Just a few days before the election, and here’s a copy of the latest Green Party newsletter ramping up the attack on our farming communities. New Zealand farming is productive, virtuous and widely admired, but you’d never hear that from the Greens. Continue Reading →
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Turn the coal, oil and gas right back on, Mr Shaw.
The Green Party’s Clean Energy Plan released yesterday announces they want to save the world by eliminating crude oil from our lives. They haven’t asked whether we want this, but surely James Shaw’s heart is in the right place because he says they want to “create a truly sustainable Aotearoa that runs on the energy nature provides.”
I can only agree. “Yes, Mother Nature provides fossil fuels. We should use them. James Shaw for king.” Continue Reading →
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Gareth Hughes, Green Party spokesman for our most industrious sectors
Sent on 9/10/2018 at 6:47 PM to Gareth Hughes, list member for the Greens since 2010, spokesman for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Energy and Resources, Primary Industries, Technology, Research and Development and Science. They are the country’s most industrious sectors—the ones we must take care of, or we all suffer. I fervently hope that Mr Hughes is himself industrious and well informed.
Dear Gareth,
We proudly produce many things we want. From butter to lamb, beef, pork, timber, wine, gold, coal and fish and more, we have laboured for many decades to keep our communities prosperous.
Continue Reading →
Views: 135
Some say our arrogant, relentless use of coal, oil and gas dangerously heats the atmosphere, which in turn heats the ocean and raises sea levels.
The worry-warts were whinging about it in the New Zealand Parliament the other day, demanding we outlaw building near the beach because coastal houses will fall into the sea in 2050. Continue Reading →
Views: 132
This today from the *co-leader of the Green Party:
Kia ora Richard,
This National Government is letting us down. Yesterday they did it again.
Yesterday, they stood up in Parliament and voted down my Fossil Fuels Divestment Bill. They said that they think the smart thing to do with our public funds is to invest it in fossil fuels instead of protecting our climate and our future. Continue Reading →
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April 1923 – Flooding on Anzac Avenue, looking towards Harrow Street (DCC archives). Click to enlarge.
These two comments appeared under yesterday’s midnight post Greens blame “climate change” for Dunedin floods and provide all the proof we need that the Green Party is entirely wrong to blame the June 3 Dunedin flooding on climate change. Why? Because they show that the severe flooding two days ago is not new. Unusual, but not unique. A combination of rainfall data and photographs makes these comments as convincing as they were prompt. Continue Reading →
Views: 92
Dunedin flooding. Apparently all our own work (click to exaggerate, I mean enlarge) – © 2015 Twitter
When I saw this in my inbox after dinner, I couldn’t ignore it. Who cares about sleep (but thanks, Len).
The Dunedin flood is a result of climate change and the Government’s “inaction” on the issue, the Green Party says.
“The flooding in Dunedin highlights that the National Government needs to stop being the problem and start being part of the solution on climate change,” Green Party local government spokesperson Eugenie Sage said. “Since National came to power in 2008, New Zealand’s net emissions have increased by 13 percent; the scientific consensus is that increasing emissions will cause more extreme weather events.” Continue Reading →
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Russell Norman, soon to be ex-co-leader of the Green Party. Ah well, never mind.
Russell Norman told me in the Greens newsletter today: “John Key and National aren’t listening to New Zealanders, and what’s worse they are putting Maui’s dolphins at risk of extinction.”
He was talking about the Government’s decision to offer more oil exploration blocks. The connection, of course, is the fairly low possibility of accidental spills from oil drilling, production or transport. In any other industry, they’re happy to put safety regulations in place. For oil drilling, even just exploring, nothing is safe enough.
The Greens love to use it, hate to see it.
You’d think BP or Anadarko want to spend millions to get at it just to spill the stuff and lose it. Continue Reading →
Views: 79
The Greens’ co-leaders are demanding senior cabinet posts from Labour after the election. Judging by Dr Norman’s statements on changes in the global energy picture, they don’t deserve cabinet posts. In an interview on August 5 he mentioned geothermal energy, saying:
It happens to be the fastest growing electricity generation sector in the world according to the International Energy Agency and it’s set to overtake gas as the second-biggest source of electricity in the world. This is the green economy. It is happening right in front of us.
Views: 185
The Greens sent an email yesterday offering some kind of a national development plan so we vote for them in the election. Russel Norman says:
Yesterday I announced the first of the Green Party’s economic policies to build a smarter greener economy that benefits every New Zealander.
At the centre of our plan is an additional $1 billion of government investment in research and development, including tax breaks for business.
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We’ve been “settling” for a long time, of course, but now the Green Party wants to improve our settlements.
Though we call them villages, towns and cities, the Greens go back a bit and refer to them as “settlements” as though we’re still pioneers in a virgin landscape.
This is their latest message to me, from Julie Anne Genter, Green Party MP:
Kia ora Richard [this is a Maori greeting—either they assume that I’m unable to understand English, or they signal a Luddite philosophy – RT]
We have an incredible opportunity to create ecologically sustainable, fair and thriving human settlements through good policy. Continue Reading →
Views: 111
Kennedy Graham, another Greens MP who distorts environmental facts despite his immaculate steel-grey coiffure, says in the NBR that Rodney Hide’s depiction of the Greens (‘Zombie Greens chant false science mantra’) makes selective use of facts and conclusions. He should know, he’s an expert at it—for 16 years he was one of our diplomats. Continue Reading →
Views: 151
via NZ Herald News.
If readers have knowledge of the effects of this measure on the local fishing industry, please get in touch. Here’s the entire Herald story (from APNZ):
New Zealand has voted against further protection measures for Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins at the world’s largest conservation summit in Jeju, Korea.
New Zealand was one of two countries to oppose further protection measures in a secret vote at the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s conference.
A vote was held on New Zealand banning gill and trawl nets in waters up to 100 metres deep – 117 countries and 459 organisations voted for the move.
New Zealand voted against, saying it was not backed by scientific evidence.
Views: 412
Mojo Mathers, deaf list MP
WARNING: Rant alert. Some interesting points here are perhaps obscured now and again by a sustained rantiness. Let me know what you think.
Here’s how to get stuff you want: turn it into a “human rights” issue. Then the very Speaker of the Parliament jumps to do your bidding, though you have no electors and no electorate votes granted you a seat in the highest forum in the land. Continue Reading →
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A visit from the incomparable Monckton was suddenly proposed and he’s already on his way. There’s nothing like hearing your own community mentioned by the famous, so here’s hoping he finds local matters to comment on and to make our leaders respond. People like Key, Smith and the honchos at NIWA have been simply avoiding our sceptical questions, which makes it impossible to hold their feet to the fire.
I wanted to attend both the Northern Club lunch and the debate at AUT but I will only get to the evening debate.
The other day an article titled Jim Hessell: Climate change and hot air appeared in the Herald. An odd little rambling article to match its headline. Continue Reading →
Views: 333