Last chance to see or finally acting as if our lives depend on it?

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, April 6th, 2022 - 55 comments
Categories: climate change, sustainability - Tags: , ,

Tues 5th April, early evening, I’m trying to decide if I can write a post about the latest IPCC report on climate change and its warning to humanity. I google some basics. It’s overwhelming.

Instead I’m thinking of stories of acquiescence. There’s a scene in Dances With Wolves (a film about white people and their longing for the earth). Soldier John Dunbar does a heroic act in war and is rewarded with the military posting of his choice. He chooses the frontier, because he wants to see it, “before it’s gone”. We know what happened after that and just how far gone it really is.

I’m also thinking of the British in New Zealand in the 1800s, who knew that bird species were going extinct. They stuffed them, sent them back home and put them in museums so they had some once the birds were all gone.

The late, great Douglas Adams produced a radio documentary and book on animal species on the brink of extinction (including the awesome kākāpō), called Last Chance To See. Although I’m tempted to say our situation is more a hybrid dark comedy: Mr Creosote is sitting in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Then social media delivered to me one of the stupidest things I could read on the same day as the IPCC report comes out: the people who want to build an international airport on the banks of the Clutha River between Cromwell, Wanaka and Tarras, have started installing weather stations on the proposed site, to help determine runway alignment. Because weather matters, and climate doesn’t I guess.

The developers are Christchurch Airport, which is owned by the Christchurch City Council (75%) and the NZ Government (25%).  I could write something about how that’s forty years of neoliberalism right there (the separate of governance and business powers), or how they know about the climate emergency but what’s it going to be like when their grandchildren hate them. Or that the proposal follows both Queenstown and Wanaka communities rejecting airport expansions in their towns.

The collapse of QLDC support for expansion of the Wanaka Airport is of particular note –  locals took QLDC to the High Court and won, on the basis that the council hadn’t consulted the community. Tarras and surrounds is a low population, rural area without the clout and money of Queenstown Lakes (and few are listening to the mighty river). Capitalism feeds where it’s least resisted. But resistance works and it’s easier now to say no if we organise.

I could write about how flying contributes to killing the planet all of life, but then we would have to look at whole systems and their relationship to life, rather than reductionist debate of how many tonnes of CO2 are emitted per seat and how many trees we can pretend to plant to make up for that. Airports beget flying, flying begets more airports, and require expansion to remain viable commercially. We simply cannot afford the cost, there is no way to externalise the cost anymore.

That’s from the Guardian yesterday, and it’s typical of many of the headlines.

There are of course serious risks in saying it’s now or never. If we don’t act, then in a few years people will be saying there’s nothing we can do, it’s too late now. On the other hand, there’s something almost intoxicating reading “greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025”. It’s a relief, no more dicking around, there’s a simple timeframe and a simple choice.

Late evening I think fuck it, the post must be written. I look up some of the people who are on the cutting edge of what to do. Transition Town pioneer Rob Hopkins‘ retweets had me cheering us all on,

https://twitter.com/samjknights/status/1511021914894094340

https://twitter.com/samjknights/status/1511075322204205057

There’s plenty out there that’s saying we know what to do,

The potency of people of power (finally) telling the truth,

It’s basically time to take to the streets, again. Not solely that, but we need that mobilisation to shift society to create those healthy, just, resilient low carbon communities.

Whatever we can do to wake people up, keep them awake, demand action from central and local government, business, farmers, communities, ourselves. The Freedom Protests in Wellington last month showed us the shadow side of the power we hold as activists and as people that care enough to step up. Whatever we think about their motives, values, politics and actions, they occupied parliament grounds and held the attention of government, mainstream media and the public for three whole weeks. In the end they shifted government policy and the culture of our pandemic response.

The left hasn’t managed protest action like that in quite some time, and it still blows my mind that that anarchic, batshit crazy event happened while the left was sitting on its hands worrying about the pandemic as if the climate and eco crises could wait. But maybe we should just take it has a symbolic expurgation from the national psyche, and stand up and show how it can be done well. I doubt there’s appetite or potential for occupying parliament grounds, but the antithesis showed us the door to our own creative action. The Freedom protestors demonstrated what can be done when we feel that what we cherish most is at risk.

