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

Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, October 23rd, 2013 - 37 comments
Categories: capitalism, climate change, copyright, greens, john key, slippery, sustainability - Tags: ,

Green MP Kennedy Graham published an excellent post on NZ’s appalling record on climate change:  ‘Atlas shrugs off climate change – a New Zealand policy failure of monumental proportions‘, which includes this great quote:

John Key gave a puny version of Atlas shrugging.

A little context – the post begins:

The latest figures for this country’s greenhouse gas emissions were released on Monday.  They project an extraordinary blowout in our emissions over the next quarter-century – the critical period of global and national emissions that will determine the fate of the Earth, and therefore our children.

The latest projection is for our net emissions to continue to grow from its present level (56 m.t. in 2011) to peak at about 98 m.t. in 2028.   By 2040, they are projected to be 85 m.t.

This embarrassing projection sits on the worst track record of any developed country between 1990 and 2010. As reported to the UN,[1] our net emissions went from 32.4 m.t. in 1990 to 57.5 m.t. in 2010, a 60% increase in 20 years.[2]  The next worst OECD country, Canada, recorded a 46% increase.  The EU reduced its collective emissions by 17%.  Norway cut its emissions by 49%.

New Zealand’s past record is abysmal.  Its future projections are worse.

Graham then identifies the reasons for NZ’s abject failure on climate change:

  1. By thinking, early on, we could use our forestry as the primary, if not sole, way of meeting targets;
  2. By flip-flopping, in serial manner, between carbon tax and unit-trading as the economic instrument;
  3. By surrendering, shamelessly, to sector and pressure group demands for exceptional treatment;
  4. By failing, especially the current Govt., to understand the macro-economics of climate change policy.

Then comes the quote I highlighted above:

This last failing was dramatically illustrated by the Prime Minister in his post-cabinet press comments on Monday.   Journalists queried him about the implications of the future emission statistics.  John Key gave a puny version of Atlas shrugging.

This is of course a reference to Ayn Rand’s Novel, Atlas Shrugged: a novel proclaimed by “neoliberal”, capitalist free marketeers as a prophetic vision; and for lefties as an example of all that is wrong with that political philosophy.  The book praises the (allegedly) heroic entrepreneurial spirit of unrestrained capitalist, who should be free of the shackles of BIG government.  It demonises the less well off as moochers, wasters and bludgers.

The book’s title refers to:

Considered by many to be Ayn Rand’s greatest work, Atlas Shrugged is a long, pro-capitalist novel in which Ayn Rand sought to portray the ideal man and his effect on society.
“If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater the effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?” “I…don’t know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?” 
“To shrug.”

This all seems like part of Rand’s muddled philosophy to me.  However, Graham’s depiction of John Key shrugging in the face of NZ’s abysmal record on climate change, is perfect.  His response to the report of NZ’s failings is a diversionary spiel that has provides the allusion of scientific fact.

And the “shrug” is part of Key’s MO in response to any criticism – shrug and downplay damaging criticisms that have high significance.

John Key – a wannbe Atlas, shrugging in the face of the failings of entrepreneurial, casino capitalism: a capitalist philosophy that is destroying the world we live in.

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

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  1. Rogue Trooper 1
    23 October 2013 at 11:43 am

    Bugs me

  2. richard 2
    23 October 2013 at 11:47 am

    I’m inclined to think that Key’s shrugging is because he doesn’t have a ready answer prepared for him by his minders. Occasionally he forgets what a dolt he is and tries to answer a question all by himself. The results for him are always disastrous.

    I doubt he has read Rand’s fiction but I’m sure his minders have and they believe every word. It’s a pity they do so because just as she was ridiculed by American conservatives at the time her novels were released, her fiction still doesn’t stand scrutiny today.

    • Bill 2.1
      23 October 2013 at 11:57 am

      Don’t give much credence to Rand’s so-called philosophy. The only reason I cut her some slack is because her thoughts were very much a reaction – an overreaction – to the disastrous nightmare of Soviet bureaucratic command and control structures. When that’s taken into account, a certain amount (okay, a lot!) of chaff can be separated out to leave some reasonable insights behind.

      • greywarbler 2.1.1
        23 October 2013 at 12:29 pm

        Hayek was the same wasn’t he Bill? His economic ideas an over-reaction.
        The saying Watch out for what you wish for – you might get it – was a sound one I think.

        • Ennui 2.1.1.1
          23 October 2013 at 4:17 pm

          Hayek…The Road to Serfdom. He got that one totally wrong, he was so totally focused on the totalitarian devil that he missed seeing how corporatism existed left and right (even where “free markets” rule), and if allowed to flourish gets progressively more repressive.

      • the pigman 2.1.2
        23 October 2013 at 5:07 pm

        I liked how Paul Krugman described Atlas Shrugged:

        “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”

        • Rogue Trooper 2.1.2.1
          23 October 2013 at 5:48 pm

          lol, just had an evangelical Christian in my parlour this arvo, waxing lyrical on TLOTR; only takes them a wee while. Jesus Wept!

  3. Bill 3
    23 October 2013 at 11:50 am

    I know others will point this out too, but anyway. What’s with the idea that the next 25 years are critical? There is already something like 450ppm of CO2 in the air around us – the highest levels for some millions of years when the climate was very different and much warmer. Methane levels are also through the roof.

    A 10% reduction in energy related emissions every year – year after year until we are at zero energy related emissions – gives us, from memory, something like a 50/50 chance of dodging dangerous levels of warming.

    Bye-bye to Capitalist markets of production and distribution whether we do that or not. But only one way that might leave us standing to wave our bye byes.

    • Tat Loo 3.1
      23 October 2013 at 12:04 pm

      Pretty sure the Hawaii mountain observatory has been measuring CO2 levels at under 400ppm.

      What’s with the idea that the next 25 years are critical?

