Greta has slammed NZ over the weekend by retweeting a damning column from The Guardian that highlights our appalling cow emissions.
At a time of extreme climate change which we are starting to see unbundle in real time, we must look at radical reform yet what are we doing?
Increasing intensive dairy which is causing more climate change gasses is the opposite direction of where we urgently need to be going.
Emissions from cows on New Zealand dairy farms reach record levels
Calls for further regulation after latest data after latest data from Stats NZ shows greenhouse gas emissions rose another 3% in 2019
We are seeing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation shut down, that means the 4th Horseman is in the Uber on his way over.
Look at the toothless Green Party conference in the very same weekend Greta tweeted her criticism, their tepid focus on the huge issues we confront lost in an ocean of feelings and middle class identity politics is like organic tofu confronting a laser guided missile.
Organizing a free the nipple protest with vegan cycling mommy bloggers they can do, challenge the neoliberal hegemonic structure of Capitalism less so.
The latest report from the IPCC is due out in the next 24 hours.
We can’t stop what is coming but we have at the most 20years for urgent adaptation.
Fortress Aotearoa is inevitable.
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Who in the wealth business wants to know all that scientific guff. That is just another type of academic brouhaha that they love to publicise because that is required by universities now and their positions and their salaries depend on it. /Partly sarc
The universities have to compete with one another, and the one that gets the most publications from their acolytes wins in the international educational league. So poof to them. (The publications and publicity demand is probably a great energiser behind the womin’s crusades now going on.)
Very lively hyperbole there Martyn, loved the organic tofu meets guided missile. Good for getting image of the difficulties we face. But your last lines were good, and right, and incontrovertible except by the wilfully ignorant, who are deserving of some award for commitment to vapidness, like a reverse olympic medal. Let’s please work with the people who want to make a life for themselves while it is still possible, and be part of a great country-wide organisation, that is run by practical, humane, knowledgable civilians with input from all interested and keen. Each town and village to have an Ideas Office where people who would like to do something positive can check in, get the idea polished to make it feasible, and get a plan worked out with reporting time set, and success advertised, failures would invite others’ thoughts for improvement. Everything noted for others to check on, and negative comments noted also, and acted on as reasonable.
Encourage not discourage, and keep the middle-class trained professionals at a distance. And government provide regular small amounts of funding for the Office expenses, medium budget, minimum pay plus 20% for 2 full-time equivalents, to match the numbers carrying out projects which are reported, and not ask for money back if it doesn’t happen successfully.
This for bumper sticker for vehicle or bum sticker for motorised scooter etc.
We can’t stop what is coming but we have at the most 20years for urgent adaptation.
‘the second greatest increase of all industrialised countries writes the Guardian’.
Therein les the problem, we have become deliberately less industrialised since the government managed to kill of Dr Bill Sutch who was trying to plot a way for us between the high cliffs of the Great Powers, through the narrow channel of free association and mutual benefit. Then Labour and Treasury hand in hand skipped into the golden sunlight of freemarketing and let in ersatz farmers from overseas plus wannabees here, and – ‘Today, Unlimited Free Credit’ (nearly), so they could buy up 20 farms or such and farm them industrially, or at the least more efficiently than the NZ farmers who sold out individually, and retired to the Gold Coast. They believe in robust animals which can stand knee deep in mud with nowhere to lie and chew the cud, and make happy milk.
And we are systematic in our behaviour for rearing the young in a robust way; we also make our rural families bear their young on any handy surface under any roof they can find as well. It’s called resilience don’cha know. Not quite civilised, industrialised in patches, NZ – the country that’s not quite what it seems – put a pin on the map one night, and it might have an earthquake taking it sideways, upwards, but always skewed and screwed. There is no way we can meet our proudly announced aims to diminish our carbon footprint except, now we have re-enacted the Highland Clearings from our farms and farm jobs, perhaps we will have an Irish famine replay sometime in the future.
Well said Warbler, like the reference to Mr Sutch too.
Various climate trigger and tipping points have been reached already, so we truly live in “ kiss your proverbial goodbye” times.