The thing that scares me isn’t the end of fossil fuel driven civ. It’s that we won’t change and that will be far, far worse. But then I’ve spent most of my adult life in the counter cultures that know how to live well without over-reliance on consumerist society and I’ve seen what can be done.

Just Transition, the Powerdown, The Great Turning, they’re all things that give us a chance at both averting disaster and ensuring we get to have relatively good lives. There are people all over New Zealand, and all over the world, who have been doing the mahi on transition, sometimes for decades, we have the tools and skills and experience. If you’re not already part of this, go find those people and organisations where you live, offer them support, find out how to get involved. Being part of communities who are already acting makes it easier. Find the stuff that inspires you, because that’s where we will sustain the energy.

Phone or email your MP or local council. Join your local climate activist group. Even small actions matter at this point. We need people on the streets, but we also need people in the gardens, community centres, schools, workplaces, everywhere now is where climate action happens. Do it today.

If it’s overwhelming, find the things that support you – beauty, nature, community, children, people you love, the things you care about. We’re in this for the long haul, let’s pace ourselves and take care along the way.

Stories of proactive hope:

The Powerdown
Regenag
How change happens
What could possibly go right?

Ways out of the climate catastrophe

55 comments on “Last chance to see or finally acting as if our lives depend on it? ”

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  1. weka 1
    6 April 2022 at 8:55 am

    Looking at NZ MSM coverage this morning. Pretty interesting shift, as if the Editors are on board with the urgency and what needs to happen.

  2. Robert Guyton 2
    6 April 2022 at 9:20 am

    But the last tree will be cut down to feed the fire that cooks the gruel – because we have to eat!!!

  3. James Simpson 3
    6 April 2022 at 9:35 am

    I am filled with pessimism when I read your post Weka. I agree with everything you have to say but cannot see that humanity has any intention to reverse what we have done to our planet.

    In New Zealand and many countries there is a sense of common purpose (as there was for COVID during the first two years of the pandemic). But very similar to the global response to the pandemic, the majority of the world does not in my view have an appetite to change.

    We somehow have to impress on China, India and the US that their selfishness is killing us all.

    • weka 3.1
      6 April 2022 at 10:00 am

      two bright lights I see in that.

      1. NZ has serious potential to be one of the countries that leads on this, not just for our own emissions reduction and transition, but to show how it can be done so that others can follow. We're not the only ones, and obviously we have some hefty problems with our climate response. But we have a solid Green party already in parliament, and a centre left major party that wants climate action. That's huge. IPCC is saying one thing we can do is use voting. The left needs to think seriously about that right now, for the local body elections this year and prepping for election year in 2023.

      2. it's about tipping points (and this report is prompting a tipping point as we speak). When things get intense, change can happen rapidly. This isn't ten years ago when the IPCC was equivocating and most people thought climate change was going to be an issue for later generations. We have regular localised climate crises now, and the IPCC is standing up and telling the truth. A lot has changed in the last tend years. Watch what happens this week, who is saying what, and focus on two things: push back against the massive PR lobby of big oil and its allies, and amplify the people doing the right thing. Tipping points work in our favour when we intervene at the appropriate moments with the right actions.

      (China has a lot of potential for shifting imo, because they also do a lot of sustainability work. Don't know much about India. US is a shit show, I expect if they collapse into states there's more chance, but in the end it will be international pressure).

    • DB Brown 3.2
      6 April 2022 at 10:01 am

      Many have made the economic case for why climate mitigation is essential, but bean counters simply can't get past their ledgers, apparently, for the action taken by those 'in the know' is piddling.

      The rich build bunkers, they've largely given up caring or trying.

      Some are trying to get off-world.

      And they keep putting the onus on us. One News last night a tragic and tired wank:

      "What can we as individuals do to help fight climate change" and then they start talking about composting – FFS! Pathetic.

      Something's going to snap, the gaslighting is unforgiveable.

      • MickeyBoyle 3.2.1
        6 April 2022 at 1:20 pm

        The single best thing we could do would be to stop having so many children. Can anyone see a politician in this country spouting that? nope. Our only solution will be a technological one. We lack the courage to try anything else.