      That’s the strategic adaptive timeframe we have IMO, best case. During which we will still have access to pretty good levels of technology, resources and energy to use. After that it becomes very hard to systematically adapt and an ad hoc falling of the blocks where they may will probably result.

      [lprent: On the right of this site – 393ppm in september ]

      • Bill 3.1.1
        23 October 2013 at 12:18 pm

        Sorry. Aye. 400ppm. And 400ppm + was measured for the first time at the Hawaiin Mountain Observatory sometime last year. And yes, levels ebb and flow with the time of year. Same scenario though.

        Meanwhile, why don’t we have very stringent emission standards for combustion engines? And why aren’t we updating our infrastructure to deal with new climatic realities? And why are we still sending people off to do pointless tasks every day that only serve to make other people money alongside a lot of avoidable CO2?

        Oh yeah, that’s right. Money makes the world go round. Apparently.

        And money will magically offer up the wherewithal to ‘solve’ the problem of global warming…in the same way that mashing my thumb with the hammer will eventually mean that there will be no thumb and so no pain to worry about.

        • Tat Loo 3.1.1.1
          23 October 2013 at 5:37 pm

          Extract, process and sell more resources faster = more net present $ value gained = maximal harvesting of the future value of the resource for increased profits today.

          Doesn’t seem like the pathway to a sustainable future, does it.

    • Ennui 3.2
      23 October 2013 at 12:18 pm

      The whole industrial era based upon cheap and abundant energy must per se come to an end with the exhaustion of those resources….which would “save” the climate but for two factors.

      First is the amount of warming we have created already by burning fossil fuels: if we stopped everything now we might avoid 2-3 degrees which in itself is serious.

      Second is that we may have peaked oil production and soon coal….that in turn implies that we still have half of these to burn if we can get at the rest of the resource (or even a minor portion)…this is where the exponential damage potential exists.

      • Tat Loo 3.2.1
        23 October 2013 at 5:42 pm

        Ironically it’s the “tough half” left to extract. Which means that although there might be half of the resource left, there is far less than half the energy available left.

        Why? Because a lot of the energy that we are extracting from now on will not be available to the general economy; instead it will have to be used supporting in additional energy extraction.

        i.e. Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI) is falling.

    • Zorr 3.3
      23 October 2013 at 12:36 pm

      The reasoning is that it is the area under the graph that matters and not, necessarily, the actual figure that the highest point reaches. The reasoning for this being that there is a total carbon budget that we can afford to spend to give us a chance of avoiding 2degC plus. All this while pulling back our yearly expenditure of carbon.

      The longer we leave this change, the sharper the cuts will have to be. Instead of cutting off a finger or two, we’ll be losing an entire arm. Therefore, the sooner we make the changes, the better our prospects are.

      Also, Australia. Need I say more?

      • Bill 3.3.1
        23 October 2013 at 12:54 pm

        Well, you might want to add that in order to have avoided 2 degrees with anything approaching certainty, the west would have had to have hit absolute zero emissions from all sources (ie, including agriculture etc) back in 2010.

        Now (again) we only have a 50/50 punt at it – and only then if we reduce emissions from energy use at 10% per annum, year on year.

        Meanwhile…

        • Rogue Trooper 3.3.1.1
          23 October 2013 at 2:03 pm

          …the band played on.

        • Zorr 3.3.1.2
          23 October 2013 at 2:08 pm

          Yeah – I get your point there but you were asking around the “next 25 years” thing

          Personally, I think we’re screwed and there won’t be the political pressure to make a difference in the near future in order to circumvent the extreme pain humans everywhere will be experiencing as our climate patterns shift.

  4. MrSmith 4
    23 October 2013 at 1:13 pm

    Capitalists are always looking for opportunity, that’s the way they think, disaster = opportunity, more disasters = more opportunity, it will take a lot of civil unrest before anything changes, terrorists under every bed.

    Solution Vote Green.

    • SpaceMonkey 4.1
      23 October 2013 at 1:38 pm

      I would not be surprised to learn the banksters have gone long on revolution… especially if it involves making a killing.

      • Colonial Viper 4.1.1
        23 October 2013 at 3:12 pm

        Already happening. Major US banks were caught money laundering and financing billion dollar Mexican drug cartels.

        Then there is the takeover of Libya’s gold rich central bank.

  5. emergency mike 5
    23 October 2013 at 1:31 pm

    “And the “shrug” is part of Key’s MO in response to any criticism – shrug and downplay damaging criticisms that have high significance.”

    – I’m not bovvered about it.
    – That’s one opinion.
    – I don’t think so.
    – I’d question the source of that data.
    – I could find a scientist that says different.
    – Ask me about snapper.

  6. red rattler 6
    23 October 2013 at 2:50 pm

    Climate chaos is well underway… the predictions becoming increasingly catastrophic…up to 5.0 C by 2050…without habitat, no food, extinction…
    All of these predictions ignore the positive feedbacks…25 positive self-reinforcing feedback loops…the good news is no food…the bad news is the nuclear meltdown…
    Adding 25 feedbacks makes 6.0 C possible within 10 years….climate change 10x faster than ever…Earth on margins of habitable zone…400 ppm first time in 300m years…
    Deniers claim of stabilised temp…all based on land records…global average temp accelerated in last 15 years when sea temp measured…
    Take the methane hydrate feedback…100x more powerful than CO2…50mtn burp of Methane could cause a 6.0C in sea temp at any time…
    4 feedbacks reported in 2011, 6 more in 2012, already 12 in 2-13…exponential
    2 feedbacks are reversible, drilling for oil…who will stop it?
    So now what?
    Can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet…humans are not immortal…or special in earth’s time span…special only that we could foresee our own extinction…
    one or two pieces of advice…

    http://guymcpherson.com/2013/10/presentation-in-boulder-colorado/

    • Colonial Viper 6.1
      23 October 2013 at 3:11 pm

      No need to fuss. John Michael Greer the archdruid figures that CO2 levels will drop back to normal after a disruptive 100,000 years. Might still be a few peeps around still.

