Archive for March, 2006

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  Eating wiser

  
  
  
  Being able to make informed decisions about what we eat is a pretty basic democratic right, and Sue Kedgley’s Consumers Right to Know ( Food Information) Bill is a major step in that direction. Sue K.’s private member’s Bill was pulled from the ballot this week, and it seeks to strengthen our food labelling laws. Under [...] read more
  March 31, 2006 4:58 pm - 18 Comments
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  Nuking Global Energy Supplies

  
  
  
  Oil crisis, anyone? Lets hope everyone keeps cool heads over Iran’s nuclear programme and keeps on talking. According to these comments by Iranian general Rahim Safavi of the paramilitary revolutionary guards, any military action against Iran would result in Iran blocking the Straits of Hormuz, a vital gateway for global oil exports. Juan [...] read more
  March 31, 2006 4:30 pm - 12 Comments
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  Not so special benefits

  
  
  
  The next phase of the Government’s Working For Families assistance package kicks in tomorrow. Sue Bradford has praised a report (offline) by the Wellington People’s Centre showing the negative impact that some of its measures could ultimately have on up to 50,000 of the country’s poorest families and children. While the Green [...] read more
  March 31, 2006 4:01 pm - 10 Comments
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  Positive Pete

  
  
  
  Climate Change Minister Pete Hodgson was, as noted yesterday, effusive in his praise of the Greens’ Turn Down the Heat proposals when opening the Climate Change and Governance Conference in Wellington, and he repeated that sentiment in the House later that day when questioned by Metiria: Metiria Turei: What quantity of greenhouse gases will be emitted [...] read more
  March 29, 2006 9:52 am - 1 Comment
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  Turn down the heat!

  
  
  
  Apologies for a rather dry couple of weeks blog-wise. I’ve had a bit of a croak lately. Fully recovered now, this morning I was busy with some young Greens outside the major Climate Change and Governance conference being held in Wellington. Timed to coincide with the release of the Greens’ proposals on Climate Change – [...] read more
  March 28, 2006 11:09 am - 7 Comments
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  Terminator issue on the cards again

  
  
  
  New Zealand’s stance on the issue of terminator technology at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Brazil this week is finally getting the scrutiny it deserves following new information release by the Sustainability Council who obtained some Cabinet papers through an Official Information Act request. Nandor, who has been vocal on this issue, is calling on [...] read more
  March 23, 2006 10:51 am - 12 Comments
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  Climate change science censored by Bush administration

  
  
  
  A while ago I blogged about climate change, and specifically the feeling in the scientific community that the Bush administration is attempting to cover it up. Now, CBS’s 60 Minutes in the US have interviewed James Hansen, NASA’s chief climate scientist, and Rick Piltz, a former US government scientist who resigned in protest, who say [...] read more
  March 21, 2006 11:45 am - 8 Comments
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  Fewer MPs?

  
  
  
  NZ First MP Barbara Stewart’s Bill to reduce the number of MPs to 100 got its first reading in Parliament this week, and received enough votes to send it through to the select committee stage. The Greens were among the parties voting against the Bill, largely because of the detrimental effect it would have on [...] read more
  March 17, 2006 5:05 pm - 31 Comments
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  New Zealand sticks out like sore thumb in Brazil

  
  
  
  The meeting of the parties to the Cartagena Protocol on biological diversity is underway in Brazil this week, and there are still serious concerns from other member governments and environmental groups at the positions New Zealand is taking. As well as standing out on the issue of Terminator technology, which Nandor traversed in the House two [...] read more
  March 16, 2006 11:44 am - 48 Comments
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  Metiria on the Whangamata decision

  
  
  
  Conservation Minister Chris Carter’s decision to decline resource consent for the controversial marina at Whangamata has been widely covered in the media in the last week or so, and widely debated. For the most part though, the coverage has lacked detail and has had a generally hysterical tone. Metiria injected some perspective when she spoke in [...] read more
  March 15, 2006 5:55 pm - No Comments