pm, May 19th, 2016 - 114 comments

There are bits of good news out there, but there’s a lot of denial around the mess we’re in.

Nice weather down here…

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, May 16th, 2016 - 183 comments

… and a freight train coming down the tracks.

NZ fishery catch 2.7 times reported – new study says

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, May 16th, 2016 - 15 comments

“The findings also reveal how the Quota Management System, despite its intentions and international reputation, actually undermines sustainable fisheries management by inadvertently incentivising misreporting and dumping,” University of Auckland’s Dr Glenn Simmons said.

Make the TPP a Conscience Vote

Written By: - Date published: 6:29 pm, May 15th, 2016 - 84 comments

Last week, Andrew Little gave Phil Goff permission to vote with National for the TPP. Bryan Bruce asks if it is time for all MPs to be given a conscience vote on the TPP.

Logging truck roll overs meeting: Otaika Valley Hall tomorrow night!

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 9th, 2016 - 19 comments

A fully laden logging truck tears up the road like thousands of cars. And when they keep rolling over around the corner, locals get very nervous and upset for themselves and their kids.

Climate Change Change Pt 1: What are we waiting for?

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, May 3rd, 2016 - 48 comments

Before government spending cuts there was The Riot for Austerity, a grass roots Climate Change movement that showed how it was possible for ordinary people to change and significantly reduce their carbon emissions without someone forcing them to.

Who needs water anyway

Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, April 30th, 2016 - 46 comments

Or waterways are starting to stink as much as our murky tax havens.

RSNZ report – Transition to a low-carbon economy

Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, April 27th, 2016 - 30 comments

Today the Royal Society of NZ released the second of two reports into climate change and the actions NZ should be taking. Great work. Now all we need is great action.

NRT: This is what happens if you don’t have a plan

Written By: - Date published: 3:23 pm, April 26th, 2016 - 4 comments

I/S at No Right Turn on the renewables target and futility of targets without plans.

Going electric

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, April 19th, 2016 - 70 comments

Old Zeeland showing New Zealand the way.

Towards a new economic order

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, April 17th, 2016 - 222 comments

George Monbiot in the Guardian gives a precise and accurate description of neoliberalism and asks the question why has the left not come up with a modern alternative?

The solar surcharge

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, April 15th, 2016 - 98 comments

Profit gouging or genuine need?

Pure spin vs. pure water

Written By: - Date published: 1:34 pm, March 30th, 2016 - 27 comments

Yesterday a “host” of students marched to the Beehive with a petition of calling for all freshwater in New Zealand to be swimmable.

Global elite plan their escape from “pleb masses”

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, March 29th, 2016 - 35 comments

So, Key has now come out and revealed to us how afraid the global oligarch class (and their well paid professional enablers) are. They appear to have no plans to reverse their activites to make things better for us.

National tricky on climate change aid

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 am, March 19th, 2016 - 10 comments

TVOne has discovered that National’s preposed climate change aid spend announced at COP21 would result in a reduction in the amount spent compared to previous years.

Greenpeace day of action on Climate Change

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, March 18th, 2016 - 6 comments

Greenpeace is planning a day of peaceful civil disobedience in support of real climate change action this Monday March 21. And big oil has a conference at Sky City in Auckland on that date.

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