        • solkta 3.2.1.1
          6 April 2022 at 2:49 pm

          But we are not having many children. Like most western countries New Zealand has a fertility rate below replacement:

          1.61 births per woman, its lowest recorded level, and well below the population replacement rate of 2.1

          https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/new-zealands-birth-rate-lowest-on-record-deaths-drop-in-2020

          • Tabletennis 3.2.1.1.1
            6 April 2022 at 5:25 pm

            population replacement – meaning to keep the number of people similar/same in a country/land area. When science has since long concluded that today we need about 1.75 planets to provide the resources for our consumption and absorb our waste. By 2030, we will need 2 planets. We only have one.

            Therefor for 1.61births per women is well above a sustainable future, more good for economical reasons, esp in high consumers areas like NZ

            • Belladonna 3.2.1.1.1.1
              7 April 2022 at 9:43 am

              Umm. No. 1.6 births per woman (absent immigration) will result in an overall downward trend in population in NZ. Remember the male half of the population births no replacements.

              In order to maintain a steady state, you need 2 births per woman (well, a little more to cover infant mortality)

              If you're demanding that we reduce our population by half by 2030 – then that requires mass killing of people alive now – not a reduction in birth rate.

              China tried the one-child policy, and is reaping the 'rewards' now – in significant social disruption.

              • weka …
                7 April 2022 at 11:52 am

                If you're demanding that we reduce our population by half by 2030 – then that requires mass killing of people alive now – not a reduction in birth rate.

                Clearly the point is that we need to stop consuming more than we have. I have zero doubt that we can reduce population via the birth rate decline and I don't see being below 2 as inherently a problem.

                There's this weird thing on the left where we refuse to talk about population because it means mass killing or at least blaming poor people who can't control themselves (here or more generally internationally). But there are other ways to approach this that are ethical and moral and make a significant difference to the climate crisis solutions..

                If it's an imperative that our society is sustainable, this by definition has to start with nature (because that's the large system we live in and are completely dependent upon). In NZ that would mean looking at the land and sea bases, getting a good understanding of what they can produce and how much waste they can absorb/reuse, and then designing human systems to fit within that.

                This is not at all what we do. But we could. Quite easily imo from the technical side, the issue is belief and politics.

                • solkta …
                  7 April 2022 at 12:30 pm

                  If we were to have a discussion about the ideal population for New Zealand, then that would be a discussion about immigration not birth control.

                  • weka …
                    7 April 2022 at 12:57 pm

                    indeed. But it need to include birth rates. If we are under two currently, and we have the land/sea carrying capacity to have a higher population, then the discussion becomes about what kind of immigration policy do we want?

                    Myself, I'd prioritise refugees, and people who bring in resiliency and sustainability skills.

                    • solkta …
                      7 April 2022 at 1:31 pm

                      But we have had a fertility rate at or below replacement since the late 60s so that has been perfect for stabalising the population. Personally i would have capped immigration by now.

                      The one thing that nobody really wants to talk about is life expectancy. That has been driving population growth along with immigration but now looks to be stabalising. With increases in technology though that may not be true. How long should we be trying to keep people alive for? If we were going to reduce the population through birth control while life expectancy is increasing then who will care for all these old people? Or even without it increasing? We have to import aged care workers as it is.

                    • weka …
                      7 April 2022 at 1:45 pm

                      I would have capped immigration too. But I see a system rather than a ledger book. How are immigrants an asset to NZ? Which immigrants do we want? What kind of immigration do we want?

                      Is there an optimal ratio of children, to working age, to older people? What is it? What does it look like under neoliberalism? Under a Doughnut Economy? Under steady state?

                      How are elderly people an asset to NZ? How can we care for them in meaningful ways that value them? How would we want to be treated when we are that age?

                      Why do we have a shortage of aged care workers? Is it because we don't give them good wages and employment conditions? Is it because 'aged care facilities' are often demeaning and soul destroying places to live?