      • Rogue Trooper 6.1.1
        23 October 2013 at 3:13 pm

        peeping through the mists of inter-galactic space like pulling a familiar silk glove on.

        • Ennui 6.1.1.1
          23 October 2013 at 4:21 pm

          What we do we do in our present….with that in mind St Dominic said, “I dug deeper and deeper into the hole seeking the treasure chest, when I looked up I realised that I had dug my own grave”.

          Grandiosity and techno narcissism.

          • Rogue Trooper 6.1.1.1.1
            23 October 2013 at 5:52 pm

            beautiful (My closest friend completed a St F. jigsaw that has now assumed secondary place on my lounge wall).

  7. Philgwellington Wellington 7
    23 October 2013 at 4:44 pm

    Xox
    And the burgeoning population train wreck. It’s been called a ‘perfect storm’. Ecology, and economy Co-lapse. Folks will
    not be happy and NZ will, is becoming a ‘lifeboat’ nation… Oh, I need to listen to some ‘feel good’ aspirational from our leaders. Is this how the story ends?

  8. aerobubble 8
    23 October 2013 at 4:50 pm

    Parliament is too small, there are enough MPs tuned in and turned on.

    Key said that Banks was like any union member affiliated with the Labour party, how so I ask? Banks doesn’t put his hand in his pocket to pay SkyCity, Banks gets paid by SkyCity to sit on their board. Union members pay fees, Unions pay Labour money.

    The sad fact that the Green Leader get’s it and Labour had no objection to the notion, like they were turned off. How is Labour suppose to represent union members if it can’t tell the difference between paid Mr Banks and a paying member of a union, when Key says its the same!!!

    • aerobubble 8.1
      23 October 2013 at 4:51 pm

      Key mislead parliament when he justified union membership which is not a conflict of interest, and so Banks taking money to sit of the board of SkyCity was also not a conflict of interest.

      • Tat Loo 8.1.1
        23 October 2013 at 5:46 pm

        It wouldn’t be a conflict of interest if Banks was just a blackjack dealer. But he’s not. He’s on the board.

        It’s like a Labour MP being President of the PSA at the same time as being in Parliament. Clear conflict, can’t do it.

        That’s where Key screwed the comparison, deliberately I would say.

  9. rich the other 9
    23 October 2013 at 6:41 pm

    Reality check,
    Key and the Nats have assessed the climate fairy tale pretty accurately , with good reason ,Don’t panic being the strategy .
    Have a look at what other country’s are actually doing, clearly these country’s haven’t been fooled.

    ( Coal will replace natural gas as the dominant fuel for producing electricity in Southeast Asia as the region almost doubles its energy consumption in the next two decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

    The 10 members of ASEAN, with energy demand growing at more than twice the global average, will get 49 percent of their power from coal by 2035, up from 31 percent in 2011, the IEA said today in its Southeast Asia Energy Outlook. The share from gas will drop to 28 percent from 44 percent.

    “Coal is emerging as the fuel of choice because of its relative abundance and affordability in the region,” Maria Van der Hoeven, executive director for the IEA, said today in Bangkok. “As long as fuel-price differentials continue to favor coal over gas by a significant margin, Southeast Asia’s incremental power generation is set to be dominated by coal.” )

    Interesting isn’t it.

  10. BLiP 10
    23 October 2013 at 11:10 pm

    ‘

    Surprise, surprise, surprise . . . the John Key led National Ltd™ government doesn’t care about climate change. Who woulda thunk it, eh? At least the tacit admission is consistent with the National Ltd™ campaign to facilitate and encourage the degredation of Aotearoa’s environment. Since its election into power in 2008, National Ltd™ has . . .

    been caught out repeatedly lying in the run up to and during the election campaign about its real intentions in relation to the environment

    celebrated the opening of the foreign-owned Pike River Coal Ltd mine on DOC land adjacent to the Paparoa National Park from which 1 megatonne of coal will be extracted per year for the next 20 years – Pike River Coal Ltd has announced that it has found additional coal in the national park

    cancelled a proposed efficiency standard (MEPS) on incandescent lightbulbs

    reversed a moratorium on building new gas/oil/coal power stations

    removed the bio fuel subsidy

    scrapped the scheme that would have penalised imported vehicles producing high emissions

    removed regulations for water efficient new housing by Order in Council

    renewed leases on sensitive high country farms which were meant to return to DOC

    reversed restrictions on the freeholding of vast swathes of land on the edge of the Southern Lakes

    arbitrarily excised 400 hectares from the brand new Oteake Conservation Park, including the most important and, ecologically, the rarest part of the new Park, the tussock and shrubland that went right down to the banks of the Manuherikia River, to enable future access to lignite

    said nothing to say in regard to the World Commission on Protected areas of IUCN’s severe criticism of its intention to investigate mineral resources and mining opportunities in protected conservation areas including our three UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Te Wahi Pounamu-South West New Zealand, Tongariro National Park and the Sub Antarctic Islands

    approved two prospecting permit applications lodged by Australian iron-ore giant Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary FMG Pacific lodged in June – areas covered by the two-year permits include an 8204-square-kilometre area of seabed adjoining the west coast from Cape Reinga to the Manukau Harbour and a 3798-square-kilometre prospecting area of land from Cape Reinga to the Kaipara Harbour including Ninety Mile Beach, the west side of the Aupouri Peninsula, Kaitaia and the Hokianga.

