As one would expect from a rurally based sector, foresters are a conservative lot. I don’t say that disrespectfully, because societies – for the sake of stability – need a balanced mixture of change-makers and change-resisters. But it did mean that, when in 1989 I started work on Climate Change and forestry, I met with considerable opposition: “what bullshit is this? The climate has ALWAYS changed. Nature is self-balancing.” And so on, you’ve heard it all before.
Continue reading “Woodman, spare that tree (foresters attitudes to the ETS)”
Knock on wood
Rumblings about the forestry industry’s disappointment with the “suspension” of the ETS have not been slow to surface, but as I’m no expert on the business (though I do like trees) I asked well-known forestry consultant Piers Maclaren if he could provide Hot Topic’s readers with an overview of what’s going on. I must have asked nicely, because within hours he’d supplied an excellent – and forthright – article to post (see above). For those who don’t know Piers, here’s a brief (self-penned) CV:
Piers Maclaren remembers the time he first became aware of the issue of global warming: it was at a student meeting in 1970. Over the years, he came to realise how intractable this problem was, but it wasn’t until 1989 that he had the opportunity – as a scientist working at the Forest Research Institute, Rotorua – to actually work on it. He devised a way to calculate the nation’s carbon budget for forestry, and this yielded a figure that overwhelmed carbon from other sectors.
He has written over 100 scientific papers, attended numerous international meetings, and reviewed all four IPPC reports. He was science advisor to the Minister for the Environment (Hon Simon Upton) at the first Conference of the Parties in Berlin in 1995. He now works as an independent forestry consultant dealing with a wide range of issues, including climate change. He’s read – and strongly approved of – Gareth’s book on climate change “Hot Topic”.
In other words, he speaks with some authority.. 😉 His take on forestry and the ETS is essential reading.
Two worlds collide
On the one hand, we have Brian Fallow in the Herald providing a cogent analysis of the new government’s decision to do a deal with ACT and put a carbon tax back on the table:
In any case it represents further delay and uncertainty to follow the three years wasted as the previous Government failed to muster the parliamentary numbers for a carbon tax, and the three more as it designed and finally passed an emissions trading scheme. Act’s proposed terms of reference, perhaps deliberately, are a recipe for interminable further delay and uncertainty.
On the other, we have former ACT MP Muriel Newman explaining her thinking in the NBR:
First, the move to pass legislation to delay the implementation of the emissions trading scheme and to repeal the ban on thermal electricity generation is sensible.
Second, while the plan to hold a select committee inquiry is a good step in the right direction, it is crucial that it allows the opportunity for a wider debate on the scientific evidence in support of, or against, the existence of anthropogenic global warming. The review must also, as a priority, hold a proper investigation in the way that the Kyoto Protocol deals with agriculture.
Care of environment could be good for jobs
When the Greens announced Labour as their preferred partner for any post-election negotiations John Key was quick with the accusation that the Greens in government would mean environmental policies would have precedence, that jobs would be sold down the river and that economic growth would be on the backburner.
Continue reading “Care of environment could be good for jobs”
Welcome to the cheap seats
Hot Topic is pleased to welcome Bryan Walker, a regular columnist on environment issues for the Waikato Times, as its first regular contributor not called Gareth. Over the next few weeks he’ll be posting some of his Waikato Times articles, and as new columns appear in the paper they’ll be posted here (after a short delay). Bryan introduces himself thus:
I’m no scientist – a retired English teacher, and in a distant life before teaching a Methodist minister for some years before changing occupation (not a big change) – but I can cope at the interested layman level. My interest arose because I came to realise three years or so ago that climate change was for real – read Kolbert, Flannery and dismal Lovelock and haven’t been able to detach since – the beckoning serenity of my declining years disappeared – it was probably a mirage anyway.
I’m looking forward to bringing Bryan’s work to HT’s web audience, and I hope his thoughts will spark a lively conversation in the comments. Welcome, Bryan!