                      Can we even imagine how to integrate caring for elders in the community? I know all my old people didn't want to go into an old people's home. Because they all knew too much about what they were like. I couldn’t work there, not because of the essential nature of the work, but because I cannot handle how we treat old people.

                      The solutions as always are system change. Climate is going to force a bunch of change on us, but we still have choices and in NZ we have a lot of choices.

                    • solkta …
                      7 April 2022 at 1:55 pm

                      If people don't have any children then there is not a community to integrate them into. It is a big ask to expect people to look after their elderly parents at home, but to look after half a dozen old people who you aren't even related to, fuck that.

                    • weka …
                      7 April 2022 at 2:13 pm

                      Pretty rare to see anyone suggesting a zero birth rate. People will always have children.

                      Lots of people would welcome structural and societal support to keep their old people near them. And those that don't, we still have ways of looking after those elderly. It's just about values and design.

                      There's some confusion here about population, immigration and birth rate. I'm saying start with the people and the land, figure out what matters, what we want, and then design the system from there. There will be compromises to be made, but it's still better than the make believe system we use now.

  4. Tiger Mountain 4
    6 April 2022 at 10:40 am

    The fight for a future for planet Earth cannot be anything but anti capitalist…

    https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change

    Sure recycle and all the rest but…until the majority take on the corporates nothing will change significantly enough.

    The petrol shipments may stop, the supermarket trucks may stop, the ATMs no longer work–what you going to do then? In the Far North a number of us have rain water collection, solar power, gardens and organic farming, and proximity to what is left of seafood. Living local and downgrading consumerism is part of what needs to be done.

    • Belladonna 4.1
      7 April 2022 at 9:44 am

      But are you prepared for mass influx of population from other areas, if/when the supermarket trucks stop.

      • Tiger Mountain 4.1.1
        7 April 2022 at 3:31 pm

        Such things have long been thought about by those in the provinces and more remote locations. Chaos and panic are likely until people sort themselves out in terms of food production and distribution.

  5. Mike the Lefty 5
    6 April 2022 at 11:02 am

    Ironic how we hardly ever see people with signs saying "The end of the world is nigh…" anymore when the end of the world (as we know it) IS nigh.

    Instead we get ignoramuses with signs saying things like "Covid is a scam…" "Three Waters is a socialist trick.." and people scrambling desperately to get their new fuel guzzling Ford Ranger before the prices go up.

    The world is full of people who can't see past their own comfort zones, let alone contribute anything to combatting climate change.

    The world will cook itself to death but the bastards most responsible will never be held to account.

  6. satty 6
    6 April 2022 at 12:40 pm

    The National (Polluter) Party is not helping:

    Christopher Luxon continues 'ute tax' attack…

    • AB 6.1
      6 April 2022 at 1:30 pm

      In terms of mainstream politics, we are horribly stuck and cannot move that much on climate change.

      National represents the interests of those who do well out of the economic status quo and have no inclination to disrupt it. Labour is condemned to fairly moderate, cautious action – both through the mere existence of National as an electoral threat and their own reluctance.

      The public are scared that any action on CC beyond their own personal choices might devastate and impoverish them. Because that's what capitalism does in any crisis – some make out like bandits, others go to the wall. And way too many of us are too close to impoverishment already, so tolerance for risk is low.

      How to get unstuck – and quickly – is the problem.

      • weka 6.1.1
        6 April 2022 at 4:19 pm

        Voting Green is an incredibly easy and effective thing to do at this point. The Greens also have policies to make sure people are ok, Just Transition is built in. Left wing voters getting the Greens to 20 MPs would see significant change.

        The sticking point currently is that many people still seem to think CC won't affect them so they can ignore it, but it will.

    • Tricledrown 6.2
      6 April 2022 at 6:23 pm

      Luxon was evasive when he was asked what National would do and kept going back to the answer Nationals plan was to do something by 2050.

      While bagging labour for trying to do the same by 2030.

      Luxon kept dancing on the head of a pin in reality National's policy is to keep kicking the can down the road.

  7. MickeyBoyle 7
    6 April 2022 at 1:17 pm

    Sorry but we should learn to adapt, we don't have the political or social courage to make the changes necessary.

