environment Archive

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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 - No Comments
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  The Christmas story: Russel Norman’s Address in Reply speech - by frog

  
  
  
  “These are the values that help to lay down the essential nature of what it means to be human and guide us to live a ‘good’ life – good to ourselves, good to one another, and good to the world in which we make our livelihoods.” – Russel Norman. Address in Reply speeches are long, [...] read more
  December 21, 2011 9:48 pm - 8 Comments
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  A precautionary tale - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Following is an extract from Hansard, recording an exchange I had with energy Minister Hekia Parata back in April.  The question was asked at a time when iwi, hapu, environmental groups and others were trying to persuade the government that issuing permits for deep water drilling is a bad idea. David Clendon: What is the [...] read more
  October 10, 2011 9:52 am - 9 Comments
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  Kiwis consider water pollution our biggest environmental issue - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  A new study recently released by Lincoln University has found that water pollution is rated by New Zealanders as the most important environmental issue facing our country. The Public Perceptions of New Zealand’s Environment 2010 study, which surveyed over 2000 people, states: “It is clear that New Zealanders have a very high desire for a [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 4:17 pm - 8 Comments
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  Frack No! Sign the Petition - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  A lot of New Zealanders  have not yet heard about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but many of those who do know something about it are worried, and rightly so! The technique is used to extract ‘unconventional’ oil and gas – that’s industry speak for sources of hydrocarbons that until recently were deemed too expensive or difficult to [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 11:01 am - 16 Comments
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  Boom times for oil and gas? - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  This morning’s  Dominion article about ‘boom times’ for the gas and oil exploration industry is an intriguing, even slightly funny, mix of boosterism, drum beating and dissimulation. The Chair of PEPANZ appears almost breathless with excitement as he seeks to fulfil the primary objective of his organisation, “to publicise, promote and advance the interests of [...] read more
  September 7, 2011 9:59 am - 6 Comments
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  Invest in sustainability or uddermine our future? - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Some straight talking from Michael Coote in an NBR (July 1st) article about the Indian economy. Noting the government’s enthusiasm for a free trade agreement with India,  Coote writes that : “The D-word – dairy – cited by Mr Key in in linking together the wonders of free trade with China and India should give [...] read more
  July 11, 2011 9:00 am - 7 Comments
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  ‘Green Growth’ – making it real. - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  I’m looking forward to seeing what the Pure Advantage group come up with later today when they launch their campaign “to deliver world-leading improvements to our economy, our environmental performance and the living standards of all New Zealanders”.  I suspect it will be considerably more innovative and better informed than what we saw earlier this week from the government-appointed  [...] read more
  July 7, 2011 3:45 pm - 15 Comments
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  Restoring the Kaipara Harbour - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  I was really inspired when taking part in a hui at Puatahi Marae on Sunday, an open day for the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group.  The group’s title is a mouthful, but there is nothing complicated about the vision they share, which is to restore the Kaipara, its mauri, its quality and its ecosystems back to what [...] read more
  April 18, 2011 5:58 pm - 1 Comment
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  Cool animated video of Auckland transport - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s a cool video doing the rounds on the blogosphere right now which shows the Auckland public transport network working over a 24 hour period. An animated map of Auckland’s public transport network from Chris McDowall on Vimeo. Watching it really highlights to me how radial the public transport network is. There are a lot of [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 1:53 pm - 20 Comments
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  Factory farming in the Mackenzie Basin – again - by frog

  
  
  
  NZ Herald reports: Three companies are trying again to secure land use rights for large-scale dairy farming in the Omarama and Ohau regions of the South Island. They want to develop 16 dairy farms with up to 17,850 cows housed in cubicles. Looks like it’s the same people with the same sort of plans as [...] read more
  October 5, 2010 12:38 pm - 4 Comments
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  2010 Arctic sea ice update - by frog

  
  
  
  As the northern hemisphere’s summer ends, the results of this seasons Arctic sea ice melt are in This video was made by http://climatecrocks.com/. Plenty more where that came from! read more
  September 23, 2010 6:05 am - 3 Comments
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  Conservation week – wetlands and kokako - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  There is a perceived conflict between the environment and the economy. John Key often talks about balance but the reality as we all know is somewhat different. Personally I, like many New Zealanders am happy to protect areas like the Whangamarino wetland just because there are special. Some members of our society want to take [...] read more
  September 17, 2010 3:40 pm - 5 Comments
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  Conservation week – lords of the forest - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Tane Mahuta, lord of the forest. A tree that is truly magnificent, along with Te Matua Ngahere, father of the forest, who is our second largest Kauri. Estimated to be over 2000 years old, this means that it is possible that it lived through the large Taupo eruption of 180CE. Both trees grow in the [...] read more
  September 16, 2010 5:17 pm - 5 Comments
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  Conservation week – under the sea - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I live on an island close to the sea. The opening lyrics of Jess Chambers memorable song Island which featured in our 2008 election campaign will ring true with many. Our coastline features heavily in our recreational opportunities. Many of us yearn for a sunny day at the beach under a deep blue sky or [...] read more
  September 15, 2010 5:14 pm - 3 Comments
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  What can we learn from “The Miniature Earth”? - by frog

  
  
  
  “Appreciate what you have. And do your best for a better world.” That’s the message from this interesting video that presents global demographic information for a world scaled down to just 100 people. More info at The Miniature Earth. read more
  September 15, 2010 6:17 am - 1 Comment
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  Saving the Mokihinui River - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Well it’s Conservation Week and my inbox is full of email from people who saw the WhitewaterNZ film “A Tale of Two Rivers” on TVNZ 6 last night. It’s being repeated three times before the end of the week and is well worth a watch. Essentially it compares the disastrous Meridian Energy plan to build [...] read more
  September 14, 2010 5:42 pm - 7 Comments
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  Let’s Celebrate Conservation Week - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  To celebrate Conservation week we are doing a short series of blog posts about conservation in New Zealand, celebrating how lucky we are. We will cover some the current conservation issues and, since this is a political blog, highlight some of our solutions. What does conservation mean? Like sustainability the meaning often changes with context, [...] read more
  September 14, 2010 1:23 pm - 1 Comment
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  Young people inspire others to believe change is possible - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  One of the events I really wanted to take part in last year was a festival called “A Day at the Beach”. It was the idea of a couple of young West Coasters, Louis Brown and Guy Ryan. Louis would walk 350km (to represent 350 ppm Carbon in the atmosphere) down the beach from Karamea [...] read more
  September 5, 2010 11:00 pm - 5 Comments
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  Fast-track the CBD rail loop - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Keith and I launched our Fast-track the CBD Rail Loop campaign today at Britomart – we had some great speakers and  I’m stoked to be promoting such an awesome transport project. I also had a chat to Sean Plunket about the loop today on Morning Report which was great. I’ve written a piece about the [...] read more
  July 26, 2010 8:11 pm - 43 Comments