Thursday, 16 June 2005

Baldock: No carbon market without a seller

United Future environment spokesman, MP Larry Baldock, says today's stunning revelation of a billion-dollar bungle by the Government in its calculations of New Zealand's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol show just how stupid the Protocol is and why New Zealand should abandon it immediately.

"When the Labour-led Government signed up to the Protocol, which is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, it trumpeted the environmental and financial benefits it would bring to New Zealand.

"But now with New Zealand joining a long line of Kyoto countries that are realising they will not be able to meet previous estimates of carbon credits, it is inevitable that the market will collapse.

"After all if everyone needs to buy, who will be selling????"

Mr Baldock said the best course the Government should follow now would be to accept United Future's sensible policies of repudiating the Kyoto Protocol and getting on with much more practical measures, like adapting the nation's vehicle fleet to hybrid fuel use, energetically promoting energy conservation measures and start a massive programme of tree planting to soak up carbon dioxide.

"It's time for ideological purity to be shunted aside and commonsense policies to be implemented," said Mr Baldock.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On The Government's Assault On Maori

This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that Luxon plans to roll back the progress made here over the past 40 years in race relations... More