emissions Archive

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  A trans-Tasman ETS? - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Yesterday our PM announced with Australia’s PM that officials would be starting work to align the eventual Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) across the ditch with our own. Julia Gillard seems however to have received some misinformation about our ETS: Gillard said Australia needed to catch up with New Zealand on pricing carbon, saying New Zealand’s [...] read more
  June 21, 2011 1:46 pm - 7 Comments
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  Scotland agrees world’s toughest 2020 climate goal - by frog

  
  
  
  Reuters reports that Scotland has pushed Germany into second place with the world’s most ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target: Scottish lawmakers Wednesday backed a binding goal to cut greenhouse gases by 42 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, edging Germany into second place in a ranking of the most ambitious developed world targets. “At least [...] read more
  June 29, 2009 6:07 pm - 17 Comments
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  Lester Brown on cutting emissions 80% by 2020 - by frog

  
  
  
  The following YouTube clip is Part 4 from a recent lecture Lester Brown gave on Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization and will take you into the heart of the Plan B message. The presentation was to the Chemical Society of Washington on May 8, 2008. Lester, who is President of the Earth Policy [...] read more
  March 8, 2009 8:00 am - 13 Comments
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  Scientist’s Warning to Humanity - by frog

  
  
  
  In 1992, not long after the Rio Summit, the Union of Concerned Scientists published a warning to all of humanity. Unfortunately, little, if any, of their recommendations have been heeded. Instead, we continue along the unsustainable growth trajectory that they so deplored. Almost 1700 scientists signed the declaration, including 104 Nobel Prize winners. Here is [...] read more
  December 20, 2008 4:27 pm - 49 Comments
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  Putting the ETS “on hold”? - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Question time yesterday gleaned a little more information about the Government’s plans for the ETS – and showed the full extent of their ignorance of how the scheme works.Many people have been wondering what John Key meant when he said he would “put the ETS on hold” while it was reviewed. We now know it [...] read more
  December 17, 2008 9:08 pm - 77 Comments
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  John Key’s Uncertainty Principle - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Does John Key understand the uncertainty his wild statements have created for business? Is there any thinking or policy intent behind the statement that the ETS will be “put on hold” or was it just post-election rhetoric? The key thing is that the businesses most affected don’t know. About a week after the election, reassured [...] read more
  December 15, 2008 11:34 am - 23 Comments
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  George Monbiot gives Yvo de Boer a serve - by frog

  
  
  
  In a new Guardian video series entitled Monbiot meets…, George gives the United Nations chief climate change negotiator Yvo de Boer a serve, and asks if the Kyoto protocol is too little too late for the planet. This version of the video is from eco-tube.com. We all know now that a carbon tax would have [...] read more
  December 9, 2008 11:34 am - 62 Comments
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  Upton warns of a laughing stock - by frog

  
  
  
  Simon Upton writes a good critique of New Zealand’s climate change situation in today’s Dom Post. It must be amazing for the former National Party Minister who got us involved with the Kyoto process in the first place to watch as once again, we go back to square one in terms of our response to [...] read more
  December 2, 2008 12:01 pm - 23 Comments
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  NZ red-faced over climate change - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Why would someone who believes climate change is a hoax and human activity is not contributing to climate change, want a carbon tax? Why would you tax fossil fuels if you don’t believe they are doing any harm? Why would a party that has campaigned on a carbon tax since 1993 and accepted the ETS [...] read more
  November 30, 2008 4:31 pm - 89 Comments
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  Leadership - by frog

  
  
  
  Obama telling it like it is and as we have always said it is: My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process. That will start with a federal cap-and-trade system. We’ll establish strong annual targets that [...] read more
  November 25, 2008 4:30 pm - 39 Comments
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  NZ now a joke in Europe - by frog

  
  
  
  Thanks Rodney. Thanks John. From Scoop: Specialist news service Carbon News this morning reports broker Nigel Brunel, of OMF Financial, as saying New Zealand is “a bit of a joke in Europe at the moment” following the National-Act agreement to suspend the emissions trading scheme. “This was New Zealand’s opportunity to reinvent its financial markets [...] read more
  November 22, 2008 4:13 pm - 69 Comments
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  15% organic by 2015 - by frog

  
  
  
  One of the cornerstone policy points of the recently released Green Agriculture Policy is for New Zealand to be 15% organic by 2015. This may seem ambitious to some, but with the size of the world market, New Zealand´s entire national output could be organic and it would be a small player. So fears that [...] read more
  October 26, 2008 8:57 pm - 19 Comments
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  Governments gone bad - by frog

  
  
  
  This morning’s Herald Sideswipe has a cute commentary on the often overlooked culprits in climate destruction – governments. Brazil’s Environment Ministry wanted to find out who were the biggest illegal loggers in their country, but unfortunately it found out the worst offender was the government itself. In fact, the six largest deforested areas of the [...] read more
  October 21, 2008 11:07 am - 7 Comments
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  Kyoto’s International ETS went live this week - by frog

  
  
  
  The UN Climate Change secretariat announced Tuesday the integration of dozens of international transaction logs to form one large global emissions trading system. ‘ETS go-live has been a high priority project for the UNFCCC secretariat. We have worked closely with the European Commission and the EU member states in coordinating the extensive preparatory work that [...] read more
  October 16, 2008 10:35 am - 3 Comments
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  National’s Empty Promise - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday’s announcement by Dr Nick Smith on how they would ‘fix’ the emissions trading scheme was just an exercise in empty rhetoric. Smith outlined a five point amendment bill that he promised National would pass within nine months of taking office. It’s just too bad that most of the items he wants have already been [...] read more
  September 5, 2008 10:36 am - 72 Comments
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  24 hours - by frog

  
  
  
  The cliché goes that a lot can change in 24 hours, particularly in politics. Needless to say I haven’t read them myself, but some poor souls are wading through over 700 email responses that Jeanette has received in just the first 24 hours. Ask, and you shall receive. It seems that Kiwis do have something [...] read more
  August 22, 2008 4:03 pm - 119 Comments
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  Have your say - by frog

  
  
  
  Here are the two clips that comprise Jeanette’s press conference this afternoon. Have a listen, then send your opinion to ets@greens.org.nz Then there is: It’s time to have your say on the ETS. read more
  August 21, 2008 5:49 pm - 40 Comments
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  Agriculture MoU (Mooo) - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Today I questioned the Government about its 2003 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the agriculture sector. The Government has claimed in the past that this MOU prevents it from bringing agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) prior to 2013, however, the answers to my questions revealed a different situation altogether: 1. I asked if [...] read more
  June 18, 2008 6:59 pm - 12 Comments
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  Make the ETS fair and more urgent - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Some of the readers here may have heard my interview on RadioNZ’s Nine to Noon programme last week, outlining the changes the Greens need to see in order to support the ETS legislation. I notice that there has been some robust debate here about the need for action on climate change. For most people, including [...] read more
  June 7, 2008 3:38 pm - 70 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