See
this in conjunction with Multi-no-choice
– National’s Idea of Climate Consultation
Tell it how things are
Kevin Hester presents to the Ministry of the Environment “presentation”
My oral presentation to the Ministry of the Environment at the 5 star Rendezvous Hotel in Auckland tonight. Why was this held in a 5 star hotel when we have numerous universities near by with great lecture theatres. Waste of money if you ask me?
Note
to self when speaking publicly to have a flash card with bullet
points to cover. I didn't mention the melting permafrost and methane
as I had intended nor did I mention the loss of 40% of the
phyto-plankton in the last 2 decades as I had wanted.
Two
dominant themes that kept reoccuring were the lack of true leadership
from our politicians and a total lack of bi-partisan support for a
constructive policy.
I
deliberately used Malcolm Light's expression that we are in the midst
of a planetary emergency. The video starts just after I mentioned the
breaking news from The Guardian yesterday that both Shell and the
International Energy Agency have been communicating internally that
we are looking at 4.75C in the short term and 6C in the future. This
will be a ball breaker for the IPCC and any nation state to quote the
ridiculous 2C target. I could have done a lot better than I did.
Go HERE to hear Kevin's presentation
Go HERE to hear Kevin's presentation
Comments
from Barry
Coates
For
those attending consultations over the next few days, it would be
really helpful to reiterate the points about the process. We must not
allow these consultations to be used as a way to legitimise
government inaction on climate change. We need transparency and
accountability from civil servants over the outcome of the
consultations and submissions, from their research, analysis and
advice to Ministers. as civil servants, they have an obligation to be
objective and not just tell the Minister what she or he wants to
hear. And we need the Ministry of the Environment to show that they
actually care about the environment, not just money.
One
of the crucial flaws arises from the ridiculous financial modelling
exercise in the consultation document. It says climate change action
will cost the economy and households money and quantifies that as a
form of scare tactic. But it ignores all of other costs and benefits
- the costs of climate impacts, the costs to future generations, the
costs to vulnerable communities in the Pacific and elsewhere - the
co-benefits from taking action on the environment (better health from
walking and cycling, and warm dry homes, liveable cities, etc), the
business opportunities from the huge growth in clean technology, the
huge economic value of NZ's international reputation, as well as the
non-monetary values like biodiversity, humanitarian suffering of
those bearing climate impacts, the disproportionate impact on low
income households, and the pride that we have in being New Zealanders
who can lead the world in doing what is right. Junk the modelling.
I
hope you will all prepare submissions and encourage others to do so.
The climate movement is building. We have more power than we realise.
quake, although there were tsunami deposits around Cook Strait, at
Abel Tasman and on Kapiti Island about the same time as that event,
researchers said.
Lead
researcher Dr Kate Clark, of GNS Science, said the findings did not
greatly change the actual level of risk to people in central New
Zealand.
The
National Seismic Hazard Model used a recurrence interval of 550 to
1000 years for a magnitude 8.1-8.4 quake but the researchers had
found an actual interval of about 350 years between the two quakes
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