Prime Minister has failed

Roger Dickie, executive of the Kyoto Forest Owners Association, slates John Key for misleading the country over New Zealand's Climate Change response, in the latest Straight Furrow.

"...Mr Key said, "The most damaging era of Labour's climate change policy is what happened in forestry. In the 50 years to 2003, New Zealand each year planted an average 30, 000 hectares of new forests. After Labour broke is word on forestry credits, we've had deforestation for the first time since those records began."
  In 2007 the media was describing this as a "chainsaw massacre. We will encourage tree planting, said the PM.
(Source: 50 by 50: New Zealand's Climate Change Target, speech by John Key to the National Party Northern Regional Conference, Whangarei 13 May 2007).
  Because of John Key and the National Party's broken promises, we are now seeing deforestation taking place on an unprecedented scale, the National Party's environmental legacy will be a massive bill for all New Zealand taxpayers.

Questioning Mr Wills

Bruce Wills, president of Federated Farmers has been outspoken lately on a number of issues. I'm drawn to take issue with him on many of the claims he has made and have a letter to the editor in the queue right now, asking about his supposed powers of clairvoyance and love for genetic engineering, but in the meantime, I'm thinking about a couple of things Bruce said recently:

“Yes biological emissions account for some 47 percent of New Zealand’s emissions profile. They also represent 68.1 percent of our merchandise exports and indeed, 100 percent of the food we eat. "

I've always thought that we import a percentage of the food we eat. Have I got this wrong, or is Bruce correct with his 100% claim?
I've not seen the local rice paddies, banana plantations and Brazilnut groves to which Bruce alludes.




“New Zealand is able to not only feed itself, but produces enough food to feed populations equivalent of Sri Lanka"

Do we feed ourselves with what we produce here? See above. And do we really only export enough food to feed the Sri Lankans? That's a mere blip (no offense intended, my Sri Lankan readers). I am regularly given the impression/ hear the claim that our farmers are 'feeding the world'?
Bruce is using a very broad brush here, to paint a glowing picture of farming in New Zealand.

Farmers given free-pass - taxpayers pick up the tab

It's entirely unsurprising that National have granted farmers exemption from paying their ETS bills and have instead passed the $80 million tab to the general taxpayer.
It's exactly what was expected.
Ordinary New Zealanders can surely afford the extra $80 million - after all, these are good times economically, aren't they? We've all got oodles of cash lying about waiting to be spent on someone else's behalf, haven't we?
Why should the farming community, by their own admission flush with cash in these times of great demand for their goods, have to pay for the bill that they are racking-up?
Joe Public can pick up that tab, according to Mr Key.
Sound fair to you?

Confused by the ETS?

This site will help you clear up your confusion.

He writes well and has a clear view of the scammy thing (ETS).

Thoughts on the Roof is a very good blog and its writer William Hughes-Games covers a lot of the issues that interest me: "Mining Royalties and Renewable Energy" is a very good commentary as is his piece on Biochar.

More (coal) smoke screen

"A Wellington think tank claims that the proposed lignite-to-urea fertilizer plant by the government coal miner, Solid Energy, is expected to get more than $500 million subsidies over the first 20 years of its carbon debt."

"The $1.4 billion plant collectively developed by farmer-owned fertilizer company Ravensdown and Solid Energy will be the second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the coal-fired Huntly power station.:"

"CEO Conor English said: "Our information is that the plant would be carbon compliant from day one, and logic tells you that when you are producing the product locally it must be better than producing it on the other side of the world and shipping it to New Zealand."

Read more

And more

And more

(Hat-tip treesoftomorrow)

Seed rush

The Emissions Trading Scheme and the increased costs that come with it is worrying horticulturalists.
Vegetable growers, already squeezed by supermarkets who, the growers say, pay very little for the produce and charge the customer a greatly marked-up price at the checkout, will now face greater costs to growing and transporting their vegetables and fruits to the point of sale.
For the receivers of their goods, that's us, it can mean an increase in the price, which seems very likely.
It may mean though, that local growers fold up under the increased demands on their finances. If they can't afford to pay more for trucking their goods to market, for the electricity that powers their packing sheds and for any other incoming materials needed for their operation, they may abandon the growing game altogether.
These increases will affect glass and tunnel house growers the most, with their greater need for energy, in the form of electricity, coal and gas. The desired effect of an ETS is to change greenhouse gas using behaviour and it may well work in this field, but I wonder if basic food production like this is an area we want to force change, especially if the change means fewer local growers and more imported food from countries that don't have to carry the same obligation.
The solution for the consumer is, of course, to grow your own and it is readily apparent to me, as a supplier of vegetable seed, that demand is considerably higher this winter than ever before. People are preparing for the results of the ETS and other changes; the GST hike, a frozen wage state and so on.
Time to start thinking about a little independence from the supermarkets, despite the season.