NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Get it right or else.
November 22nd, 2009 | by noel |Here’s another take on the ongoing disaster that the National Party is foisting upon us – you know, the ETS disaster – the new National Party bill that is likely to be pushed through Parliament with no public debate.
The bonehead climate change strategy that is nothing short of enforced economic suicide. The law that will force taxpayers to subsidise farmers and large corporations that want to continue polluting the planet. (As if we haven’t done enough harm already. CO2 was at 380 ppm in 2007. The highest count in the previous 400,000 years was 300ppm.)
Maybe Dr. Smith and his mates think that we have plenty of time to bugger about. That they can get away with policies that belong in the 18th Century for as long as they like. That NZ’s export customers will tolerate dirty dairying and rudderless right-wing payback politics forever. That the effects of climate change are way down the track.
If their thinking reflects these ideas, they are wrong. Dead wrong. And they will cripple our country.
Things might get really bad, really fast. Maybe not “The Day After Tomorrow” fast – but within years – rather than decades or centuries.
Here’s why…
ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE
In the last 110,000 years there have been at least 20 abrupt climate changes. (Abrupt means in less than 10 years and climate changes means sudden warming or cooling of 15°F/8°C or more.)
It’s only in the last 11,000 years that the climate has been “stable”. For the 100,000 years before that our planet has had sudden climate extremes – on again/off again – as if someone was playing with the accelerator of your car.
Melting ice from Greenland and the North Pole seems to be the key driver for sudden climate change. Massive amounts of fresh water being released via ice melt screw about with ocean currents and start slowing down the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean.
The 2007 IPCC Report says it is 90%+ certain that the ocean current slowdown will happen this century. But – because they do not have enough scientific proof – the same scientists say that this will NOT trigger massive and abrupt climate change during this century.
I can’t understand why they have come to that conclusion…
- Sudden change has happened at least 20 times because of ocean current slowdown – how can the scientists are say that it is unlikely to happen this time?
- Greenland and North Pole icecap melt rates are way ahead of the 2007 IPCC Report predictions. Which means that the key driver of sudden climate change is out of control.
The predicted effects of sudden climate change include:
- Annual average temperatures drop 5°-6°F in most of the Northern Hemisphere
- Annual average temperatures warm up by about 4°F in many parts of the Southern Hemisphere
The downstream results – worldwide famine due to food and water shortages. See Also: Water Wars and especially “The Science of Abrupt Climate Change”
WHY IS THIS SO HARD?
What the hell is going on in Wellington? Are they being lazy? Is this just about their egos? Are they asleep at the wheel? We elected these people (duh!) and we are paying them good money to make intelligent decisions on our collective behalf. But in my opinion, they are failing us – and the planet – badly.
Why?
They must know that NZ is going to be totally embarrassed at the Copenhagen conference by this ETS shambles.
They certainly know that the demise of our “clean-green” image could mean:
- the ruin of our tourism industry. A ruined tourism industry would EASILY double our unemployment rate.
- lower prices for Fonterra members. Lower milk prices would mean large numbers of farm sales at low rates and would very likely result in MASSIVE overseas ownership of NZ farms. (Foreigners already own 75% of the NZ sharemarket – why not flick off the land too! We need some beads and blankets – sorry – that was a couple of hundred years ago – now it is cars and plasma TV sets.)
One theory that fits the facts is that a bunch of right-wing “Disaster Capitalism” nut jobs are engineering a crisis for NZ along the lines of the Shock Doctrine!
Don’t cringe at the thought of another conspiracy theory. And don’t think “it can’t happen here”. It can.
Here’s how:
We are borrowing so much money ($250m a week – $12b a year), that very soon the IMF and/or the World Bank is very likely to front up and tell NZ what they want us to do – just like they have done in a number of countries around the world. Our only option will be to ask how high to jump. (Read Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine to see how ugly things can get).
[An aside, a quick overview of the "morality" of the World Bank, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank_Group. Here's a summary from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080810173158AADA1Fh "The World Bank - IMF is owned and controlled by NM Rothschild and 30 to 40 of the wealthiest people in the world. For over 150 years they have planned to take the world over through money. The former chief economist of the World Bank, Joe Stiglitz, was fired recently. He pointed out to top executives that every country the IMF/World Bank got involved in ended up with a crashed economy, a destroyed government, and sometimes in flames with riots. Jim Wolfensen, the president of the World Bank would not comment on his dismissal."]
But I digress…
NZ is already living beyond it’s means. And our current rate of borrowing is forecast to DOUBLE our Government debt in the next 5 years. So, the way these things work, NZ will be a prime takeover target for the IMF/World Bank jackals within 5 years
But what’s left for them to take over….???
In a word – OIL!
Here’s a quick backgrounder…
1) On 18/11/2009, Gerry Brownlee started pushing the Great Southern Basis as the “silver bullet” for our economy. (“By 2025 we could be earning over $30 billion per annum in export receipts from petroleum“) at oil industry conference.
2) Earlier estimates suggest that the Southern Basin is worth at least US$800b/NZ$1285b (i.e over 1 TRILLION DOLLARS).
3) Exploration kicked off in 2007 – one of the two successful bidders was ExxonMobil. (The original rights were withdrawn from Bounty Oil by Government agency Crown Minerals after a court case involving ExxonMobil. Interestingly, Rob Muldoon originally negotiated a 50% royalty back to NZ for the Southern Basin. The Labour Government – for some reason – dropped the royalty to 25%. God knows why – whose side are they on???)
4) Additional exploration around NZ is under way this coming summer. One “Overseas Expert” reckons NZ is on the verge of an “oil bonanza bigger than that of Britain’s North Sea oil boom“.
5) We’re even getting a fast track deal with the USA on a free trade agreement!! I doubt VERY much that it is because of our cows!
The stakes are very high in a world running out of oil. A floundering NZ would be a great prize for the people who make money out of oil-rich countries every else around the globe at the expense of the locals.
So don’t dismiss this post out of hand. A “Sleeping Dogs” scenario (or worse) could easily be with us by 2025 – and the $30b a year from oil and gas could be a mirage – if we fall asleep at the wheel.
Forewarned is forearmed. Read and understand Shock Doctrine.
And remember, THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE.
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Important Footnote: APN News – the overseas owned company that owns the NZ Herald – has effectively been castrated by it’s owners according to Radio NZ’s Media Watch. Editors have apparently been told they have do not have a legal budget to defend themselves against defamation cases. They have been told not to annoy the rich and powerful. If you prefer to read rather than listen, check out these links:
http://asianinvasion2006.blogspot.com/2009/11/apn-chicken-out.html
http://asianinvasion2006.blogspot.com/2009/11/herald-clucks-on-spin-cycle.html
If you were out to kill democracy in NZ this back door strategy could be quite a clever (albeit cynical) move really – much smarter than Frank Bainimarama in Fiji 
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