Environment & Resource Management Archive

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  Love and protect our oceans - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Seaweek 2012 is upon us and it’s a good time to reflect on the health of our oceans. read more
  March 5, 2012 2:03 pm - 2 Comments
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  The Green Growth Advisory Group report - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Over the weekend, the Government released the report of the Green Growth Advisory Group (GGAG). The GGAG is appointed by the Government and headed by Phil O’Reilly from Business NZ. The report is a timid acknowledgement of the growing global and domestic green economy and the opportunities and risks that creates for New Zealand. As [...] read more
  March 5, 2012 1:26 pm - 22 Comments
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  Drug Courts a giant step closer - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I go to quite a few conferences and, to be honest, most of them are rubbish. A pretty standard format is researchers taking turns to get up and tell us about their work. Sometimes interesting, sometimes not, but essentially always geared around the researchers’ need to disseminate results (and often they only get to attend [...] read more
  March 5, 2012 11:44 am - 6 Comments
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  BioBlitz on the Denniston Plateau - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  I’m heading down to the Denniston Plateau this weekend for Forest and Bird’s BioBlitz of the area, as part of their wider campaign to Save the Denniston Plateau. The Denniston Plateau is a upland wonderland of wetlands, streams and ancient rock, home to many unique native species including the great spotted kiwi, green geckos, ground [...] read more
  March 2, 2012 8:51 am - 5 Comments
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  Stratford public meeting: unanimous support for fracking moratorium from the frontlines - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Last night I attended a public meeting in Stratford, Taranaki to discuss the local hydraulic fracturing or fracking occurring in the region. The community passed a unanimous motion to call on the Taranaki Councils to place an immediate moratorium on fracking, and to call for an independent inquiry into the process and what is occurring in Taranaki. read more
  March 1, 2012 2:25 pm - 3 Comments
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  The Government can protect the Ross Sea - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  What has Richard Branson, a National Geographic oceanographer and Edward Norton got in common? They all want to see greater Antarctic marine protected areas included in the Ross Sea. read more
  February 28, 2012 8:44 pm - No Comments
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  Carbon Zero and the University of Canterbury – One small step, one (potential) giant leap…. - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  Without identifiable and reputable certification, emission reductions are too often seen as ‘hot air’ and clever marketing. read more
  February 27, 2012 3:29 pm - 1 Comment
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  River Pollution Patrol - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Northland’s Wairua River with a 750 sq km catchment is one of the major rivers flowing into the Kaipara Harbour — our largest estuary, a nursery area for snapper and other fish and an essential habitat for migratory waders. The Wairua drains what was once the magnificent Hikurangi Swamp. Sadly, this is now largely drained [...] read more
  February 27, 2012 10:23 am - 6 Comments
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  Crafar saga will keep Govt busy for 2012 - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  The Overseas Investment Office’s habit of rubber stamping applications to buy New Zealand land finally met a brick wall with the recent High Court decision regarding the Crafar farms. The Crafar Farms went bust a few years ago and are now being sold by receivers Korda Mentha on behalf of Australian banks and finance companies [...] read more
  February 24, 2012 5:51 pm - 12 Comments
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  Are asset sales a Dunne deal? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I was interested to hear a new community group is challenging Peter Dunne to use his crucial vote to halt the unpopular state asset sales. Do you think it’s a Dunne deal or will Dunne back-down to keep our assets? read more
  February 24, 2012 10:51 am - 27 Comments
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  Mad monorail proposal in Southland tussock grasslands and beech forests - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  Various alternate routes to Milford Sound have been proposed over the years to solve the perceived problem of travel time to, and congestion at Milford Sound. They include the train tunnel, the highway from Haast and the gondola. Two new proposals now seek concessions from the Department of Conservation. Milford Dart Ltd wants to build [...] read more
  February 24, 2012 10:23 am - 34 Comments
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  Lucy Lawless and Greenpeace take action against Arctic oil drilling - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Lucy Lawless, the ‘warrior princess’ and Greenpeace activists have boarded a drilling rig in Taranaki to stop it sailing to the Arctic to commence an exploratory oil drilling programme. What do you think? read more
  February 24, 2012 9:55 am - 39 Comments
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  Mining the truth in Northland - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  It takes a lot of effort to mine for the truth among all the rhetoric and spin coming from the industry and our National-led Government. Currently, the Far North District Mayor is heading to a large miner’s conference in Canada to sell the minerals of Te Tai Tokerau/Northland to foreign miners. The trip has to [...] read more
  February 23, 2012 9:57 am - 40 Comments
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  Aspirational beneficiaries get shut down and shamed - by Jan Logie

  
  
  
  Last week, the Associate Minister for Social Development, Chester Borrows, told the House (and by virtue of that the whole country) that beneficiary Tania Wysocki of Pukekohe was getting “the equivalent of a salary of $43,000 a year plus her entitlement to 20 hours’ early childhood education”. He also said that she is no worse [...] read more
  February 21, 2012 11:01 am - 58 Comments
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  Living within the donut of social and environmental justice - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  George Monbiot poses an interesting question in the wake of an Oxfam report: Is protecting the environment incompatible with social justice? It’s a big question especially in New Zealand where dairy intensification, increasing fishing and drilling and mining for resources are presented as necessary steps to deliver growth and lift living standards, to be ‘balanced’ against environmental degradation. read more
  February 16, 2012 3:26 pm - 4 Comments
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  Good, bad, and ugly: Exide to close - by Holly Walker

  
  
  
  I feel quite conflicted about the announcement that Exide will close its controversial battery recycling facility in Petone next month because the Government is exporting lead batteries overseas and depriving them of business. On the one hand, the plant has a shocking history of resource consent breaches, dangerous waste disposal, and toxic pollution. It’s located [...] read more
  February 16, 2012 1:54 pm - 7 Comments
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  Can’t or won’t? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  On Tuesday, Steven Joyce, Minister of Economic Development and Science and Innovation, wrote about the ‘you cant’s’ of our country, in an opinion piece in the NZ Herald. Feeling that perhaps I am one of those people he criticises as ‘people who in the one breath chant “more jobs, more jobs” and then in the next breath say “but don’t do that, or that, or that”, I thought I would ask Mr Joyce a few questions about why he and... read more
  February 10, 2012 2:11 pm - 102 Comments
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  Waitangi wisdom - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The Act Party’s sole MP John Banks was moaning in the House this week about the “terrible” protests at Waitangi. The last time he visited Waitangi on Waitangi Day was in 1990 when someone dared to throw a T-shirt at the Queen. Apparently, that makes him an expert.  I have been going to Waitangi every [...] read more
  February 9, 2012 9:22 am - 23 Comments
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  Super Fund invests in Chinese property bubble? - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has, on our behalf, decided to take a $23 million bet on a property development company with significant exposure to China — a country where some reports say that there are 64 million vacant apartments. The Fund’s stake in Hong Kong-based property development company Sun Hung Kai is the tenth [...] read more
  February 9, 2012 8:05 am - 4 Comments
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  The best way to oil independence is to provide alternatives and use less - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Ministry of Economic Development’s Briefing to the incoming Energy Minister predicts New Zealand could become a net exporter of petroleum by 2030 if new oil fields are developed. It’s a laudable goal to reduce our expensive dependence on foreign oil but it would be a lot smarter to invest in alternatives like better public transport, renewable electricity and sustainable alternative fuels. read more
  February 3, 2012 10:14 am - 31 Comments