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Environment

Categories under Environment

Julie Anne Genter: Working for Women’s Rights on the World Stage

Written By: - Date published: 6:08 am, March 27th, 2018 - 71 comments

The Minister for Women on her recent trip with the NZ delegation to the UN.

The Birds.

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, March 24th, 2018 - 23 comments

Yup. It’s okay to be a bit scared.

Auckland’s new fuel tax

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, March 23rd, 2018 - 37 comments

The signs are that Aucklanders are going to support a regional fuel tax designed to alleviate congestion.

Activists bring Mataura River poo to the Environment Southland

Written By: - Date published: 6:28 am, March 22nd, 2018 - 26 comments

“Epic action”

Greenpeace isn’t a charity, it’s a necessity

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, March 22nd, 2018 - 51 comments

Greenpeace’s press release on the Charities Board decision not to grant the environmental organisation charity status.

NRT on transitioning off fossil fuels

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, March 21st, 2018 - 68 comments

Two posts from No Right Turn.

“Fundamentally, climate change means it is us or the oil industry. We know whose side the Greens are on. But people are doubting Labour, and they only have themselves to blame for it.”

Also a post on banning fossil-fueled cars.

Ardern suggests that oil exploration may cease

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, March 20th, 2018 - 83 comments

The Government is reconsidering the future of New Zealand’s block offer process which releases exploration permits to the oil industry for exploratory drilling.

Doofus of the week – March 17, 2018

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, March 17th, 2018 - 37 comments

is awarded this week to Lisa Prager who is convinced that construction of cycleways in Auckland is part of a global conspiracy to take away our rights and whose sledge hammering technique is not optimal.

Some neigbourly advice for Kirikiriroa from a concerned JAFA

Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, March 16th, 2018 - 27 comments

Hamilton or Kirikiriroa? I don’t even know why this is a question. Well, I do, it’s a question because white people are stupid, but I mean there’s no question in my mind which name I prefer. Kneejerk reactions to this sort of suggested change are a bit odd when you think about it. Everything in […]

What should NZ prioritise in international climate change negotiations later this year?

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, March 15th, 2018 - 48 comments

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is seeking submissions to inform their negotiations for the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in December 2018.

Food security in New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 6:12 am, March 14th, 2018 - 28 comments

The Standard regular commenter Macro takes a look at the state of food security in NZ

Post TPPA signing

Written By: - Date published: 6:14 am, March 12th, 2018 - 34 comments

It’s Our Future spokesperson Oliver Hailes was on RNZ yesterday succinctly pointing out the problem with Labour and NZF’s u-turn on the TPPA. He also recently co-authored an article in the NZ Medical Journal on the TPPA, climate change and health.

Cullen says 2020 election effectively a referendum on tax

Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, March 7th, 2018 - 32 comments

Don’t hold your breath for recommendations of radical tax reform from the Tax Working Group. Chair Sir Michael Cullen says the 2020 election will be a referendum on tax and he is already kicking for touch

Simon Bridges’ not very good first week

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, March 4th, 2018 - 44 comments

In this very important first week Simon Bridges has committed two major blunders. He has claimed he was environmentally friendly when any view of his Ministerial history would confirm that this is not the case. And he forgot his Government oversaw the stripping of democratic rights from all prisoners, and adjusted his position when his error was pointed out.

NRT: Past time to end fossil fuel exploration

Written By: - Date published: 6:13 am, March 3rd, 2018 - 64 comments

“The foreign shareholders in that toxic industry will kick and scream, but its basicly them or the planet – and if we want to save the world and keep our own coastal cities above water, they have to go.”

Some Trash.

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, March 1st, 2018 - 27 comments

Being anti-plastic is all the rage these days. How might business respond?

Arctic monkey wrenching

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, February 28th, 2018 - 121 comments

“This is more than just a temperature anomaly. It is an off-the-scale event. Why is the Arctic meltdown not headline news in every paper?” – George Monbiot

If someone said hey, your house is going to burn down, we don’t know if it’s in the next hour or next week, what would you do?

Climate change is not an accident

Written By: - Date published: 6:23 am, February 22nd, 2018 - 110 comments

Snippets from the first day of the 2nd Pacific Climate Change Conference and Cyclone Gita.

Dunedin City Council votes for carbon neutral target

Written By: - Date published: 6:18 am, February 17th, 2018 - 15 comments

“Offsets alone would not achieve the zero carbon target and a significant systematic and behavioural change would still be needed…”

Hey Stuart Nash Maui’s Dolphins are approaching extinction

Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, February 15th, 2018 - 74 comments

Stuart Nash is considering cancelling the roll out of monitoring cameras on fishing boats. For the sake of Maui’s Dolphin I hope he changes his mind.

Help for Tonga

Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, February 13th, 2018 - 10 comments

Cyclone Gita has caused devastation across the Tongan islands, and is being called the worst storm in at least 60 years.

A storm is coming

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, February 12th, 2018 - 65 comments

A big storm is set to hit Auckland next week. And it won’t be the last.

Bio-fuels.

Written By: - Date published: 2:15 pm, February 11th, 2018 - 35 comments

Biofuels and fossil. The difference?

Fonterra a failure in concept and in practice

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 pm, February 9th, 2018 - 109 comments

New Zealanders 17 years ago accepted the idea of a national dairy monopoly on the condition it would deliver outstanding returns. The cost has been high — filthy and unswimmable rivers. Now it turns out the result has been a financial fiasco – the whole thing is literally bullshit, or more correctly, cowshit.

Fonterra and Fletcher Building

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, February 9th, 2018 - 54 comments

New Zealand only has two businesses of world-competitive scale that are also majority owned by New Zealanders: Fonterra, and Fletcher Building.  And they appear to have lost their way and put much of their value and our wellbeing at risk.

Two Labour Governments, two coal mines

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, February 7th, 2018 - 13 comments

The New Zealand Government has rejected the OIO’s proposal to allow Bathurst to purchase DOC land for coal mining purposes.  And in Australia the Queensland Labor Government is working out how it can back out of an agreement to permit the Adani coal mine to proceed.

Climate activists threatened with “draconian” Anadarko Amendment

Written By: - Date published: 6:36 am, February 1st, 2018 - 41 comments

“We can’t burn existing fossil fuel reserves if we are to avoid climate catastrophe.” – Russell Norman.

Drip, drip, drip…

Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, January 30th, 2018 - 112 comments

In the middle of the Southland drought, people in Invercargill are no longer allowed to water their gardens.

Greening the government: economics

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, January 29th, 2018 - 92 comments

In his State of the Planet speech, James Shaw lays out the Green Party’s bold vision and plan for a truly sustainable economy to replace the crumbling architecture of the last 30 years.

(image from Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics)

Plastic Fantastic

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, January 26th, 2018 - 55 comments

Billions of disease laden pieces of plastic killing reefs. No effective solution offered.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, January 25th, 2018 - 137 comments

The positive aspects of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership.