Syria escalating
Turkey has started shelling the US backed Kurdish forces that are fighting against ISIS. What could go wrong?
science
climate change
Corporate Saviours
oh, hallelujah…
The battle over climate change continues
Two recent international incidents show that the resistance to meaningful action on climate change has not given up. In the USA Barak Obama’s climate change policies are under attack in the Supreme Court. And in Australia CSIRO has decided to get rid of all of its climate change scientists.
Government U turn on inner city rail link
John Key has announced that National will bring forward funding of Auckland’s inner city rail link. The decision is welcome but it should have been made years ago.
The great big list of John Key’s big fat lies (UPDATED)
How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.
Bob Carter Dies
Veteran Climate Science Denialist Bob Carter Dies of Heart Attack Bob Carter has died. To most members of the general public, the name […]
NZ participating in climate fraud
An article that appeared on December 26th in the Dom Post is much too important to be left languishing in the Christmas news vacuum. “We [NZ] have been the biggest abuser of fraudulent carbon credits. Someone should be answerable as an accessory to the fraud.”
Sustainability Council: TPPA lets investors sue over climate change policies
The Sustainability Council has reported that passing the TPPA may result in corporate claims for compensation against sovereign states that adopt policies to address climate change. And details how references to climate change were washed out of the text of the TPPA during the negotiation process.
2015 hottest year. By. Far.
Robin Grieve does not understand the IPCC report
The Herald has printed an opinion piece by ex ACT candidate Robin Grieve Robin Grieve which claims that the IPCC has said we have nothing to worry about climate change when a cursory reading of the report suggests otherwise. What is it with the quality of Herald opinion pieces presented by former ACT candidates?
The unexpected oil crisis
The world is currently facing a problem that even a few years ago was unthinkable. Oil is cheap and demand has dropped out of the market. What are the geopolitical implications of this?
Royal Bank of Scotland to investors: “Sell everything”
The Bank of Scotland has advised advised its clients to brace for a “cataclysmic year” and a global deflationary crisis.
National’s vision for New Zealand’s future
Stephen Joyce has had published an opinion piece in this morning’s Herald which extolls the virtue of free trade and ignores the pitfalls. Such as those shown this week when TransCanada sued the US Government for rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline contract.
The great carbon credit swindle
On December 17, 2015 the Government released a series reports suggesting that New Zealand is complying with Kyoto Protocol obligations. A dig into the reports confirms however that the compliance is in name only and is for spin purposes rather than a real attempt at addressing the world’s most pressing problem.
We will always have Paris
COP21 provided welcome commitment by the world’s nations to do something meaningful about climate change. But this is not enough. So what next?
Summer break
Standardista authors are on summer break! There will be an Open Mike each day, but little or no other posting (unless an author feels particularly inspired). Here’s some summer reading suggestions – by all means add your own…
NZ and the emissions scams
I/S at No Right Turn did some excellent work yesterday on the scams that underly New Zealand’s claims to be meeting its emissions targets.
The ink wasn’t dry on COP21 when…
Rhetoric and reality: Nats on climate change
The Nats want to wallow in the feel-good rhetoric of COP21 action to address climate change. But it’s clear that they don’t intend to take the “ambitious action” they are heralding.
John Key is relaxed about COP21
The Government has responded to the COP21 convention agreement with the suggestion that little will need to change. And John Key has put the likely annual cost of fulfilling our pledge at less than a tenth of the figure that Tim Groser has used.
COP21 – More than we expected, less that we needed
The dust is settling on COP21. After some initial optimism based on early reports, it’s clear that we didn’t get what we needed from Paris.
COP21 and the implications for New Zealand
COP21 has set the benchmark, no greater than 1.5 degrees increase in global temperatures. But current national pledges suggest that the world is on track for at least 3 degrees. And if New Zealand’s effort was replicated throughout the world the increase would be more like 4 degrees or more. So what should New Zealand be doing?
COP21 making history
Big news from COP21 in Paris, with a final draft of the agreement just released. It is sounding surprisingly good, 1.5 degree target, “fair, durable, balanced and legally-binding”.
Sua William Sio: COP21 and the Pacific Islands
Labour MP and associate spokesperson for Foreign Affairs (Pacific Climate Change) Sua William Sio describes the repercussions of a COP21 conference that does not agree to limiting global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees.
New Zealand wins fossil of the day award – again
For a small country New Zealand is certainly punching above its weight. It has been awarded a second fossil of the day award by the Climate Action Network.
Paula Bennett, Climate Change Minister?
Despite having no scientific background, no relevant experience and no related portfolios Paula Bennett is the new Minister in charge of Climate Change Issues.
Hard Numbers to Remember.
This post is essentially a distillation of two presentations given by Kevin Anderson at the Earth 101 gathering in Iceland earlier this year. You can view them here and here I highly recommend that you do as they are packed with high quality, no nonsense information. For those who don’t know, Kevin Anderson was the director of the Tyndall Centre, the UK’s leading academic climate change research organization and is a professor of energy and climate change in the School of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester.
The Anthropocene
Heavy flooding in Chennai and the North of England is the latest in a long line of recent extreme weather events. Welcome to the Anthropocene.
Rabblerave: New Zealand’s Next Top Model Politician
Invisiphilia analyses events of last week where environmental collective responsibility is finally gaining control over neo-liberalist philosophy and the old notion of an environmentalist being a sandal wearing, mong bean eaters has finally been given a decent burial.
TiSA reduces COP21 to a charade
That National Ltd™ is currently in the process of giving away New Zealand’s sovereignty in areas such as energy resources and related regulations, explains its contempt for the environment and the talking down of expectations regarding climate change.
Helen Clark on A Zero-Carbon Future
Good piece by Helen Clark on Huff Post: “Paris must be a catalyst for stepped up climate action. The world must move towards a zero-carbon future. There is no room for short-sightedness or a lack of ambition.”
Morgan on Key’s climate change cheat
Gareth Morgan calls Key out as a climate change cheat, and concludes that “We are dangerously close to being laughed out of Paris”.
Dunedin leads the way
On carbon emissions I don’t have any hope for NZ under National, which is still stuck in a stupid fossil fuel mentality. I do have hope for the people, organisations, and regions within NZ who are collectively taking action. And I’m proud that my home of Dunedin is leading the way.
Mopping up the fossil fuels subsidy shame
McClay said he could not answer the specific question because he had “been advised” no such data exists.
How convenient.
The great greenhouse gas research funding switcherooni
John Key has announced an increase in funding on research into the reduction of agricultural emissions of greenhouse gasses of $20 million over four years or $5 million a year. Which is the amount the Government cut from this research two months ago.
The official New Zealand COP21 negotiating guide
The Youth Delegation at COP 21 has secured a copy of the Government’s negotiation guide and has published it …