Emissions Trading Scheme Archive

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  John Key’s chance - by frog

  
  
  
  Here’s a small Green item that I let slip past last week but which deserves commenting on.  Last week Jeanette wrote to John Key asking to see what would be in his alternative to the Emissions Trading Scheme and when he would introduce it. National has said for some time that it favours an emissions [...] read more
  June 25, 2008 10:58 am - 8 Comments
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  Business Council for Sustainable Development’s internal ructions - by frog

  
  
  
  The Business Council for Sustainable Development’s report arguing that an emissions trading scheme could lead to more than $12 billion of investment over the next 10 years and create nearly 10,000 jobs has certainly thrown the cat amongst the pigeons. The interesting thing to me is not so much the validity or not of NZBCSD’s [...] read more
  June 25, 2008 9:50 am - 33 Comments
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  Opposing the common good - by frog

  
  
  
  Also giving his Federated Farmers AGM speech this morning was Keith Kelly, chair of the Meat and Fibre Section (in this bloggy context ‘fibre’ means wool rather than broadband): The biggest problem of all however, could be the emissions trading legislation already through the first stage of the select committee process. By my calculations this [...] read more
  June 24, 2008 1:32 pm - 17 Comments
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  Emissions Trading Scheme emerges from Select Committee - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s lots of coverage of the Emissions Trading Scheme with the most detail coming, as usual, from No Right Turn. Now that the bill is out of Select Committee the real negotiations are likely to begin. Labour’s prevarication on the the scheme has now left it the unenviable position of trying to cobble together a [...] read more
  June 17, 2008 9:27 am - 22 Comments
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  Peter Dunne promises to be transigent - by frog

  
  
  
  Peter Dunne’s media release yesterday deserves a serious deconstruction. First he starts with his triennial election strategy modus operandi – paint the Green Party as extremists that so that he can position himself as the reasonable compromise candidate that will keep the Greens out of power: New Zealand’s entire climate change strategy is at risk, [...] read more
  June 7, 2008 9:23 am - 13 Comments
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  Greenwash by governments and Barbie dolls - by frog

  
  
  
  Greenpeace’s Bunny McDiarmid has an opinion piece in today’s Dominion post exposing the Government’s greenwash on World Environment Day [not online - but a similar Greenpeace story is available here]. She uncovers New Zealand’s massive and increasing greenhouse emissions, large scale deforestation, coal exports, and backtracking over the Emissions Trading Scheme. New Zealand is pretending [...] read more
  June 5, 2008 4:07 pm - 21 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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  Should the Emissions Trading Scheme fail? - by frog

  
  
  
  After reading this Dominion Post story the Standard is bombastically telling the Greens that they “must” not let the Emissions Trading Scheme fail.  The Standard’s ‘first past the post’ thinking goes like this: that any emissions trading scheme is better than no emissions trading scheme and the Greens’ choice is either yes or no, Labour [...] read more
  May 28, 2008 3:39 pm - 82 Comments
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  Fonterra has more money for industrial dairy - by frog

  
  
  
  Was it really only one month ago that we were falling off our chairs over the fact that Fonterra was forecast to pay dairy farmers $7.30 for a kilo of milk solids?  That gave the average farm $850,000 of income.  Well, records are made to be broken, so today Fonterra is hinting the payment could [...] read more
  May 27, 2008 3:27 pm - 12 Comments
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  Sorry to Colin James - by frog

  
  
  
  I’ve just received an email from Colin James critiquing my interpretation of his article.  So, apologies to Colin: I misinterpreted the comments he made about John Key and probably placed undue emphasis on the implication in his story that the Greens are no longer young and fresh. I actually thought his comments about the upcoming [...] read more
  May 27, 2008 12:27 pm - 2 Comments
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  Who are the real polluters? - by frog

  
  
  
  I wouldn’t normally use this blog as a forum to promote the views of other parties’ politicians but I enjoyed this speech yesterday from Hone Harawira on the ridiculous Summary Offences (Tagging and Graffiti Vandalism) Amendment Bill.  …And that’s where this whole thing has gone haywire, because here we are, about to criminalise taggers for [...] read more
  May 21, 2008 11:17 am - 35 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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  Balancing environmental and economic interests - by frog

  
  
  
  I have just listened to both David Parker and John Key on National Radio roll out the phrase ‘a balancing of environmental and economic interests’ when describing their race to backtrack on the Emissions Trading Scheme.  I thought The Inconvenient Truth and the Stern Report may have covered off this topic in popular culture, but [...] read more
  May 19, 2008 8:16 am - 31 Comments
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  Science solves global warming - by frog

  
  
  
  Every once in while someone comes up with a nifty new idea that’s going to save us from facing up to global warming and solving it the old fashioned ‘hard work’ way.  Last week we had Helen Clark’s Emissions Trading Scheme that exempts most major polluters.  Previously some of you may remember proposals for giant [...] read more
  May 15, 2008 9:26 am - 4 Comments
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  The real cost of climate change - by frog

  
  
  
  Phew, it seems like everyone money to lose is joining the Prime Minister in her fleet-footed race from facing up to the costs of implementing the Emissions Trading Scheme. (I wonder where Rio Tinto got the impression it could bully the Prime Minister into backtracking on climate change legislation?) So what is the biggest cost associated [...] read more
  May 14, 2008 8:42 am - 7 Comments
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  What I’m reading today - by frog

  
  
  
  Lyndon Hood’s answers to frequently asked questions about the Emissions Trading Scheme is a beaut: If New Zealand wants to maintain its edge as a clean, green nation, we urgently need to pretend as hard as we can to take decisive action on climate change. I suspect he was inspired by John Armstrong on Saturday: [...] read more
  May 12, 2008 4:21 pm - 18 Comments
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  Peak oil rescues the Prime Minister - by frog

  
  
  
  The Prime Minister is defending her flip flop on the Emissions Trading Scheme on the basis that oil prices are rising and thus having the same effect on motorists’ behaviour as the ETS would have done anyway.  This, as Jeanette has pointed out on The Panel this afternoon, ignores the fact that taxpayers are subsidising [...] read more
  May 6, 2008 9:35 pm - 12 Comments
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  Carbon emitters please queue here - by frog

  
  
  
  If there are any other sectors of the economy that have not taken much action in the last few years to cut your carbon emissions and would like a last minute reprieve would you please form an orderly queue outside the 9th floor of the Beehive and await your turn to receive your government climate [...] read more
  May 6, 2008 9:14 am - 27 Comments
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  Too many reports, not enough action on the ETS - by frog

  
  
  
  While the select committee struggles through the deluge of submissions on the ETS, the rest of us who are interested are forced to wade through the plethora of reports released this week in honour of our first serious attempt to tackle CO2 emissions. The report card? Not so good. The one thing that all the [...] read more
  May 2, 2008 2:39 pm - 5 Comments
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  Keep the coal in the hole - by frog

  
  
  
  This afternoon Jeanette presented Solid Energy with a gift from the Green Party to mark Earth Day – a stocking containing a lump of coal – a traditional gift at Christmas for naughty girls and boys. But, as Jeanette says, it’s not just Solid Energy that has a coal addiction problem: [I]mportant as oil is, [...] read more
  April 22, 2008 5:21 pm - 28 Comments