cliamte change Archive

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  Save Happy Valley celebrates 3rd anniversary - by frog

  
  
  
  The Save Happy Valley Coalition celebrated the occupation’s 3rd anniversary on the weekend. The valley is home to endangered kiwi and snails in a precious forest-edged red tussock wetland. Destroying this special place to mine coal that will contribute to climate change is doubly criminal. While the occupation has so far protected the valley from [...] read more
  January 27, 2009 9:43 am - 1 Comment
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  The Climate Change Select Committee - by frog

  
  
  
  Looking at the Climate Change Select Committee Terms of Reference agreed by the Act and National parties it seems like we are going to need to go through a significant re-litigation process that will be costly in terms of time and missed opportunities. Among other things Act proposes that the Select Committee will: • hear [...] read more
  November 17, 2008 12:30 pm - 10 Comments
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  Russel and Rodney debate the economy - by frog

  
  
  
  TV3′s ASB Business show this morning featured a brawling debate between Russel and Rodney Hide this morning which includes Hide’s extraordinary proposal to pull New Zealand out of it’s international Kyoto commitments and, as Russel described it, have New Zealand tagged as a global climate criminal.  As Russel mentions during the debate the two biggest [...] read more
  October 22, 2008 11:42 am - 29 Comments
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  Opening the books - by frog

  
  
  
  Today is opening the books day when all the parties get to see how much is in the piggy bank to spend on election promise.  The general consensus is that the latest round of tax cuts and a recession means that Dr Cullen might have left the piggy bank empty for the next government.  That [...] read more
  October 6, 2008 9:45 am - 6 Comments
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  McKinney: “leave the oil in the soil” - by frog

  
  
  
  Meanwhile, also in the USA, Grist has an interview with Green Party presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney. I liked this McKinney response to Grist asking: ‘Energy is a hot topic on the political scene right now. Republicans are really driving home the drilling mantra. What do you think should be done to counter that?’ McKinney: My [...] read more
  August 23, 2008 9:26 am - 2 Comments
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  The PM’s Carbon emissions speech - by frog

  
  
  
  Right, I’m back from the Green Party conference.  (Oh, talking of which you should listen to Kiwi FM’s Wallace Chapman talking to Scoop’s Selwyn Manning on the Greens’ Conference over the weekend). Seems the one of the big news stories for the week will be World Environment Day.  The Prime Minister, gearing up for World [...] read more
  June 4, 2008 4:13 pm - 6 Comments
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  Jeanette’s budget speech - by frog

  
  
  
  Jeanette followed on from a number of convoluted speeches full of numbers, figures and backslapping about tax cuts. We are living in a moment in history, in a generation where the people who have the power have a clear choice. Either they face inconvenient truths that are so obvious around us, or they leave it [...] read more
  May 22, 2008 5:13 pm - 28 Comments
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  We’ll cross that bridge once it’s burnt - by frog

  
  
  
  Greenpeace’s blog points out the emergence of some new lobbyists; the Standover Group, New Zealand’s leading organisation in the fight against equitable social change. An influential union of muscular enterprises and entrepreneurs, the Standover Group is committed to furthering what is in the best interest of the most important section of New Zealand society – [...] read more
  May 21, 2008 8:52 am - 10 Comments
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  Greenpeace’s Politics of Climate Change - by frog

  
  
  
  Greenpeace has just released political survey: Politics of Climate Change; Where New Zealand’s Political Parties Stand on the Biggest Challenge We Face. The Greens do well in the survey getting climate friendly rankings in all of Greennpeace’s twenty criteria.  But it looks like Green MPs may be struggling to find a similarly responsible party to [...] read more
  March 31, 2008 11:31 am - 7 Comments
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  Climate change pass-times - by frog

  
  
  
  The Guardian has a spectacular series of photos on climate change and environmental destruction. This one below is a coal fired power station in Yorkshire, England The coal-fired power plant emits more CO2 – 22.8 million tonnes annually – than the 100 least-industrialised nations combined. Drax provides 7% of Britain’s electrical power. Burning fossil fuels [...] read more
  March 25, 2008 11:21 am - 17 Comments
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  Is Earth Hour really the answer to the question? - by frog

  
  
  
  Personally I’m a bit ambivalent about climate change gestures like Earth Hour and it’s more aggressive little brother Alarmism.org. It’s all well and good as an educative measure sitting in the dark for an hour each year or setting off an alarm each month. But that assumes that individual people people, once educated, can be [...] read more
  March 17, 2008 9:11 am - 19 Comments
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  Public struggle to choose coalition partner for Greens on climate change - by frog

  
  
  
  The New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development’s latest ShapeNZ Survey on emissions trading and climate change shows that 82% think climate change is an urgent problem or a problem for now, rather than a problem to deal with later or not a problem at all.  56% think that New Zealand’s response should be to [...] read more
  March 6, 2008 8:57 am - 12 Comments
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  World’s poorest hit by food shortages - by frog

  
  
  
  The United Nations is warning that food supply around the world is rapidly and unexpectedly dwindling and that those who go hungry as a result are most likely to live in poor underdeveloped countries. Food costs have risen dramatically, as I noted last week, while supply and reserves are down all around the world. Diouf [...] read more
  December 19, 2007 11:33 am - 13 Comments