    approved an additional prospecting permit for Fortescue Metals in relation to 3568sq km right next door to the Kahurangi National Park where the Heaphy Track is

    was forced to release its Ministry of Economic Development (MED) report under the Official Information Act that proclaims “significant mineral potential” in the Fiordland, Kahurangi and Paparoa national parks – the report said the Waitutu area of the Fiordland National Park had sufficient petroleum reserves to be “worthy” of inclusion in a review of conservation land protected from mining

    secretly granted the minerals industry the right to veto proposed National Park boundaries and permission for any such vetoes to be kept confidential – in spite of recommendations from its own officials against any such a veto

    called for caring New Zealanders to halt their “emotional hysteria” and recognise that conservation land should be mined for minerals and went on to say “Mining in a modern, technological way can have a negligible effect”

    rubished the Department of Conservation (“Canterbury Farming” June 2010 issue – now offline) suggesting it was incapable of looking after the high country reserves and parks under its control

    gutted the home insulation scheme

    pulled $300 million out of public transport, walking and cycling schemes and added it to a pot of $2 billion to ‘upgrade’ state highways

    changed the law to provide billions of dollar in subsidies for polluters via the ETS casino

    begun a process of gutting the Resource Management Act to make it difficult/impossible for the public to lodge appeals against developers

    removed the ability of Auckland to introduce a fuel levy to fund planned public transport upgrades

    left electrification of the Auckland rail network up in the air without promised funding commitments and then came through with a dodgy loan scheme and then unilaterally reorganised the local government structure before finally setting about the privatisation-by-stealth model when busting KiwiRail

    removed the programme to make Government Departments ‘carbon neutral’ and also began its first wave of public sector redundancies starting with the Ministry for the Environment which was responsible for the scheme

    removed funding for public tv advertising on sustainability and energy efficiency

    pulled funding for small-town public litter bin recycling schemes

    displayed cabinet ministers expressing public support the bulldozing of Fiordland

    reduced Department of Conservation funding by $54 million over three years

    cancelled funding for the internationally acclaimed ‘Enviroschools’ programme

    usurped the democratic role of local Councils of determining policies for their citizens by requiring the abandonment of the efficient and well-established tree protection rules for urban areas

    set about revamping Auckland governance in a way that is likely to greatly reduce the ‘Environmental Watchdog’ role of the the current Regional Council (since completely fucked it up with the SuperShitty)

    removed Auckland’s metropolitan limits and opened the gateway for unfettered urban sprawl

    defended internationally the importation of rain-forest-wrecking palm kernel and stood silent while Federated Farmers called Greenpeace “despicable” criminals, traitors, and robbers

    stood silent while Godfrey Bloom, a Member of the European Parliament and infamous Climate Change Denialist, publicly rejoiced in the 1985 bombing of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior – who was doing so while standing on a dock next to the replacement vessel

    took a 0% emissions reduction target to Copenhagen. Yes, seriously, that isn’t a misprint – that was the lower bound of their negotiation platform – then missed the 01/02/10 deadline for commitment to action it had agreed to – meanwhile 55 of the 80 countries which attended did make the deadline

    secretly cancelled the internationally recognised scheme for the mandatory labelling of exotic woods to ensure the timber has not been taken from rain forests in direct contradiction of its own statements made at the 13th World Forestry Congress in Argentina

    supported the Department of Conservation’s decision to open up the pristine Cathedral Cove to an ice-cream franchise

    gave the Department of Conservsation $1.7 million to further develop commercial activities on DOC land and started an “off set” plan allowing company’s to damage the conservation estate if they agree to improve land elsewhere – no monitoring regime has been suggested on put in place

    left DOC director-general Al Morrison to announce that DOC is to charge for services that had been free and, to soften the public up to the idea that there will be more “energy generation schemes” operating on DOC land

    took no action to reduce existing pollution pouring into the Manawatu River and is “leaving it up to industry” to come up with solutions to heal the river which was described by the Cawthorn Institute as “one of the worst polluted in the Western world”

    announced a $1.69 million industry subsidy to kick start marine farming without identifying no-go areas nor putting in place a consultation process for individiuals, communities, and other general coastal users

    been forced to release documents under the Official Information Act which confirm that DOC has “giving up” on ecologically valuable high-country land in the Mackenzie Basin because of funding cuts. The released documents cite “statements made by ministers”, “diminishing funding” and the Government’s new high-country policies as reasons for the changed stance – the comments from DOC were made after Land Information New Zealand (Linz), which manages the tenure review process, ignored DOC’s previous conservation recommendations for the farms

    used former National Party minister and current director of Open Country Cheese – a company convicted of filthy farming practices and found by the supreme court to be a dodgy employer – Wyatt Creech to head up an enquiry into Environment Canterbury which had been standing up the dairy farmers’ demands for more and more water resources and less and less regulation. The Creech report recommended the Environmental Canterbury be sacked and replaced with government appointments and the voters of Canterbury do without democracy until the water situation had been resolved. The Canterbury area holds 50 percent of New Zealand’s fresh water reserves and 50 percent of the water required for hyrdo energy. The Creech report said Environmental Centerbury put too much focus on the environment

    been subjected to international condemnation for knowing next to nothing about the parlous state of the New Zealand fisheries

    bucked international trends and poured more acid on the 100% Pure brand and increases the bluefin tuna quota

    squirmed when New Zealand is subject to international criticism for its backing of commericial whaling which National Ltd supports

    funded Government-owned company Solid Energy runs an essay competition entitled “ The role of coal in sustainable energy solutions for New Zealand” for school children. First prize is a trip to New Zealand’s largest coal customer, China.

    supported access fees for entrance onto DOC walkways – fee introduced following cuts to DOC’s budget.

    pressed on with PR bullshit about how New Zealand’s environment would profit from mining national parks, Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson says.

