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| Mayor Kockshorn |
Mayor Kockshorn has taken the opportunity provided by the league to announce that he'd like to see the national park open cast mined.
Kockshorn "believed Pike River should have been open-cast all along, but "restrictive DoC conditions" and the price of coal at the time the mine started ...meant it was prohibitive."
Nice one Tony.
You've taken us all completely by surprise. Who'd have ever guessed that idea would surface?
Gerry Brownlee will be as surprised as we are!
Here's the article.
I can do the smiley face emoticon, but how do you do the wry smile, tinged with exasperation and resignation?
15 comments:
I am going to attempt to control my anger before I comment any further.
Back shortly.
Let 'er rip Shunda!
I hope you can find other venues as well as this one, for the expression of your thoughts about this situation.
Kia ora Robert,
I read this article with resigned sadness. It seems it will always be about economics over the Earth.
Cheers,
Robb
The Government is pursuing a programme the holds 'economic well-being' highest Robb.
Regional Councils are being advised that the era of designing their programmes around environmental protection is over.
Not good news.
Well I posted something on frogblog but with no takers Robert, it seems like there are far more important issues than the environment for the greens.
I find Tony's reference to "what the dead miners would have wanted" especially offensive.
I would also like Tony to name these "experts" he keeps talking about, though I guess if he names 'old man Peterson' from the Runanga pub it may damage his crusade.
"Regional Councils are being advised that the era of designing their programmes around environmental protection is over."
That's fairly alarming. Advised by the government? Or who? (shouldn't regional councils be taking their cues from the people who voted for them?). Is that advise happening formally? Anything online you can link us to?
Hearsay I guess wildcrafty but you'll hear the phrase 'economic well-being' bouncing around the offices of all of our Regional Councils from now on.
What you won't hear, at least when those councils are talking to the Ministry, is 'environmental well-being'.
That langusge will have to be used by the public, I guess. Or councillors concerned that the wheel has turned and the environment is about to get crushed underneath.
You might be able to find 'economic well-being' on the Minsitry's website and I'm guessing it was commonly heard at the recent Bluegreen conference.
It didn't take long Robert:
http://www.macdoctor.co.nz/2011/02/06/open-cast/
I popped over there to deposit a comment Shunda and saw that you had too!
Perhaps our pincer movement will disturb the good Doctor.
Good post over there Shunda.
Thanks for the headsup on the councils Robert.
In war, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
I can just see Gerry Brownlee's face now - "Open Cast mining ... in the Conservation Estate ... Gee, I'd never have thought of that! I must pop down the road and tell my dear friend Don Elder. I better he's never thought of that, either".
er, "bet" rather than "better"...
Tim - I'm thinking Shunda's comments about the impossibility/irrationality around removing the mass of rock on top of the Pike River mine will put pay to Kockshorn's idiotic plans. It's not as though he plucked them out of thin air though - this play has been waiting for the right moment to be announced and they thought the league game would do the trick.
Nick - someone really must write a book on the art of war.
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