Fleshing out the aspirations

Written By: - Date published: 5:25 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 2 comments
Categories: climate change - Tags:

The big political news of the day was the government announcement of an emissions trading scheme. This scheme puts a price on carbon emissions and is intended to incentivise more efficient use of fuel and energy.

The trading scheme’s the centrepiece of the climate change policy but there’s a lot around the edges. David Parker and his staff have evidently been busy since the PM’s commitment to a goal of carbon neutrality last year. In her speech this morning, Clark also announced what she referred to as “medium and long-term objectives”:

By 2025 our target is to have ninety per cent of electricity generated from renewable sources.
By 2040 our target is to reduce by half per capita emissions from transport.
We aim to be one of the first countries to introduce electric vehicles widely, and;
By 2020 we aim to achieve a net increase in forest area of 250,000 hectares.

A good place to start for more info is www.climatechange.govt.nz

2 comments on “Fleshing out the aspirations ”

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  1. Roger Blunt 1
    13 October 2007 at 1:00 pm

    The new carbon trading regime is following a tired old government methodology of moving money from A to B, something like the socialist maxim of income redistribution. Whatever spin is put on it, carbon trading is basically taking money from A, you and me, and giving it to B who in the long term will be some overseas carbon credit trader, in the name of reducing pollution. An inevitable net loss of money to the country.

    What has happened to good old-fashioned legislation which would have had the same net effect, ie polluters given standards to meet and punished if they didn’t?

    It seems to me that if the Government is serious about carbon emissions it would at the least be installing solar electricity and water heating panels on their and local government buildings throughout the country, including state houses. That should reduce the demand for electricity to the extent that non-renewable electricity generators could be switched off permanently. And the size of that project should bring in economies of scale to guarantee a reduction in the current prices of those alternate sources of renewable energy, to encourage people like you and me to do the same.

  2. Robinson 2
    13 October 2007 at 1:16 pm

    Roger – I agree but the truth is Labour is too cowardly to legislate because they are scared of business (witness the sop to those pricks in the Kyoto forestry assn – who’s campaign was run by national party advisor Matthew Hooton by the way). As soon as Labnour tries to legislate (I believe the desire is there but not the will) the opposition would attack them as nanny state interfering with people’s right to do business blah, blah, blah.

    They should definitely move to increase energy efficiency in state-owned buildings, to install solar water heating in statehouses and properly subsidise it for private residences though. For large buildings solar water is harder but it should be done on a case by case basis and solar electric has longer-term pollution implications.