    I was reading the very same arguments about tipping points etc, twenty years ago and I will no doubt be reading them again in another decade.

    People don't want to change if it means there standards of living decrease or their freedoms are impinged upon.

    We can try and convince as many as we can and potentially get a bit of a movement going, but the truth is it will ultimately fail. There is too much selfishness, greed and corruption for any significant changes to be made. The only hope I can see is either through technology or a cataclysmic event, everything else is doomed to fail. Sad but true.

    • weka 7.1
      6 April 2022 at 2:40 pm

      this imo is a choice we cannot afford. It's not hard to list the things that have changed in the past decade and things that are currently changing. The urge to give up is understandable but there are compelling reasons not to.

      • MickeyBoyle 7.1.1
        6 April 2022 at 3:28 pm

        I disagree sorry. Yes there have been improvements in some areas, but we are tinkering around the edges and in reality achieving nothing.

        • weka 7.1.1.1
          6 April 2022 at 4:16 pm

          Like I said, it's a perspective we cannot afford if that then leads to giving up.

    • DB Brown 7.2
      6 April 2022 at 5:17 pm

      I disagree. The excess of selfishness, greed and corruption that needs to be curtailed is concentrated in boardrooms and government chambers.

      It's doable. Demandable, even.

      Many would like us to give up without a fight having squirreled away some shit-ton of nuts for themselves thus thinking themselves now above the fray.

      Foolish Summer Children. What do they know of Winter.

    • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 7.3
      7 April 2022 at 9:32 am

      Predicting the future is a mug’s game – but I fear it may go something like this:

      • The vast majority of this country will be caught by surprise at the rapid way the climate deteriorates.
      • Consequently, they will not be prepared for it, nor in a state of mind to accept that human life on Earth is disappearing.
      • There will be widespread panic when near term (like almost immediate) human extinction looms.
      • Of course, there will be frantic blaming for the catastrophe – and I wouldn’t like to be a politician when the fingers start getting pointed.

      There are a number of tipping points that are crucial:

      • An ice-free Arctic seems to be one – predicted by many sources to occur about September 2023.
      • This event could/will issue in catastrophic climate events in the (Northern) spring of 2024, and may even result in the North Atlantic Drift stopping completely.
      • Already the Ukraine war is impacting bread prices in the Middle East. Just wait until the entire wheat fields of Europe and North America collapse!

      Once events begin to run away, the exponential will kick in, and widespread habitat loss will result in famine on a scale never seen before, or even imagined!

      We have very little time left (perhaps only until the next climate strike protest march) to impress on governments the absolute need to take RADICAL measures, but these will not happen because the vast majority still do not yet see climate change as life-threatening (except ‘over there’ where they’re always having problems anyway). How else can you explain the rush to buy gas-guzzling 'sherman tanks' utes?

      • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 7.3.1
        7 April 2022 at 9:42 am

        Do not go gentle into that good night.
        Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

        Dylan Thomas.

        • weka 7.3.1.1
          7 April 2022 at 11:54 am

          Can you imagine things working out?

          • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 7.3.1.1.1
            7 April 2022 at 4:10 pm

            Yes, but only with immediate radical change – which would include the concept of 'fortress NZ.'

            Collectively, the world is not going to act quickly enough to halt climate catastrophe – so at some point we should be prepared to abandon the rest of the world and go it alone.

            Even then we shall not escape the worst of the habitat loss but a few of us might scrape through. Not me, I'm too old for the hardships that are fast approaching, but perhaps some of our young people.

            It's gonna be like a dystopian novel, I'm afraid.

            But like you, weka, I don't believe that means we should give up trying. I'll be on the next climate march!

            Edit: it’s for this reason I think we need to paint the climate picture as black as possible so that people are jerked out of their complacency. Saying we’ll hit 3.5 degrees above normal by the end of the century just doesn’t have any impact.

  8. Robert Guyton 8
    6 April 2022 at 5:15 pm

    The ball has been in our court for a very long time now.

  9. Robert Guyton 9
    6 April 2022 at 5:17 pm

    James Shaw, later this month or early in the next, will change the rules of the game, imo.

    Get your whites on, we're about to be served-to.

