David Cunliffe offers personal observations from the Greens’ economic conference, on how to do good — “to do good, first we must win” — and possibly, also on how to win
Read MoreNick Smith
Fighting dirty, dairy’s udderhand tactics
In the latest skirmish, the Mackenzie cubicle dairy applicants — or, as they prefer to say, ‘covered farms’ — have turned an apparent setback into a tactical mini-triumph
Read MoreWhat Lord Stern really thinks of our ETS
Lord Stern's visit to New Zealand last week didn't upset any apple-carts, but it again raised the question of whether or not New Zealand's ETS is a world leader
Read MoreZeroing in on the high country problem
In which, after two months chasing High Country Ministers and their officials round in a circle, I realise they’re telling me something after all
Read MoreBP slick exposes NZ safety gulf
The US government can barrel oil giant BP into stumping up $28 billion to clean up the mess created by its disastrous deep water oil drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico – but could you see that happening here?
The ETS: a lemon nobody will buy
Nick Smith’s on the road again, selling his emissions trading scheme to a hostile public. It’s a green lemon: the less voters understand it, the better it will be for the government
Read MoreMy virtual rain dance: water for urban gardens
Ratepayers are an easier target for councils than the enterprises making money out of water, and using most of it. It’s ineffectual and unfair, especially for those growing food
Read MoreState of the environment: reports urge NZ to act
‘Clean, green’ New Zealand is the only OECD country without an Act requiring environment health checks. What will we do about it, asks the Parliamentary Commissioner?
Read MoreThe business lobbies' dangerous hot air
The cowardice of the business lobbies are on display for all to see as they try the same old ETS stalling strategy. It's just dumb management
Read MoreCanterbury matters
Can we stop talking about Auckland, just briefly? Canterbury matters as much to the future of New Zealand, and tells us more about the character of the government
Read MoreTurning ECan inside out: Creech governance review, exposed?
Is the government's investigation of the performance of Environment Canterbury open to more robust critique than it has been getting?
Read MoreJohn Key’s broken promise, on National’s parks
Key promised no state assets would be sold or partly sold in the first term of his government. But that’s in effect what’s happening, to our biggest state asset of them all
Read MoreCubicle dairy farming: were the secret consents unlawful?
Don’t fire up the bulldozers in the McKenzie Basin just yet. Land use consents for cubicle dairy farms granted by the Waitaki District Council may need to be reheard
Read MoreNick Smith tells two stories
The government’s made a liar out of Dr Smith in recent weeks. Is his lopsided mask slipping, or is he just a casualty, like the rest of us, of his more cynical conservative colleagues?
Read MoreAre we heading for ACC, RIP?
John Key has finally decided to spend some political capital, by moving towards privatisation for ACC. Sad that he isn't spending it on productivity, wages and the things he claims are his top priorities
Read MoreOne nation under the influence of one drug
Television has not been kind to the government this week
Read MoreEmissions trading: learn to count, and look before you leap
Emissions trading just got interesting, in ways the government probably didn’t intend. They’ve mastered the first lesson, but maybe not the second
Read MoreThe 2020 vision of crowds
And why they will be disappointed with Nick Smith’s answer to the emissions reduction conundrum
Read MoreBiofuels revisited
Jeanette Fitzsimons’ Sustainable Biofuel Bill has been drawn from the Member’s ballot. It’s sustainable, all right—defying repeal—and the first real test of this Government’s green credentials
Read MoreEmissions reduction: talking hot air
The Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee is deliberating—and lobby pressure is building towards Copenhagen, where international emissions reduction targets will be debated. That’s heavy weather up ahead
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