Happy Valley Archive

  • frog

    Divine retribution? - by frog



    Since we’ve had a few negative posts on developments in Happy Valley recently, here’s one to cheer up those of you who, like me, think coal sux and wetlands are cool. It’s been raining on the Coast - not just cats and dogs but tigers and seals! The rain has apparently caused a massive slip on the [...] read more
    April 30, 2009 7:01 am - 9 Comments
  • frog

    From alpine wilderness to a big hole - by frog



    It’s the beginning of the end for the unique red tussock lands of Happy Valley. Solid Energy commenced coal-mining preparations in the area on Earth Day by constructing fences, installing security equipment, and taking apart the Save Happy Valley camp. Metiria discusses the devastating implications of this, the first move to turn Happy Valley into [...] read more
    April 29, 2009 8:30 am - 5 Comments
  • frog

    The Government’s Earth Day celebration? - by frog



    Well, the Government really got into the spirit of Earth Day yesterday, a day to “inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment”. However, it’s focus was a bit below the layer of earth that sustains life, and was all about celebrating coal. First, the Minister of Conservation announced he’d redrawn the boundaries of Otago’s [...] read more
    April 23, 2009 8:27 am - 59 Comments
  • frog

    The latest from Happy Valley - by frog



    Video of the current drilling operations in the valley… read more
    April 18, 2009 4:00 pm - 17 Comments
  • frog

    Happy Valley heating up - by frog



    Here’s a bit of an update of what is happening in Happy Valley at the moment from a local: It’s very noisy in Happy Valley these days, with 2 drill rigs and a water pump pounding away. They’re all within 200m of the protest camp. Solid Energy is drilling 35 test holes to give them [...] read more
    March 17, 2009 9:00 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    Coal - by frog



    Tonight Jeanette will be speaking in Ilam, Christchurch, and releasing the Green Party’s coal policy. In the mean time here’s some coal related videos. You may have heard Gerry Brownlee talking about ‘sexy coal‘ but this General Electric ‘ecomagination‘ ad campaign from a couple of years ago actually uses sex appeal to sell coal. No [...] read more
    April 22, 2008 1:45 pm - 11 Comments
  • frog

    Earth Day - by frog



    In case you missed the street parades and glitzy advertising campaign, I thought I’d better remind you that today is Earth Day.  A traditional Earth Day activity is to show a picture of the Earth, which reminds us how compact and small our planet is, such as this one taken from Apollo 8 in 1968. [...] read more
    April 22, 2008 1:20 pm - 6 Comments
  • frog

    Spies - by frog



    Solid Energy’s contracted private investigation company, Thompson and Clark Investigations (TCIL) has been caught trying to infiltrate the Save Happy Valley Coalition again. Having read Nicky Hager’s Sunday Star Times expose on the topic I was inclined to give TCIL’s Gavin Clark top marks for going about his spying in the traditional manner that we [...] read more
    April 20, 2008 8:09 pm - 3 Comments
  • frog

    Celebrating a loss - by frog



    Solid Energy is in the news blaming protesters for its loss of $2.7 million dollars for the year. If only. Actually a lot of that loss came from costs associated with its legal requirement to move the threatened Powelliphanta Augustus snail. Remember that the Department of Conservation’s original recommendation to the Minister was that the [...] read more
    March 26, 2008 1:37 pm - 14 Comments
  • frog

    Save Happy Valley - by frog



    I’ve been sent emails all week by people asking ‘are you going to write about the walk the walk crew who are walking all the way from Auckland to Happy Valley on the West Coast of the South Island, near Westport?’ It’s been a busy week, what with Helen Clark and John Key both revealing [...] read more
    January 31, 2008 9:19 pm - 31 Comments