The Standard

Environment

Categories under Environment

National’s rhetoric problem

Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, September 21st, 2019 - 19 comments

National has displayed a concerning level of rhetoric this week involving a misrepresentation of the GDP figures and the attacking of a board appointee who cannot respond.

The climate action momentum

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, September 21st, 2019 - 33 comments

The global School Strikes this week and the upcoming International Rebellions are part of a large wave of change that gives us a chance at preventing the worst of climate disaster. 

The NZIER Report on dairying and fresh water

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, September 20th, 2019 - 19 comments

“New Zealand does not face stark choices between having a dairy sector versus having clean waterways. Experience shows that, by focusing on profits, not production, farms can increase their economic returns and reduce their impact on the environment.”

Macron speech – The end of Western hegemony

Written By: - Date published: 2:09 am, September 19th, 2019 - 21 comments

France President Macron’s remarkable and wide-ranging speech to French ambassadors after France hosted the recent G7 conference in Biarritz is well worth a read. He lays it all out – so much better than Trump’s tweets or BoJo’s bluster.

China, Climate Conference, and New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 18th, 2019 - 4 comments

At the United Nations Climate Action Summit next weekend the question may be asked what would happen if China stopped buying Australian coal?

Monorail!

Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, September 16th, 2019 - 26 comments

Auckland mayoral candidate Craig Lord has announced a policy that may turn the campaign on its head.  Or may not.

No Right Turn: Ending dairy in Canterbury

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, September 3rd, 2019 - 146 comments

Idiot/Savant at No Right Turn writes: “Environment Canterbury has finally proposed nitrogen limits to stop dairy farmers from poisoning Christchurch’s water supply”

National gather fuel for their political dumpster fires

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, September 2nd, 2019 - 21 comments

Not so much Zero Carbon as Zero Shits. While National look set to monkey-wrench our climate legislation, we can remember that the real power in addressing the climate crisis lies outside of parliament.

Transmission Gully

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, September 2nd, 2019 - 69 comments

NZTA have determined to not proceed with tolling the Transmission Gully motorway.  Does this make it the country’s largest single transport waste? 

We are sailing

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 30th, 2019 - 209 comments

Greta Thunberg’s journey was an invitation into a conversation not about deprivation, but how to live well as we change.

Funding radical climate action

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, August 30th, 2019 - 36 comments

The Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) has pledged $350k to Extinction Rebellion, if others will match it.

Why we save rivers

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 29th, 2019 - 47 comments

An application to dam the Waitaha River on the West Coast has been declined. When looking at how to meet human needs, we need to do better than ‘how much can we get away with taking from nature?’

photo – Zak Shaw

Toxic masculinity

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, August 28th, 2019 - 153 comments

As the Amazon burns and the world looks on aghast as our lungs go up in flames Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has chosen to respond to an offer of help from the G7 by picking a fight with French leader Emmanuel Macron.

National are lighting political dumpster fires while the Amazon burns

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 27th, 2019 - 47 comments

New Zealand’s poster boys for late stage capitalism’s dying throes are fools of the highest order.

National tacks right

Written By: - Date published: 3:35 pm, August 26th, 2019 - 44 comments

National has released its economic policies for the next 12 months and they have a decidedly backward feeling about them.

The thoughts of Matt King on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, August 26th, 2019 - 85 comments

National MP Matt King has been caught posting climate change denial material on his facebook page.

RIP David Koch

Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, August 24th, 2019 - 54 comments

David Koch, the man possibly most responsible for the growth of climate change denialism, has died at the age of 79 as the Arctic melts and the Amazon burns.

100 Days of climate vigil

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, August 23rd, 2019 - 4 comments

Ollie Langridge doing the climate action mahi at parliament.

Kill us now, or choose life.

Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, August 23rd, 2019 - 27 comments

The Amazon burns. The Arctic is on fire. We won’t be able to eat or breath our electric cars, but we still have time to choose a different path.

Talk is cheap Tamihere

Written By: - Date published: 5:13 am, August 22nd, 2019 - 56 comments

I am really not a fan of political candidates bullshitting. John Tamihere – candidate for Auckland city Mayor, is this kind of blowhard. He is the epitome of the kind of fool who seems to keep his brain mounted right next to his testicles to inform his mouth what to say. He released a transport policy fantasy… I’ll vote for Goff.

What if there were only 34 31 more whitebait harvests left?

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 20th, 2019 - 66 comments

If we want to prevent the extinction of whitebait it’s time to stop buying and selling it.

Cmon Aussie …

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, August 18th, 2019 - 54 comments

In the last week Australia has insulted Pacific nations by refusing to commit to a 1.5 degree maximum increase in global temperatures and by claiming that Pacific Islands will be fine because they can pick Australia’s fruit. And Alan Jones has almost lost his job through misogynist attacks on Jacinda Ardern.

Fertile land is priceless

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, August 15th, 2019 - 220 comments

As Labour moves to protect prime food growing land around our cities, we should be having a wider discussion about food security in New Zealand.

Police – ignoring their job in Southland

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, August 12th, 2019 - 49 comments

“Allegations of trespassing and intimidation as Southland winter grazing protest escalates” yesterday. The reporter completely missed the most important salient point – the police don’t seem to be doing their job. Leaving a pissed lynch mob of farmers trying to force people out of their house to ‘talk’ to them is pretty clearly an act of intimidation. And that doesn’t even cover the original idiot farmer who is alleged to have rammed someone’s car.

Totally shit farming

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, August 12th, 2019 - 47 comments

Farmers blockading environmentalists to stop them taking photos of their degraded farms. Is this really what we’ve come to?

Dunedin South as Next Fox River Dump Disaster?

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 10th, 2019 - 75 comments

If we thought the devastation and mess caused by a flood ripping through the old dump at Fox Glacier village was bad, just wait until a decent storm punches through the old dump of New Zealand’s fifth largest city on its coastline. It’s getting close.

What is up with NZ First?

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, August 9th, 2019 - 105 comments

New Zealand First’s late decision to promote a referendum concerning abortion has caught everyone including its spokesperson Tracy Martin by surprise and is the latest example of last minute changes of position.

Maybe we shouldn’t take the plane

Written By: - Date published: 6:21 am, August 8th, 2019 - 84 comments

The case for reducing mass air travel rests in looking at whole systems rather than counting the carbon emissions of each flight.

What if we let the wilding pines grow?

Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, August 7th, 2019 - 129 comments

Take a breath, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. In an age of climate breakdown, where reforesting is a critical component of climate mitigation and adaptation, we need to stop cutting down so many trees, and move to forest-based thinking.

Maybe we should take the plane

Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, August 7th, 2019 - 119 comments

Activist Greta Thunberg is attending a United Nations global warming summit in New York, and will get there by boat not airplane.  But should she consider flying?

Can the Greens rise like the liberal democrats?

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, August 4th, 2019 - 71 comments

Only 6 months ago the UK Liberal Democrat party was at a real low, with their leader resigning and the polls about 7%: same as the last five years.  Fast forward five months from that and they are ready to become a major opposition party of opposition.  Can the Greens do the same?