    Department of Conservation director-general Al Morrison said the conservation estate created “opportunities to do a whole lot for a lot of different people . . . we’ve got to get away from this idea that somehow we have to protect one-third of New Zealand for a certain constituency and put it in a jar of formaldehyde and leave it

    created random fantasies of abundant wealth to promote all forms of mining

    ignored reports on sustained non-compliance with resource consents and worsening pollution of water ways.

    ignored its own Ministers possible conflicts of interest

    done nothing as both its own SOE Meridian and the Department of Conservation to withdraw appeals against an 85m high damn with a 14km long reservoir on conservation land.

    granted Energy Resources permission to ship Australian yellowcake uranium ore through New Zealand.

    apologised but does nothing else for breaching the Treaty of Waitangi by granting a mining exploration permit to Brazilian company Petrobras

    continued to remove environmental protection powers from local authorities

    totally reversed gains made in the protection of National Parks and other high-value conservation areas in the South Island.

    commenced a divide-and-rule strategy by attempting to paint New Zealanders interested in protecting the environment as outside of the “mainstream” and in defence of the fact that the media is catching to its bare-faced lies in the lead up to the 2008 election

    carried on with more lies by talking about modern mining like that at Reefton being carried out by Oceana Golds as being like “key hole surgery”

    appeared to believe that the tourists it is attempting to bring to New Zealand are all blind and won’t see for themselves the impact of the dairy farming it is subsidising to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars

    appeared itself to be blind when it comes to the Chairman of Fonterra

    forced the Commissioner for the Environment to delay the release of a report into the ramifications for climate change in regard to lignite mining and proposals to convert the lignite into diesel

    employed financial sleight of hand in shuffling funds towards business interests and away from community groups looking to protect the environment

    made more empty promises when a report showing that a third of New Zealand lankes have poor quality water is released

    backed down on promises to protect New Zealand children (and the environment cleaner by more informed disposal) from harmful chemicals by improving labeling and imposing mandatory standards on containers

    Ignored the findings by attacking the messenger when a World Health Organisation report confirms that New Zealand’s main centres have the worst air in Australasia and Auckland is the most polluted with twice the concentration of damaging airborne particles as Sydney.

    studiously ignored so as to take piss about dire warnings concerning the quality of drinking water in Reidstone

    failed to mention in its 100% Pure promotions that visitors to the Kerikeri Basin near the Stone Store – one of Northland’s iconic tourism and heritage sites – could come face-to-face with warning signs telling them the water is polluted

    failed to mention in its 100% Pure promotions that tourists in the Coromandel could come face to face with New Zealand’s environmental standards when finding hundreds of dead snapper washed up on Beaches

    presented bogus evidence concerning air pollution

    made more empty promises in relation to air pollution while also extending deadlines for local councils to reduce air pollution

    extended deadlines for businesses previously require to reduce air pollution by 2013

    put tourism operators in Akaroa at risk by refusing to make the harbour a marine reserve . . . and then rubs salt into their wounds

    done nothing after the United Nations finds that National Ltd™’s targets for reducing pollution are not consistent with the measures put in place to achieve those targets

    attempted to defend the Emissions Trading Scheme from comparisons with the Australian model while Environment Minister Nick Smith indicates there’s little chance of the two schemes being integrated any time soon

    then further slowed down the implentation of New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme

    allowed major retailers to reap the benefits of its earlier and secret decision to abandon the mandatory labelling of exotic woods after it is found that the retailers are contributing to the death of native Australian forests despite an independent, year-long investigation which finds otherwise

    tried to keep a meeting between John Key and mininng company Anadarko’s boss secret. The company is responsble for a massive oil spill and is looking to to start drilling off New Zealand soon

    continued to ignore yet more evidence of farmers failing to comply with environmental regulations

    handed over $400 million to farmers to extend water storage and allow for more land to be used for dairy farms. No mention or provision is made for additional protections required to deal with the increased pollution

    failed to point out in its 100% Pure promotion that tourists (and locals) should avoid the Opihi River along State Highway 1 because of the risk of exposure to toxins from phormidium

    failed to point out in its 100% Pure promotions that tourists arriving at New Zealand’s “nuclear free” sea ports will be sharing the environment with up to 5,000 tonnes of radioactive yellow cake uranium

    lied about how bad the RMA is

    ignored top scientists and academics who point out that its underfunding of the Department of Conservation will send more species into extinction and hurt its 100% Pure image.

    Ignored John Key making an international arse out of himself in regard to New Zealand’s 100% Pure image

    carried on with its lies as New Zealand is identified as jeoparising its good name by allowing us to become one of a small number of states stalling progress in forming an international climate agreement
    kept stringing us along even after Next thing, New Zealand received the 2nd place Fossil Award for “proposing the most Flexible Mechanism imaginable with no oversight or review. Bring on the wild west. They want to be able to use any market mechanisms they wish with absolutely no oversight or international review! There would be no way to ensure that the units from one mechanism have not been sold two or three times to another such mechanism. This would likely unleash a wild west carbon market with double or triple counting of offsets and a likely increase of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.”

    stood silent when Fonterra was caught out lying by overstating its farmer’s compliance on excluding stock from waterways by 100%

    put World class surfing waves and Maui’s dolphin’s at Raglan at severe risk by encouraging a proposed iron ore seabed mining in New Zealand’s coastal waters

    never followed up after the scientific models created by New Zealand and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to allow fishing are called into question

    set the scene for our children heading down to the park to find an overseas’ owned company had set up a dairy farm in one corner. Over time the shit builds up

    ignored data which shows the expansion of fish-farming in the Marlborough Sounds could cause unacceptable changes in the coastal environment

    strategically removed the word “environment” from the lexicon of local and central government

    failed to tell the tourists it hopes to attact with its 100% Pure campaign that every year, New Zealand drops huge quantities of poison-laced food into its forest ecosystems; enough poison to kill its human population 4 times over, every year. No country has ever done anything remotely similar, on such a scale

    failed to tell the tourists it hopes to attract with its 100% Pure campaign that more than a third of Auckland’s beaches fail water quality checks and are closed for swimming