We better cull all those pooing and farting animals on the Serengeti to cut down on emissions, then. Thank goodness the great bison herds of North America were almost wiped out and the Aurochs and woodland Bison of Europe as well. So maybe the past great extinctions and todays mass extinctions are a jolly good thing…
Not the same as artificial herds of commercial cows.
The beasts you mentioned did an environmental job and lived in harmony with ‘mother earth’, or died when they over bred, unlike the industrial modern day farming, by in effect mainly debt slave-farmers.
Its a piss take and I have already covered that angle and others further down.
Exactly Wild Katipo, cows and sheep grazing on pasture are no different to wild herds in that respect.
BTW, no word from Greta on the millions of tons of Indonesian coal we’re importing to keep the lights on. Why aren’t we mining our own coal?
Oh that’s right they shut down the mines, never mind the Kiwi miners.
Is Jacinda Maggie T in drag?
A high-performing dairy cow would eat up to 10 times the amount that a wild bison would so you can probably work out the implications of that. You do not see massive amounts of synthetic fertilizer being applied to the rangelands either.
Yes well said Bonnie. Nitrates are the enemy and we won’t find too much of that out on the prairie.
Kill those nitrates! Public enemy number one !… what would the petroleum company’s do without them? Heaven forbid we stop using their humus destroying chemicals!
Actually if you’d read further down,… I named nitrates and how it affects the waterways, causes algal blooms etc and destroys shorelines and breeding habitats for marine life, but failed to mention the salination effect and destruction on humus laden topsoils.
I’m all for bison shit as a natural fertilizer and topsoil humus builder. ( humour). No I am, seriously.
I find it a shame that I have to constantly and repeatedly explain myself and that some of you just cant seem to grasp satire and the way its used to present truth and in this case, – at least some of the answers.
Well , I dunno so much, Bonnie,… my last comment below made mention of artificial fertilizers ( btw , got a few Hort papers as well and know about that scene as well- and endorsed and used the French intensive method myself) in my final comment below,…and the fact remains the natural world shits, farts and burps a ton of gases and chemicals that there is so much hysteria and bad science about in the climate change camp.
So if you want some startling facts, – read the last post near the bottom of the page. And if you have wisdom , you will see I endorse large changes in our attitudes and am actually more environmentalist minded than many of these wokes and actually offer some simple solutions that will help somewhat…with a dash of satirical humour to get the point across whilst taking a dig at the loose terms being bandied about for some populist yet false scientific notions.
OI ! – And while we’re at it , – we need to get back to whaling and make sure we overfish those schools,- all those pooping, farting fish and seals and coral reefs releasing all that doggone methane! Heaven forbid! As for birds, Dodo’s and passenger pigeons knocked back a sizeable chunk of wretched methane but there’s still more work to be done !
We should probably switch from beef farming to pig farming. Pigs are non ruminant, so probably do not emit methane. And rabbits don’t either.
I read a while back that for us to process pork it costs our body’s more to extract nutrients like the B vitamins than we gain.
Then again, scientists make reports about any old crap these days for big corporates if the price is right…besides, pigs still make methane when they fart! They’re guilty as sin! Thank goodness for 1080, eh?… all those sneaky wild boars out there pooping and farting and breeding! Pig farmers, – hang your heads in shame, doggone it !
Speaking of dogs, – they produce methane and poop and fart as well so they’ve all got to go! All you dog loving middle class wokes who support those methane producing bovine bastards to feed your mutts and then go on to lecture us sanctimoniously about being carbon neutral!
Euthanize the lot !- including your Golden Retrievers! Hypocrite’s ! You cant have a bob each way in this, – its ALL or NOTHING ! Get committed!
Sometimes, I wonder about this old world, so speaking of pooping and farting, this deserves a song and here’s one that seems very, very appropriate…
From A Mile Away
https://youtu.be/hOXlKZndzv8?list=PLnLPw-F5_XyKaUDw_eWxrTxptWcZb9NXJ&t=2
Every animal emits methane including us.
D J S
The planet did very well with all those animals you mentioned (that need killing off), before man came along with industrialised farming.
Like bacteria in a petri dish, man (on a finite planet) has expanded beyond the sustainable available energy levels and/or environment, and sadly it looks like they go much the same way as the bacteria do (in such experiments), die off very quickly, if they don’t change their ways dramatically and with greater thought than your remarks, IMHO.
