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1:38 pm, March 17th, 2026 - 10 comments
Categories: energy, Environment, global warming, International, Iran, national, nicola willis, same old national, science, war -
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National must be, or should be, ruing the day it decided to dismantle some of Labour’s climate change policies.
Not only is it a bad idea to sabotague attempts for Aotearoa to do our bit to address our emissions. I quite like living in a habitable world. And I sure want my grandchildren to do the same.
But in the midst of an oil crisis where the fragility of international supply lines and the instability of the Middle East is on full display you would wish that our Government had started weaning us off oil, rather than increasing our dependence, even if this also has a beneficial effect on our climate response.
As an example dumping the clean car discount scheme. Labour’s scheme was dramatically improving the sustainability of the country’s car fleet. When National trashed the scheme the number of electric vehicles coming into the country plummeted.
And instead of addressing the benefits of lower overall fuel consumption on the climate, the cost of oil imports to the country, the increased availability of second hand electric vehicles for not so wealthy families and the improvement of finances for participating families, the Government used fear and loathing to justify what was a really retrograde step.
As shown by this recent transcript of an interview of Nicola Willis by Corin Dann.
From Radio New Zealand:
Dann: Does your government regret now scaling back the EV rebate?
Willis: Well, that was an example of something very untargeted. You’ll appreciate that if you are a shift worker in South Auckland, Corin, who has no choice but to drive to your cleaning shift at the Auckland airport, then a subsidy for a Tesler is not of much use to you.
Dann: But we’re talking the big picture here, aren’t we? We were talking about building resilience and moving away from fossil fuels and your government took the decision to take away those incentives. Was that a wise decision given that we’re now looking at this fossil fuel situation?
Willis: Well, in the big picture we can see two things. Already, retailers are reporting that both of the wealth and means have seen an uptick in the amount of electric cars that are being purchased. The second thing is that New Zealand has far more energy-efficient car engines than was the case a decade ago, 20 years ago, which means that overall fuel use has been …
Dann: You’ve weakened the emission standards as well, though.
Willis: What we’ve seen is that the amount of fuel that New Zealanders need to use to travel by car has reduced as a result of more efficient engines. So we are seeing that reduction in the need for as much petrol as was the case previously.
Fancy taking credit for the general improvement in engine efficiency and relying on that when your kids’ future is at stake.
Fancy also criticising untargetted spending while also giving a $3 billion tax cut for landlords.
And Willis completely avoided the point that Dann was making. Even Teslas owned by Remuera residents decrease our reliance on oil imports and improve our climate response.
But this is not a one off. This is not the only decision taken by this Government that increases our oil dependance.
How about the ferry fiasco.
Willis cancelled by text the ferry project that would have seen by now new ferries being constructed that not only would have made the rail system more resilient but they would have also lowered the previous ferry’s emissions immediately by 40% and it was anticipated that this would increase to 100% by 2050.
Or Roads of National significance. Spending so much money ($56 billion) on roads that will increase driving and oil consumption is the height of stupidity.
Or contemplating the removal of car fuel efficiency standards.
Or proposing the large spend on a LNG terminal to cover dry power generation years when investing solar panels would provide a cheaper and cleaner alternative.
And don’t get me started on cycleways. Attacking them to drive up resentment and social media kicks amongst your supporters requires a special style of stupid.
For its own ideological reasons this Government appears to be incapable of doing what should be done to reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil because it will also help with the country’s climate response. That is as contemptible and as stupid as it sounds.
I think incapable too, stuck in an ideological box almost impossible to get out of. The election is going to be who has the better vision of NZ's future path around this and which one do most voters believe in. Massive opportunity for the left.
The only thing I would disagree with is road improvement, transmission gully must save millions of meters a year, I don't go to wellington more often because of it but appreciate the 30 minutes less it takes,
The COC don't have a clue ?
The Left Labour/Greens/TMP really need to get their shit together and stop destroying themselves and each other. Forget about attacking the COC, give New Zealanders a Vision & Pathway to the Future, we have had 40 Years of Shit Governments both Left & Right. Two wings on the same bird, just like Pepsi and Coca Cola.
Are you signed up to one of those parties for the coming campaign?
Non-aligned at present.
+1000
Only 6% of New Zealand households can operate without a car, with is about the same base level as Phoenix or Los Angeles or Perth. We are such a vulnerable people now, and we don't have to be.
Realistically if we are to actually make a difference we/everyone need to focus on reducing emissions by funding / tackling the worst issues on a global scale. We argue about cars and cows but realistically any money would be best spent on addressing major emission sources. That actually will make a significant difference to the climate and warming.
Good examples within the link below.
"The super-polluting plumes from oil and gas facilities have a colossal heating impact on the climate but often result from poor maintenance and can be simple to fix."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/17/revealed-world-worst-methane-leaks-global-heating
How much "any money" should NZ be putting towards addressing its major emissions sources – cattle and sheep? Realistically, the Gnats will still be dragging their heels 20 years from now – tracking "slower to go faster" 🙁
https://environment.govt.nz/publications/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-inventory-19902023-snapshot/
Farmers Fart Tax Protest At Parliament [4 Sept 2003]
The tax has been proposed on ruminant emissions to finance research into emission reduction. Images from the National Party media unit.
The COC are not interested in Climate Change their Leaders are mini wannabe Trump Clones.