Posts tagged as:

ETS review

Weakened ETS now law

by Gareth 25 November 2009

The government’s amendments to the Emissions Trading Scheme became law this afternoon, thanks to support from the Maori Party [Stuff, Herald, Reuters]. Nick Smith called the changes “workable and affordable” and said that they struck “the right balance in protecting the future of our economy and our environment”, but Labour climate spokesman Charles Chauvel was [...]

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Oram on ETS debacle: Business Council for Sustainable Development ordered to shut up by big emitters; Nick Smith guilty of “breathtaking hypocrisy”

by Gareth 22 November 2009

Fonterra and other big emitters have used their clout to silence the Business Council for Sustainable Development from commenting on National’s proposed changes to the emissions trading scheme, Rod Oram reveals in his Sunday Star Times column today.
…on November 5 Barry Harris, Fonterra’s head of milk supply and sustainability, delivered a withering speech to the [...]

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National’s nine ways to stuff up: Oram on climate policy in NZ

by Gareth 21 September 2009

Rod Oram’s column in yesterday’s Sunday Star Times so perfectly captures my own feelings on the government’s proposed watering down of the emissions trading scheme that I asked Rod if he would allow me to post it here as a guest blog. I’m glad to say he agreed…
To understand how the government is destroying the [...]

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Climate change policy myopia

by Gareth 21 September 2009

This is a guest post by associate professor Ralph Chapman, senior researcher Andy Reisinger, professor Jonathan Boston and senior associate Judy Lawrence from Victoria University of Wellington. It’s a succinct explanation of how and why the government’s climate policy is wrong-headed and ineffective, and is required reading for anyone following the policy debate in NZ. [...]

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National snub to Labour on ETS: part 2 – the fallout

by Gareth 14 September 2009

Carbon News has a special update tonight with the gory details of the government’s snub to the Labour opposition on negotiations to amend the emissions trading scheme. CN has also made available the full text of Labour’s proposed memorandum of understanding with the government (PDF) — which reveals that substantial incentives for agriculture were on [...]

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National snubs Labour, buys Maori support for watered-down ETS

by Gareth 14 September 2009

Nick Smith announced this afternoon that National has cut a deal with the Maori Party to support an amended, watered-down emissions trading scheme. Key features (from the press release):

Revised entry dates of 1 July 2010 for transport, energy and industrial sectors and 1 January 2015 for agriculture
A transitional phase until 1 January 2013 with a [...]

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An open letter to John Boscawen and his party

by Gareth 2 September 2009

Dear John, four months ago, when you were sitting in for Rodney on an ETS Review committee hearing, you wondered why the evidence I gave in my submission was so different to the submitters who preceded me at that session. You asked me if I would, as a personal favour, examine their evidence and explain [...]

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ETS report: wishy-washy and a waste of time

by Gareth 31 August 2009

The ETS review committee has published its report [PDF here], and recommends that an all sectors, all gases emissions trading scheme should be the “primary economic mechanism” in the government’s response to climate change. However the report makes very little in the way of substantive recommendations about how the current ETS legislation should be amended. [...]

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Why did Nick Smith hide the facts on forestry?

by Gareth 21 August 2009

Government ministers have deliberately played down the role of forestry in meeting emissions targets, documents released under the Official Information Act suggest. Diligent digging at No Right Turn has uncovered a Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry paper [PDF] titled New forest planting and harvesting intentions under high carbon prices, which makes clear that forest planting [...]

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No vision, no guts, no future

by Gareth 10 August 2009

The New Zealand government announced this afternoon that NZ would table a conditional emissions target of between 10% and 20% cuts on 1990 levels by 2020 [Scoop, Herald]. The range is supposed to allow for a response to the progress of international negotiations, and the conditions are that there should be a comprehensive international agreement [...]

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