    • Poission 9.1
      6 April 2022 at 5:43 pm

      The rules of the game changed with Russia crossing the Rubicon.The great failure of the globalization was shown to be a mirage,with energy poverty,and economic instability across the europe,and the domino effect unfolding into Africa,parts of the middle east,and the sub continent.

      The UK was found to be a nation of bookkeepers (using two sets of books in some cases) the largest economy in Europe Germany has been found wanting with energy security due to the Ransom Demands of Green politics on the Nuclear side.

      https://twitter.com/fmomboisse/status/1508343424130420740?cxt=HHwWiMC4qcmW2-4pAAAA

      Globally every country filed COP26 to memories past,to provide tax relief on energy,high inflation, and sanctions has forced huge price increases and insecurity into the food sector and the riots are just beginning.

      Biofuel mandates here and the US instead of food will further force issues especially with less corn in planting in the US (due to high fertilizer costs)

      https://twitter.com/_HannahRitchie/status/1509490805949485059?cxt=HHwWhsCyhf745PIpAAAA

    • weka 9.2
      6 April 2022 at 6:23 pm

      Did you make a submission on the emissions reduction plan Robert?

  10. The Al1en 10
    6 April 2022 at 7:31 pm

    It's the hope that gets you.

    I'm almost ready to admit defeat and accept any meaningful change will come far too late to do anything to stop it, let alone reverse it. I’ll always have a green vote and be a foot soldier on protests, but it’s looking quite futile.

    Governments, to a greater or lesser degree won't do anything that affects the bottom line, and that's pretty much it.

    Time for a referendum on whether the country is prepared to go all out to do what we can. If the answer is no, which I suspect it sadly would be, then at least we can all stop worrying about it and make peace with kissing our arses goodbye for the sake of the ignorant.

    • weka 10.1
      7 April 2022 at 11:56 am

      I on the other hand will fight to my dying breath to do what I can to save life on planet earth.

      The problem with the "we can give up soon" approach is that it's not that black and white. We know a lot about climate change and nature, but we don't know how it will play out. I see nothing that says we should give up (other than human stress and desire). IPCC are saying we need to peak by 2025 but it's not like we should give up if we're going to peak in 2028 instead. That would be daft.

  11. adam 11
    6 April 2022 at 9:31 pm

    Back to my point about militarism.

    The desires of a military industrial oligarchy hell bent on war and war production need to be stopped.

    We need to stop what is making this mess, Capitalism. We need to stop the military. Simply, stop supporting them and their misadventures.

    Most of all we need to end the delusional that a military can somehow help solve climate disaster we are walking into. This one really needs to end. We are not living in a marvel movie, in the real world, the military is not the friend of working people.

    The horror you are witnessing in Ukraine is not new, it's been a constant and persistent series of events throughout human history. One which in the last 40 odd years has been hidden behind a corporate media willing to spin shit for the war pigs.

    Wars, which at no point in our past, have burnt so much carbon. Either in their execution, manufacture, or distribution. We've blown past WW2.

    War is the force that gives us meaning, and if you fall for it's myth making, we are truly doomed.

    • roy cartland 11.1
      7 April 2022 at 9:02 am

      I read that, it reads like a perverse form of Stockholm Syndrome, where the victim (Hedges) is addicted to the unspeakable horrors he immerses himself in. The worst part is the 'routine deaths get boring' bit, where just taking life doesn't provide the rush any more, so fighters have to make it more and more grotesque.

  12. GreenBus 12
    7 April 2022 at 8:26 am

    I struggle to meet anyone, anyone at all that is concerned about CC. While I travel in small circles I'm pretty confident this is prevalent in NZ. The majority, i.e just don't give a rats about CC. Nothing to see here. Boring. Must make money, that is the only life.

    Education of CC needs to be ramped up, massively. Every ad break on TV needs a shock view of what's coming, and show pollution as it really is. Shock the masses into reality to get through the fog of busy life. Should have started years ago but we must get the troops informed and just maybe attitudes will change. And then Govt can act for the peoples most urgent problem instead of committing political suicide which is our current situation.

