Archive for January, 2007

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  AP6 and Kyoto

  
  
  
  An interesting article by Australian academics Jeffrey McGee and Ros Taplin at Macquarie Uni (where I did my PhD!) on the role of the AP6. AP6 is the agreement between Australia, US, Japan, China, India and Korea to work towards minimising their greenhouse emissions thorugh technology cooperation. There are no binding reduction targets. The study concludes [...] read more
  January 30, 2007 6:46 pm - 5 Comments
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  Universal compulsory work for the dole?

  
  
  
  John Key didn’t push work for the dole in his speech but it is clearly back on the agenda. Now I think most everyone can agree that having people spending years stuck on the unemployment benefit is a bad idea. It’s soul destroying, undermines self-esteem and is expensive to the taxpayer. And any ideas of [...] read more
  January 30, 2007 6:31 pm - 104 Comments
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  John Key’s State of the Nation speech

  
  
  
  John Key has just delivered his State of the Nation speech. OK, the good stuff. 1. Key identifies that there is an underclass in New Zealand. Seven years of a Labour led government and there is still an underclass. Agreed. 2. He acknowledges the vital role of the welfare state in providing people with opportunities. I really [...] read more
  January 30, 2007 1:42 pm - 9 Comments
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  IPCC dispute over Antarctica

  
  
  
  The UK Observer has an article reproduced in the NZ Herald about the dispute within the IPCC over the impact of climate change in Antarctica. It seems that Friday’s IPCC report will say that surface temperatures won’t rise enough to produce much melting in Antarctica and overall there will be an increase in the amount [...] read more
  January 29, 2007 10:12 am - 1 Comment
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  Democracy In Aotearoa

  
  
  
  A new website, theyworkforyou.co.nz, is working to make the NZ parliament more accessible and user friendly. It is based on the UK site theyworkforyou.com but is still under development. It is a bit more user friendly than the parliament website and more focussed on the needs of the citizen rather than the parliamentarian. read more
  January 28, 2007 10:26 pm - 14 Comments
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  US leans on IPCC

  
  
  
  The US government is leaning on the Intergovernmenal Panel on Climate Change to get them to criticise Kyoto and support voluntary agreements according to a report in the Guardian (and reproduced in the Sunday Star Times today). The US also apparently takes umbrage with the statement in the draft IPCC report: “one weakness of the [...] read more
  January 28, 2007 5:03 pm - 4 Comments
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  Tim Flannery tells Howard how it is

  
  
  
  Tim Flannery, the newly named 2007 Australian of the year, has used his new platform to criticise the Howard government for not signing up to the Kyoto Protocol. I’ve read a couple of Flannery’s books, The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers, and they were outstanding. Flannery also said that Howard’s new plan for water [...] read more
  January 26, 2007 2:56 pm - 15 Comments
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  Oz and Kyoto

  
  
  
  So Australia Day is tomorrow. But when it comes to climate change and greenhouse emissions there’s not much to celebrate. Australia has refused to ratify Kyoto and is instead undermining it with the AP6 initiative (with US, Japan, Korea, India and China). Under Kyoto there are effectively binding reduction targets. If you go over your [...] read more
  January 25, 2007 12:12 pm - 79 Comments
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  El Nino in NZ

  
  
  
  While there is a general warming trend in NZ since records have been kept – see the NIWA mean NZ temp graph – El Nino tends to have a downward effect on NZ temperatures as you can see in the global picture. Which means that there is a logical connection to the onset of El [...] read more
  January 23, 2007 2:10 pm - 14 Comments
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  Waihopai – Bush’s little helper

  
  
  
  After delivering the State of the Planet speech on Waiheke, I’ve headed down to Blenheim to join the Anti Bases Coalition in protesting the US spy base at Waihopai, outside Blenheim. The Waihopai spy bases is a joint facility between the US and NZ. It is probably the main way that we contribute to Bush’s [...] read more
  January 20, 2007 10:48 am - 65 Comments