Archive for March, 2010

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  Will 2010 see the world’s first Green president? - by frog

  
  
  
  About time, I’d say, and Brazil could be where it happens. Kennedy Graham received an email at the weekend quoting this article, Brazil’s Presidential Race Gets Interesting, from the Green Party of Brazil. Marina Silva: tree hugger and presidential candidate Marina Silva, a Senator and former environment minister in President Lula da Silva’s government, has decided [...] read more
  March 8, 2010 6:35 am - 5 Comments
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  General Debate, 8th March 2010 - by frog

  
  
  
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  March 8, 2010 6:03 am - 74 Comments
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  Stop grizzling Pat, and pay your fair share - by frog

  
  
  
  Lots of us work hard. But we pay our fair share of tax on what we earn. Why do property investors, whose income is derived from residential rents and capital gains, think they should get favours from the tax system that none of the rest of us get? read more
  March 7, 2010 5:51 pm - 49 Comments
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  Praise, encouragement, and keeping our kids safe this Children’s Day - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  It’s Children’s Day today, a great day to recommit to protecting and caring for not just our own babies but for children everywhere. This year is the 10th anniversary of Children’s Day in Aotearoa New Zealand, which aims to: • heighten awareness of the importance and needs of children in society, and ways of promoting [...] read more
  March 7, 2010 11:18 am - 32 Comments
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  Shell declares an end to cheap oil - by frog

  
  
  
  Shell has been an increasingly vocal supporter of the need to plan for peak oil. Shell’s future energy scenarios paint a stark future – one where we plan for the demise of cheap oil and one where we scramble incoherently and nature decides for us. This week, in the Wall Street Journal, Shell’s CEO Peter [...] read more
  March 7, 2010 7:41 am - 31 Comments
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  Ryan Leech shops by bike - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  It’s possible some readers may not have heard of Ryan Leech. I pity your sheltered lives! He is a megastar in the world of elite trials riding, requiring sublime physical fitness, bike handling skills, concentration and balance. Here are some examples of what I mean. Prepare to be amazed. What I really like about the [...] read more
  March 6, 2010 1:44 pm - 13 Comments
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  An update on Russel’s dirty rivers tour - by frog

  
  
  
  Russel is rafting and kayaking down some of our most polluted lowland rivers this summer, as a fun and unusual way to draw attention to the water pollution problems in our own backyard. Click here for detailed reports and photos from each trip. Plus check out media coverage of Russel on the Manawatu, the Hutt, [...] read more
  March 5, 2010 1:45 pm - 14 Comments
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  The End of the Line - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  This great documentary on the demise of the planet’s fish stocks was launched at the Paramount last night by a coalition of environmental groups (ECO, Forest and Bird, WWF and Greenpeace). read more
  March 5, 2010 10:39 am - 2 Comments
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  CRI Taskforce is refreshing - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  The report of the CRI Taskforce released yesterday contains some refreshingly clear thinking about the best way to support science and research in New Zealand. read more
  March 5, 2010 9:01 am - 8 Comments
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  Growth versus Development - by frog

  
  
  
  Dr Dennis Meadows, one of the authors of Limits to Growth, spoke last year at the World Resources Forum in Davos. Reading Limits to Growth was what set me on the path to becoming a Green. Despite many false and ad hominem attacks on the research, it stands up very well in its forecast for [...] read more
  March 5, 2010 8:55 am - 30 Comments
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  Mensline axing is a tragedy - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  You may not have caught up with the fact that Mensline, the only telephone helpline specifically for men, is shutting down. It was started in 1995 by Lifeline, who recognised that most of those who commit suicide are male, while 75% of its volunteer telephone counselors are female. They reasoned, reasonably, that while some men [...] read more
  March 4, 2010 9:32 pm - 21 Comments
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  Water battles in the Manawatu - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday I accompanied Russel to the Horizons Regional Council hearings on the water quality section of their proposed One Plan . Horizons, who manage natural resources in the Manawatu and Whanganui region, have proposed a really innovative way of dealing with complex issues around water, land use, heritage, biodiversity, coasts, and air quality – stick [...] read more
  March 4, 2010 5:28 pm - 13 Comments
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  Mortgagee sales in Auckland – graph - by frog

  
  
  
  Sayeth the NZ Herald: the number of mortgagee sales – where a borrower’s property is sold by the [bank] – reached the highest levels since records began They’ve only been keeping records since 1994 though At the end of the article there are some numbers, which I made a graph of Manukau (orange line) is [...] read more
  March 4, 2010 5:06 pm - 6 Comments
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  Wake up call for NZ exporters - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  If Kiwi businesses are to stay in the international retail game they need to get serious about adopting environmental and sustainable business practices. This is the message coming loud and clear from research revealed by major British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S). M&S says environmental and social issues remain important to UK consumers. A survey [...] read more
  March 4, 2010 1:28 pm - 2 Comments
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  General Debate, 4th March 2010 - by frog

  
  
  
  What’s on your mind? What interesting links have you run across today? Some of mine Climate deniers forging letters Facebook group re access to university for under 20′s Chile, 3 days later Recovery? Who are you trying to kid? read more
  March 4, 2010 8:46 am - 38 Comments
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  Global warming – why can’t scientists agree? - by frog

  
  
  
  Professor Grant Guilford, Dean of Science at Auckland University, has a very worthwhile article about journalism, law and science, showing how our expectations of each area muddle the debate about global warming. It is more difficult to answer why, in the face of broad scientific consensus about global warming, the public remains confused. This disconnection [...] read more
  March 4, 2010 6:19 am - 28 Comments
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  Why are 30,000 kids a day voting with their feet? - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The statistics on truancy are very worrying. Not only do we have 72,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 out of work and out of any form of education, but we have 30,000 students a day not wanting to go to school. In response, the Government has doubled funding to deal with [...] read more
  March 3, 2010 2:10 pm - 24 Comments
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  No tightening of gun regulations – even post Molenaar - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It is unfortunate that the High Court has knocked back the Police decision to reclassify some rifles with pistol grips as military style semi-automatics (MSSAs). Justice Jill Mahon said legislation was necessary to implement the change. The Greens will support such legislation. In fact, we want it to go further down the road towards registering [...] read more
  March 3, 2010 12:04 pm - 83 Comments
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  A brief history of cap and trade - by frog

  
  
  
  Foreign Policy has a very succinct history of the term in its latest issue. Although the concept has been around for decades, the term was coined in 1994 when the Environmental Defense fund testified before Congress in the US. What do you think of cap and trade, differentiating between the programmes that reduce other forms [...] read more
  March 3, 2010 11:51 am - 6 Comments
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  Agreement needs passport safeguard - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It might not all be plain sailing for the ‘up to 200 young New Zealanders’ who will be able to spend one year on a working holiday in Israel following an agreement signed by Murray McCully in Jerusalem last night. We now know that Israel frequently steals the passports of foreigners living in Israel, to [...] read more
  March 3, 2010 11:44 am - 11 Comments