But doesn’t NZ need a different answer to the problem?
What they call “the cow in the room” is the focus of climate change activists. They are attacking both National and Labour for what they see as the failure to have a credible plan to cut climate pollution from Big Dairy. They are calling on all political parties to step up and commit to bold and urgent climate action.
Greenpeace spokesperson Christine Rose says as we get closer to the 2023 election, people are calling for strong leadership on climate action.
“But our political leaders have not yet stepped up to the task.It’s time for all politicians to address the cow in the room,” she says.
“When it comes to intensive dairy, both the National and Labour Party have kicked the can down the road over successive parliamentary terms, but we cannot afford more delays on tackling New Zealand’s worst climate polluter”.
The problem is that NZ is heavily dependent on the dairy industry for a large chunk of its foreign exchange earnings. If the country did not have those foreign exchange earnings, New Zealanders could not afford to buy the cars, the clothes and the imported foods they need, let alone any of the luxury goods they enjoy.
That particular problem has been exacerbated this year by the falling prices not just for dairy products, but also for other primary products. The consequence has been a widening deficit in NZ’s external accounts.
It’s true that climate change hit home for New Zealanders this year. From Cyclone Gabrielle, to the Auckland Anniversary floods, and the severe drought experienced by much of the South Island, climate change is here.
So it does resonate across NZ when the climate change warriors declare real action is needed to combat “the crisis”.
Whether New Zealanders want the primary issue in the election campaign to be climate change is a moot point, even though many people are still dealing with the consequences of last summer’s cyclones.
Carving up the dairy industry nevertheless is not the answer.
Already one feed additive to reduce methane emissions in livestock has been approved by the Environmental Protection Authority, and though it has limitations for NZ farming, scientists are working on others.
DSM Nutritional Products (DSM) applied to import or manufacture a substance containing 10-25% of 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP, the active substance sold under the brand name Bovaer) – a chemical that is new to New Zealand.
Dr Chris Hill, general manager of hazardous substances and new organisms, said: “Substances for climate change mitigation are still new to NZ and are important for meeting NZ’s international obligations under climate agreements. This is the country’s first application for a methane inhibitor, so it was important to confirm how 3-NOP would be used and the information we required to carry out an appropriate risk assessment”.
Isn’t it an indictment of the government that it hasn’t secured a scientific solution by now for the methane emissions?
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
“When it comes to intensive dairy, both the National and Labour Party have kicked the can down the road over successive parliamentary terms, but we cannot afford more delays on tackling New Zealand’s worst climate polluter”.
The problem is that NZ is heavily dependent on the dairy industry for a large chunk of its foreign exchange earnings. If the country did not have those foreign exchange earnings, New Zealanders could not afford to buy the cars, the clothes and the imported foods they need, let alone any of the luxury goods they enjoy.
That particular problem has been exacerbated this year by the falling prices not just for dairy products, but also for other primary products. The consequence has been a widening deficit in NZ’s external accounts.
It’s true that climate change hit home for New Zealanders this year. From Cyclone Gabrielle, to the Auckland Anniversary floods, and the severe drought experienced by much of the South Island, climate change is here.
So it does resonate across NZ when the climate change warriors declare real action is needed to combat “the crisis”.
Whether New Zealanders want the primary issue in the election campaign to be climate change is a moot point, even though many people are still dealing with the consequences of last summer’s cyclones.
Carving up the dairy industry nevertheless is not the answer.
Already one feed additive to reduce methane emissions in livestock has been approved by the Environmental Protection Authority, and though it has limitations for NZ farming, scientists are working on others.
DSM Nutritional Products (DSM) applied to import or manufacture a substance containing 10-25% of 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP, the active substance sold under the brand name Bovaer) – a chemical that is new to New Zealand.
Dr Chris Hill, general manager of hazardous substances and new organisms, said: “Substances for climate change mitigation are still new to NZ and are important for meeting NZ’s international obligations under climate agreements. This is the country’s first application for a methane inhibitor, so it was important to confirm how 3-NOP would be used and the information we required to carry out an appropriate risk assessment”.
Isn’t it an indictment of the government that it hasn’t secured a scientific solution by now for the methane emissions?
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
4 comments:
This is just a demand for farmers to be required to spend money on “fixing” a non-existent problem. Methane emissions from dairying are not a signifiant pollution or “climate change” issue. Methane breaks down so quickly in the atmosphere that the equilibrium level is minuscule and irrelevant. Even those ostensibky fighting the climate change loonies need to get their facts straight and not buy into their rhetoric at all.
'people are calling for strong leadership on climate action' - who are these people? does ms rose speak to anyone outside her champagne socialite friends?
unless you ensure a basic level of prosperity for citizens, the response to 'climate action' (whatever the hell that means) will be simply IDGAF!
I'd suggest that many people would consider 'strong leadership on climate action' would be to totally ignore it. 'Holier than thou' policies are economic suicide for a country of our size, and the reality is that nobody overseas cares, for very good reason.
The UN has recently had to admit that methane is 7 times worse for gorbal worming than CO2. Previously they said it was 28 times worse. When will NZ adjust it’s actions accordingly? Plus we keep harpiing on about the completely arbitrary 1.5C rise without noting that we are already at 1.3C above 1850. Do we really believe that an extra 0.2 or 0.7C rise will e catastrophic? Plus the floods this year are weather not climate change.
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