Well my remarks , as a person who did science Dip as an adult are actually a little more informed than many, as well as being a life long environmentalist type, so rather than being dogmatic, I chose to present the absurdity of much of the hysteria and bad science bandied about today in pursuit of political / financial agendas in a satirical fashion.
I’m sorry you didn’t see that and seem to have not read the several comments I made above or below.
‘We can’t stop what is coming but we have at the most 20years for urgent adaptation’
We surely cannot stop what is underway, but we could try not making it worse faster. That, however, would take both intelligence and courage, and we see that both intelligence and courage are completely absent in NZ political circles. So, it’s straight off the cliff and into a diabolical future, courtesy of the banks, the corporations, the opportunists, and their gutless lackeys in parliament.
As for the ’20 years’, I’d like to think we have that long. But really, with economic collapse underway, I doubt we have more than ONE year to get sorted.
Many are suffering already and more are going to suffer. And the younger you are, the more you will suffer in the future.
‘California’s Dixie Fire Mushrooms To State’s Second-Largest Wildfire Ever
BY TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, AUG 08, 2021 – 04:45 PM
The Dixie Wildfire continues to ravage hundreds of thousands of acres, fueled by strong winds and bone-dry vegetation in Northern California. The wildfire has become the second-largest in California history, and the largest in the US as more than a hundred large fires burn.’
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/dixie-wildfire-becomes-largest-active-fire-us-charing-nearly-half-million-acres
NZ Population:
1990: 3.3M
2021: 5.1M (estimate)
55% increase
NZ’s share of global climate emissions = 0.1%
Good point Greta
How much methane do wild animals produce?
The average ruminant produces 250-500 litres of methane a day. Globally, livestock are responsible for burping (and a small amount from farting) the methane equivalent of 3.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.
————–
Do wild animals produce methane?
This is a gross misunderstanding of the ruminant carbon cycle. Ruminants have always emitted methane; it is not something new. Huge herds of wild buffalo, cattle, goats, sheep, deer, cameloids and wildebeest have grazed the grasslands of the world for millions of years.
—————
Which animal produces the most methane?
The amount of methane emitted by livestock is primarily driven by the number of animals, the type of digestive system they have and the type and amount of feed consumed. Ruminants are the principal source of livestock methane emissions because they produce the most methane per unit of feed consumed.
—————-
Meat lovers pizza people ?… you better go vegan after we wipe out all these climate changing bovine bastards! And here’s another thing to worry about if you want to go vegetarian and is at the same time food for thought:
—————
What produces the most methane on Earth?
Plant agriculture, including both food and biomass production, constitutes a fourth group (15%), with rice production being the largest single contributor. The world’s wetlands contribute about three-quarters (75%) of the enduring natural sources of methane.
—————
Soooooo, in conclusion , I suggest that after we wipe out all the ruminants, we start on all the other lifeforms as well including all vegetation, THEN ,- after we have done all that , – and because we ourselves are carbon lifeforms along with all other lifeforms, we start looking at ourselves…
Seriously folks, there’s nothing wrong with looking at pollution and the way we fix the old fashioned word called ‘smog’ with our technology, nothing wrong with enforcing polluting factory’s to tidy up their acts, nothing wrong with new renewable energy forms ( eg: think Nicholai Tessler), for home and transport use, but please, please don’t bullsarse us about absurd causes for climate change and pin the blame on carbon lifeforms . Intensive dairy should be stopped because A / its not good for animal health generally, and B / because fenced herds are not wild migratory herds they will have an effect on our waterways and shorelines.
But there is also the issue of synthetic fertilizers that cause algal blooms…and , if we REALLY want to do the planet a favour, perhaps we should be looking at our riparian areas and STOP clearing our planets lungs- the forests.
Time for the worlds govts to start forking out for massive revegetation programs where needed. At least then we can put the World Bank and IMF to good use instead of putting us all in debt for their global masters.
“start forking out for massive revegetation programs”
The South Island high country is re-foresting itself; well it was until some genius decided it would be a good idea to send helicopters in and Agent Orange the trees.
When talking about the carbon cycle in this context folks always forget to mention that cows eat grass, and grass is created by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.