    ignored the closing of the beaches, this time as extremely high concentrations of the bacteria enterococci are identified
    ignored Ministerial conflicts of interest, this time involving John Key who is identified as shareholder in the Bank Of America which is backing mining in New Zealand and Australia . . . even when more information is made available . . . and more information . . . and more information

    pressed on with additional policies that move away from the protection of the environment towards exploitation

    limited , as part of its effort to cash-in on the environment, access to some of New Zealand’s most endangered species and isolated islands only to those who those who contribute financially displacing conservation staff and scientists

    ignored a World Wildlife Fund report, Beyond Rio, which makes clear New Zealand now risks some of the highest rates of biodiversity loss on Earth unless urgent action is taken

    continued to give confidence to Fonterra director Colin Armer being convicted and fined $72,000 for “fouling” a Bay of Plenty waterway after a judge found he could have prevented the pollution were it not for his “systemic” failure to monitor what was happening on his company’s farm

    lied when it said New Zealand has the environmental laws and regulations to control oil and gas development on the continental shelf because there is no equivalent of the Resource Management Act to control oil and gas activity outside of the territorial sea (12 nautical miles offshore).
    lied when it had already agreed coastal plans to allow marine farming consent holders in the Waikato and Marlborough to move from mussel farming to finfish farming without considering the additional environmental effects imposed

    placed short-term business interests ahead of long-term consequences to New Zealand’s environment, particularly biodiversity by allowing damage in one area on the condition that it be “off set” in another creating a dangerous precedent in that such a provisin means that one part of biodiversity can be wrecked in return for “protecting” an area that was never under threat anyway.

    promoted proposals that include include a plant producing about 2 billion litres of diesel per year, using at least 12 million tonnes of lignite per year and another producing 3 billion litres using 12-17 million tonnes of lignite annually. A further project would produce by 2016 1.2 tonnes of the nitrogenous fertiliser, urea, using 2 million tonnes of lignite annually

    tried to hide the fact that its Department of Conservation was ordered to permit Meridian to to build a damn on the Mohikinui River despite its position that “the public conservation land within the Mokihinui River has such high value that it is most unlikely to be suitable for exchange at all

    continued to ignore the slow-motion extinction of Maui’s dolphins:

    gone into hiding after it was discovered that significant cuts to the Ministry for the Environment in the 2012 Budget are not publicly detailed or announced

    continued to ignore its international obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to “protect and preserve” the martime environment

    refused in the face of repeated calls to set national standards for water quality despite mounting evidence of the need to do so

    further weakened protection for wild rivers in Canterbury with the ECan Act and indicates that further weakening provisions will follow.

    rubber stamped a motorway project with no economic benefit and likely to waste over $1 billion of tax payers’ funds.

    been forced to admit that it has spent $1.67 million in a survey of minerals on the West Coast of New Zealand, including within the Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand world heritage area. Te Wahipounamu is one of 183 natural heritage

    secretly ordered that world heritage sites on the West Coast be surveyed as part of a $3 million mineral study spanning more than 16,000 square kilometres. The survey was only puiblicy revealed after Green MP Catherine Delahunty asked for details in a parliamentary question

    appointed thoroughtly unsuitable but politically useful members to the Establishment Board for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    facilitated by neglect the employment of inexperienced managers, making poor policy decisions resulting in additional threats to New Zealand’s biosecurity.

    under resourced New Zealand’s biosecurity system to such an extent that it is fundamentally flawed preventing any way of identifying how the Kiwifruit killer virus got into New Zealand and, thus, no way of preventing it from happening again.

    handed over a further $80 million to business and farmers to subsidise their pollution.

    ignored its own guidelines to provide consent the Milford Dart tunnel and Fiordland Link Experience which would otherwise never have been granted.

    appointed an advisory group to recommend a significant rewrite of the Resource Management Act to remove references to the protection of coastal areas, wetlands, lakes and rivers and indigenous flora and fauna.

    splashed tax payer cash around its consultants considering conservation and environmental protection of the Mackenze Basin and Waitaki Valley

    further weakened the resource consent process for foreign-owned mining companies,

    locked New Zealanders out of the consultation process on the alloting of areas being made available for resource exploration.

    ignored the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and scrapped government grants for solar water heating

    used the Navy along with police and Crown Law to bully environmental protesters in a legal case they knew could not be won

    put 23 massive blocks of deep and wild waters east of Wellington and Dunedin on the international market for exploratory oil drilling

    allowed its own consultants do a u-turn on the economic benefits of additional roading and then handed them a $200 million contract for further consultation work

    Supported the Department of Conservation into granting foreign-owned multinational mining company OceanaGold permission to destroy 55 hectares of beech forest so as to extend its Reefton mine to a total 81 hectares without public notification

    envouraged the Minerals Industry Association to bully local authorities to step aside from what little environmental protections they are able to impose

    reduced its environment agencies to little more than a ramshackle collection of underfunded and ineffective small back offices with no direction or policy for dealing with the vast marine resources of New Zealand

    eroded New Zealand’s bio-security to such an extent that Christchurch Airport is found to have failed at a basic level

    removed the directive terms “protect”, “preserve”, “maintain” and “enhance” from the RMA fundamentally weakening the legislation and deliberately introducing confusion as to its overall intent.