    • roy cartland 12.1
      7 April 2022 at 9:04 am

      I agree, it's hard to be concerned about the 'future' when you're trying to cope with the present. I've heard it said that only middle-classed, privileged people can afford to care about the climate; the obvious answer to that is to increase the quality of life of everyone, so they can afford to care, right?

  13. Ad 13
    7 April 2022 at 9:03 am

    The most advanced gathering of countries to act on climate change – the European Union – are going through a fuel crisis that is going to test their political order to the limit.

    How can the EU survive without Russian coal? | Business | Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 06.04.2022

    The risk to full public blowback of fuel price hikes for coal, petrol and diesel is of enormous political consequence for us and for climate:

    If Europeans rise against fuel prices they rise against climate change mitigation.

    The pressure in the many coal-reliant and gas-reliant countries to fold to popular pressure will be very high indeed. For comparison: our own government folded within just 2 weeks of a fuel price spike.

    And since Europe is by a long way the moral leader of global climate change, if Europe found that fuel pressure too great and folded, global climate change efforts would be simply doomed for the rest of us.

    • Belladonna 13.1
      7 April 2022 at 9:50 am

      It seems as though the 'obvious' answer is expansion of nuclear power generation (given that large swathes of the EU aren't particularly suited to alternative generation (solar, wind, water, geothermal).
      How does that sit with the heritage Green movement there – who cut their teeth on anti-nuclear movements?

      • Ad 13.1.1
        7 April 2022 at 9:57 am

        New nuclear energy will take too long to get Europe out of this acute energy crisis.\

        France under Macron has reversed its policy to decrease nuclear energy reliance; whether Germany can do so will be difficult since the nuclear plant shutdowns are advanced.

        • Poission 13.1.1.1
          7 April 2022 at 10:27 am

          Europe was already facing an energy price blowout,the coal ban has little substitute,so there will be energy shortages across Europe.Poland has inflation at near 20%.

          The half trillion (from involuntary saving over covid) is literally going to be eaten up quickly. Le garde and the ECB messaging is problematic as you need to be a polyglot to understand the timing for interest rate movement.

          https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1511691197231865856

      • Hunter Thompson II 13.1.2
        16 April 2022 at 10:54 am

        What happens to the radioactive waste from the nuclear power plants? No-one seems to have fixed that problem yet.

        Hope they don't try to dump it far from Europe, ie in our backyard …

  14. pat 14
    7 April 2022 at 9:45 am

    The only realistic hope of NZ quickly reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is a version of the sinking cap/tradable system outlined in this article…..

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/jack-santa-barbara-wartime-fuel-rationing-helps-answer-urgent-ipcc-challenge

    Rationing by decree rather than wealth.

  15. Corey Humm 15
    7 April 2022 at 1:18 pm

    I take great issue with this statement: "while the left was sitting on its hands worrying about the pandemic as if the climate and eco crises could wait"

    The left and the public haven't been sitting on our hands, the vast overwhelming majority of us have been trying to keep ourselves and our families safe as well as not collapse our fragile health system in a global pandemic.

    Every protest in the last two years globally has been nothing more than a mass spreader event and having tens of thousands of people travel from across the country has not been an ideal situation for reasonable people and Im almost certain you're not saying that climate activists have wasted two years by following COVID protocols because you've been pretty concerned about the numbers over the years.

    Protest on parliament and sit in for a day or two but please don't occupy, that was ugly and the amount of human and food waste tipped on to the streets was deplorable and while I'm sure climate activists would be far more reasonable and not block streets with cars I don't wanna see climate activists bashed by the police.

    However there are absolutely things progressive movements can learn from that what I call a terrorist movement and use them for good rather than evil and spreading fear and one of them is passion. Large protests every weekend in every city, every town. Day or two sit ins. Global funding networks. Livestresming networks.

    Those extinction rebellion movements were good but protest outside the corporates, the polluters, the councils, don't do what they did in London and close down public transport routes and protest in working class areas and stop the people who do the least damage to the environment, the poor from getting to work.

    Most kiwis hell most citizens support climate change policy and activists, if the energy and disruption is put in the right places vast majority of kiwi's will defend the disruption.

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