Its a cyclic system based around carbon that is already in the atmosphere.
Not coal.
Yeah mate and coal was once trees which means that there was once a shitload more of what we cut down….which means there once was a world without humans wrecking the forests,… any ideas about how hot or cold that world was or how high the oceans were or definitive the seasons were? Were there even polar bears in that world?
As Arnie Schwarzenegger once said in the original predator film,… ” Its in da tree’s”….
And that’s a hint, BTW….
Hypocrisy is imposing a rural Ute tax that treasury said was unfair and also mostly pointless, while burning more coal than ever and assuming electric cars which rich town people buy cheaper will be charged from thin air.
In news tonight we have blackouts in the latest cold snap because we can’t even burn enough dirty imported coal and diesel to generate power to warm the 55% population increase we had landed on us in the last 30 years, but the farmers are to blame for increased emissions?
Hypocrisy was running an unmandated open border policy, shutting down local gas and coal industries so we have to import same with more emissions; and not investing in new power generation, while blaming farmers for a rise in emissions.
Deploy the Swedish scowl.
OFC we need a ute tax ! Treasury doesn’t know what they are talking about! And all those bovine bastards burping and farting and pooing should all be exterminated, – they’ve been at it for thousands of years carrying on right under our noses, the sneaky herd minded subversives !
And as for more power generation, – put on an extra cardigan for heavens sakes! Or, we could go back to the horrible old days when govt funded large public works, made a few more dams and provided large scale employment for the citizens of this country. Hell!, the private sector likes the cardigan idea better, – way cheaper in their opinion.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
keepcalmcarryon and John
Talking about hypocrisy! Thinking that you are smart and know better. and finding fault – is that all you are good for. Coming on an active political blog with commenters trying to face and understand the reality of our problems, yet you bring up old saws (sic), criticising government for what it does to try to move on.
Reality 1 – Dealing with the fact of methane from animals which the industrial farmers pack in overstocked multiple farms! There are findings about ways to alter that in an acceptable natural way, food or breeding changes.
Reality 2 – Huntly coal, shutting down mines; this can’t be done in a business ‘just-in-time’ approach. It’s like big ships at sea, taking time and distance to turn which must be allowed for, plus wind and wave effects, and perhaps hot air gusts from commenters!
Reality 3 – The oil refinery shut-down arises because of the knee jerk reaction, brought about by the Douglas four/five, of total acceptance of business acuity and infallibility through initiative or following market signals. They never thought, they never do, that sneaky people can change the signals. So like travellers on a signposted road, which jesters have turned round, we progress in circles convinced we are on the right track And us kids in the back keep saying ‘Are we there yet?….’ in concerned voices.
I think Climate Change is all our fault, the combination of all the silly suggestions that have become cult beliefs and more concentrated over the past decades, now mushrooming into a meterological disaster. We need citizens with guts, stiffening our power-holders resolve, who want to act for NZs benefit, and patting them on the back when they do.
Then more impetus, and more reasonable goal setting, with support from all the thinking NZs, there are quite a lot, who can then coalesce and encourage greater numbers to join an obviously dynamic, practical and worthwhile group. If we can achieve 60:40 that would turn the great ship NZ/Aotearoa round onto a better course. And the critics can be given toys to occupy their tiny minds in their playpen to the side of the grown-ups.
And a fine rant it was too greywarbler.
Fact : it’s hypocritical to cry climate change is your nuclear free moment, and burn record amounts of coal.
Grown up discussion? If only there had been before pushing EVs as a usable solution with no grid to enable it.
Don’t make me list the utter failures of this government, all while being the most preachy of any in NZ history. They are an absolute disgrace and require ridicule at virtually every step.
I’m preachy, and I like both the Warblers and yours opinions for the most part. But ATM , I especially like the Warblers nautical them, so here goes:
Farewell Shanty – Johnny Collins
https://youtu.be/tZqi8afymwQ?t=3
A beautiful sound are the old sea shanty’s.
If you are going to base your country’s environmental policy on the opinions of a teenager at least make it an intelligent un-hypocritical teenager.
https://www.rt.com/news/531553-greta-thunberg-fashion-climate-vogue/
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