    futher ensured that New Zealand tax payers continue to subsidise 95% of big polluters’ emissions

    drastically reduced the size of proposed marine reserves off the West Coast so much so that one advocate says they are “an insult” to those who spent years trying to establish them

    instructed its delegates at the world’s largest conservation conference , the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s conference in Korea, to oppose any further measures to protect Maui and Hector dolphins in defiance of 117 other countries and 460 environmental organisations requesting New Zealand ban gill and trawl nets in waters up to 100 metres deep

    lied about the environmental impact of fraking

    refused to enforce its own legislation to protect the environment

    ignored concerns about fracking which has seen the practise banned around the world

    twisted the knife by exploiting news of redundancies at Solid Energy in a statement which claims opponents to a proposed mine are “getting in the way of” potential jobs as part of an effort to discourage legal action

    changed to law allowing a consideration of the effects on climate change to allow Australian-owned mining company Bathurst Resources (also known as Buller Coal) to build a 200-hectare open-cast coal mine on the plateau and excavate 80 million tonnes of coal that, when burnt, will release about 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

    further ensured the extinction of New Zealand sea lions by failing to extend necessary fishing restrictions

    failed to protect the New Zealand marine environment and ignored international obligation with its Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Act oil drilling legislation

    continued to obfuscate and dither while More than half of monitored recreational sites on our rivers are declared unsafe for swimming

    ignored its own scientific evidence and advice from its own authorities to lock-in tax payer funding of business which pollutes New Zealand’s air

    refused to enforce its own laws in respect to water pollution

    changed the law to make it more difficult to build a deck on a house than it is to drill for oil

    avoided its international obligations “to ensure the conservation and management of sharks and their long-term sustainable use” while its fishers carry on with the barbaric practise of shark finning.

    ignored public support for conservation by ordering another round of cuts to the Department of Conservation.

    stood alone at the world’s largest conservation summit and voted against more protection for species at risk

    further gutted environmental protection legislation to speed up the building consent process for developers

    vancelled without notice the five-yearly State of the Environment report put together by the Ministry of the Environment, the report is the largest stock-take of trends relating to land, water, air, plants and animals

    abandoned the Kyoto agreement completely

    allowed its on lobbyist to publicly attack a prominent New Zealand scientist for speaking truth about New Zealand’s environment in an effort to silence the accurate reporting of scientific evidence

    attracted international mockery for the fact that the pristine landscape featured in The Hobbit and used as the basis for the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign as fantastical as dragons and wizards

    remained “relaxed” about the fact that New Zealand is now the 18th worst out of 189 nations when it came to preserving its natural environment

    pulled out of Kyoto just weeks after the OECD reports that global greenhouse gas emissions could rise 50 per cent by 2050 without more ambitious climate policies, as fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix

    laughed when New Zealand received two “Fossil of the Day” – first-equal and second place – awards on the first day of international climate talks in Doha, Qatar

    used Hobbiton – Waikato – as the centrepiece of its 100% Pure campaign when the area is the country’s major source of pollution to the Hauraki Gulf

    handed over responsibility for the monitoring and reporting of fraking activity , for which it has inadequate legal protections, to the foreign-owned multi-nationals which are carrying out that activity thus totally ignoring its own Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

    lied, obfuscated and used government resources to attack and undermined local authority plans to improve water quality
    sanctioned an unnamed foreign-owned multinational to go ahead with a major road through pristine South Island National Parks

    employed disingenuous gobbledeegook to defend its decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Agreement.

    turned a deaf ear to calls for New Zealand to assist pacfic island nations by taking a stronger position on climate change

    displayed contempt for existing agreements and Environment Case law by approving new salmon farms in recreational areas within the Marlborough Sounds

    refused to investigate the impact on increasing use of neonicotinoid pesticides which is likely to be a major contributor to the sudden and dramatic decline (aka colony collapse disorder) of the New Zealand honey bee population, National Ltd™ also refused to consider the development of a strategy to protect what is left of the honey bee population.

    lied about its commitment to addressing climate change

    failed to monitor Sanford Ltd’s pollution resulting in an international embarrassment

    allowed foreign-owned multinationals to proceed with oil exploration without the financial resources available to mitigate any environmental damage should it occur

    been caught out ignoring its own advice on implementing environmental monitoring procedures

    used changes to the Resource Management Act to remove local authorty’s rights and planning for the protection of trees

    commenced removing local authority’s rights to plan for housing

    allowed more than 53 percent of Canterbury’s major water users to avoid having meters installed

    mixed the cooperative model of climate change negotiations with the competitive model used in trade negotiations, thus putting outcomes in both areas a risk

    ducked questions asking for evidence as to the safety of genetically engineered food

    ignored the fact that New Zealand carbon credits are no longer the unit of choice in the New Zealand’s own carbon market. Figures from the official Emission Unit Registry show that emitters who initially supported NZUs are now using a range of international units to meet their carbon obligations under the Emissions Trading Scheme

    used highly dodgy figures in calculating the reduction New Zealand’s net carbon emissions by including trees due to be harvested in the next few years

    ignored news that New Zealand’s first glyphosate resistant weed has been found and the resulting call for the use of glyphosate (Monsanto’s “Roundup”) to cease

    stayed silent for five months after being advised that Fonterra’s milk product were contaminated with dicyandiamide (DCD) and now face an international backlash.

    set no maximum level of contamination of dicyandiamide (DCD) (AKA cyanoguanidine) in milk products for consumption by New Zealanders, stood silent while the farming industry says the withdrawal of dicyandiamide (DCD) will result in yet more pollution of New Zealand’s waterways

    stood silent as NIWA announced findings of research which showed 20 per cent of marine life in the Milford Sounds port area could be killed off as a result of copper leaching from anti-fouling paints on boat hulls

    secretly without consultation and any right of appeal used a short-term draconian law to ammend a water conservation order for the Rakaia River

    been locked out of the international carbon market because of its trucculent attitude

    continued in its efforts to eliminate tree protection of any kind in Auckland and elsewhere

    stood alone as the only developed country not to have tabled an unconditional single number target as part of the international climate change negotiations

    cut funding into research about protecting the last remaining giant kauri

    continued to endanger the 100% Pure brand

    been unable to explain how genetically engineered mould escaped from Massey University laboratories and remains unable or unwilling to provide further information

    introduced foreign species without a consideration of the risk to human health

    allowed oil companies to ignore breaches of resource consent and set neihhbours against neighbours

    obfuscated on the negative economic benefits of major raod works

    obfuscated on the level of cuts to the Department of Conservation

    disengaged the previously widely held concept of environmental protection from any consideration of economic development

    sacked 140 staff at the Department of Conservation

    inserted last minute changes to environmental legislation that were not announced and, thus, not considered during public submissions and earlier readings of Bills.

    lied about the practise of fracking going on in New Zealand for the past 30 years

    funded its Economic Development Ministry’s membership of the Coal Association lobby group

    staged a consultation process on the restructuring for the Department of Conservation and then completely ignored any submissions generated

    proposed handing over recreational paua gathering areas to commercial operators

    opened a further 190,000 square kilometers of New Zealand’s coastal waters for oil exploration

    allowed the Minister of Energy’s own political adviser to make public calls for the boycotting of the environmental iniative Earth House

    held secret meetings with oil company executives known international as irresponsible and mendacious

    exposed Auckland beaches to the unmonitored risk of oil exploration by companies unable to afford any clean up operations if required

    breached international law and used parliamentary urgency and ignored international guidelines to rush through legislation depriving New Zealanders of the right to protest against drilling for oil within 350 miles if New Zealand coast

    given permission for oil drilling to take place over earthquake ridden continental plate fault lines just off shore from Wellington

    stood idle while water quality used by households continyes to worsen

    ensured that the MacKenzie Basin is turned from a conservation estate into a development area

    used parliamentary urgency to avoid public notification, consultation and/or consideration of a law allowing companies with no experience nor financial resources to drill for oil on earthquake-ridden fault lines lying in New Zealand coastal waters

    there would be significant and irreversible adverse effects on the conservation values and overall ecological integrity of the application area and the Denniston Plateau should the proposed activity be approved”?

    But wait . . . there’s more!!

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0903/S00452.htm <— back up on Chris Bishop

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10869801 <— irony much

    It is disgusting that if you are a sportsperson you get no conviction for an offence that endangered peoples lives because it might affect their ability to play overseas, but an actress convicted for taking part in an environmental protest gets no such consideration.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1306/S00244/savage-attack-on-bee-health.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1306/S00240/positive-changes-to-fishing-regulations-announced.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1306/S00219/report-highlights-risk-of-governments-mining-agenda.htm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10892481

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pollution/news/article.cfm?c_id=281&objectid=10884397

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10892985

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1306/S00647/new-zealand-waste-policies-stuck-in-the-past.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1306/S00309/environment-commissioner-releases-water-report-update.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1307/S00024/iwc-says-govt-must-act-for-survival-of-mauis-dolphins.htm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10895428

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10904557

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/jul/29/hobbit-new-zealand-lord-of-the-rings-middle-earth-oil-gas-drilling

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/us-newzealand-milk-image-idUSBRE97503H20130806

    http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/xinhua/2013-08-05/content_9769307.html

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10910158

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10913041

    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/nz-commits-2020-climate-change-target-5534697

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00273/national-admits-defeat-on-climate-change.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00257/gutted-emissions-trading-scheme-damaging-forestry.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00219/public-silenced-on-oil-well-consents.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00179/rma-changes-risk-further-damage-to-nzs-reputation.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00177/key-stacks-deck-plays-cute-with-rma.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00172/government-welcomes-king-salmon-decision.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00154/minister-must-shoulder-the-blame-for-mpis-mistakes.htm

    http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/planned-oil-exploration-outrages-kaikoura-residents-5535929

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1308/S00287/more-deforestation-following-ets-changes.htm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11115218

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9099326/Nats-plan-to-remove-right-to-oppose-drilling

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Residents-against-proposed-Fonterra-mine/tabid/423/articleID/311296/Default.aspx

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1309/S00100/bills-failure-highlights-nationals-empty-slogan.htm

    http://www.mfe.govt.nz/website/closed-sites/bioethics.html

    http://www.indymedia.org.nz/articles/1255

    Environment Canterbury (
    Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Act 2010
    Denies access to the Environment Court for the resolution of environmental and resource
    –
    management matters in the
    Canterbury region

    Environment Canterbury (Temporary Commissioners and Improved Water Management) Act 2010
    Enables the Minister for the Environment to choose what law will or
    will not apply to Commissioners appointed to replace
    the Canterbury regional councillors

    http://www.rethinking.org.nz/assets/Newsletter_PDF/Issue_112/02_United_Nations_Universal_Periodic_Review_170613.pdf

    http://lsa.net.au/wcb-content/uploads/lsa/files/2011/Henry%20VIII%20clauses.pdf

    Henry VIII Clause

    http://www.rethinking.org.nz/assets/Newsletter_PDF/Issue_112/02_United_Nations_Universal_Periodic_Review_170613.pdf

    ^^ law society UN submission

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/business/9107225/Rod-Oram-Time-for-economic-leadership

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9121336/Deep-sea-oil-plans-anger-stars

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/9134466/Ross-Sea-proposed-sanctuary-slashed

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1309/S00064/concerns-over-revised-plan-for-ross-sea-protection.htm

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1309/S00059/serious-risk-in-fed-farmers-short-term-thinking.htm

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9143526/Environmental-OK-for-holiday-highway

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1309/S00108/analysis-of-proposed-freshwater-rma-sir-geoffrey-palmer.htm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11122601

    http://www.labour.org.nz/news/why-not-wholly-independent-reporting-minister

    http://www.labour.org.nz/news/minister-buy

  11. Chooky 11
    24 October 2013 at 7:06 pm

    great reference!!!

  12. Sable 12
    25 October 2013 at 8:48 am

    The vast majority of Nationals cabinet do not give two shits about the environment so this is no surprise. The irony is if they want to be seen as a valid authority they had better start caring. The only thing keeping any contrivance that calls itself a government legitimate is its ability to ensure the provision of the basics, food and water. If the climate changes and that is no longer the case these people will simply cease to be relevant.

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