We currently have 4500 houses red, yellow and white stickers, 20 roads closed an another Cyclone forming for the weekend.
But those numbers aren’t the ones that doom Auckland post flood.
Those numbers are 420.38 ppm, 41% and $40 Billion.
Those are the numbers that doom Auckland post flood.
That’s 420.38ppm CO2 in the atmosphere, a level unprecedented in Earth geology for several million years.
41% is the percentage of ecosystems that will collapse by the end of the century and $40billion is what Shell Oil made in record setting profits that are their highest for 115 years.
Those numbers, the insane CO2 levels, the level of extinction we face and the profits of huge oil corporations are what will doom Auckland post flood.
We are past the point of stopping what is coming and must accept the adaptations required to maintain our collective standard of living.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
I don’t think long term thinking and planning is allowed in neoliberalism – it’s the short term profit at any social and environmental cost.
Look at Dome Valley environment court case to find out how fucked we are in NZ! The woke that think co governance and overseas interests will save us – have a look at the actual reality – NZ is gearing itself up to be the new toilet of the Pacific for someone else’s short term profits – that is under a Labour and Green government!!!
New houses that have been allowed to be built poorly and on hastily rezoned flood plains for short term profit and virtue signalling of building consents. Doesn’t help us when we see the 1 million dollar houses pushed sideways (apparently someone had the wonderful idea of building housing with NO/FEW piles and oil flood areas)!
Who cares if they flood, you can market how great you are for getting the consents and your developer mates can make a killing!
Flood-prone Plimmerton among Porirua suburbs mooted for proposed high density residential zone
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/porirua/124821416/floodprone-plimmerton-among-porirua-suburbs-mooted-for-proposed-high-density-residential-zone
Dome Valley has nothing to do with “neoliberalism”. It is the sort of decision that all growing cities have to make. Where best to site waste disposal sitesvas current sites get affected by urban growth. Any industrialised city, no matter what the economic or political system holds sway, has to deals with these sorts of fundamentals.
Just as our city now has to deal with the combined effects of climate change (more severe weather events) and continuing growth. The pipes laid down 100 or 70 or 30 years ago could not be expected to cope with this change. Are we going to blame John A Lee, Micky Savage or Norm Kirk for these things?
I,for one, am willing to pay an additional surcharge on the rates to start these improvements. Deputy Mayor, Desley Simpson, on RNZ this morning, indicated that the budget is going to be revised at to take account of these issues. As a conservative she is hardly any more to blame than Phil Goff, Mayor for the last 6 years.
Other countries recycle 50% of their goods, NZ does 5%. The best way to reduce waste is to have a proper socially acceptable recycling plan from industry, not to try to make money from bad behaviour and pretend to recycle! NZ loves it’s marketing spin of being clean and green, but the reality is that NZ is going backwards very fast.
NZ is now third world status doing what we can to pollute their streams, rivers and seas. Who builds a dump in a flood plain near pristine streams – while climate change is creating record 400mm+ of rainfalls in days. NZ neoliberals!!!! Who exports free water while charging residents a fortune?
And then allowing dumps to IMPORT in waste from other countries – the third world has seen the light and stopped this practise (aka allowing their country to be a dumping ground) while NZ says, YES PLEASE OUR LAWS ALLOW IT!
” We are past the point of stopping what is coming and must accept the adaptations required to maintain our collective standard of living. ”
Our complacency is tied to our standard of living. It is not until these disasters occur and there are many more to come that our vulnerability is exposed.
My fear is that we will continue with our complacency because for many of us these events are localised and don’t directly effect the whole country.
That will change when we have these intensive storms more often and not just in one city but other parts of the country that will be dealing with these life threatening storms.
Main infrastructure improvements have been ignored while we pursued and implemented free market policies that encourage a corporate approach which means there must be a profit returned before any money is spent. This is what austerity for 40 years looks like.
That mindset has not changed.
” On Birdwood Road, near the intersection with Waimoko Glen, Karen Andrietz was on hold with the insurance company in her muddy kitchen. ”
” Our anger this time is the lack of response after the last flood. The lack of really any clearing in the stream. They did send some guys over [who] dragged the trees out of the stream, chopped them up and just left them on the bank. That’s all got picked up again in this one. ”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/483843/auckland-flooding-our-anger-this-time-is-the-lack-of-response-west-auckland-residents
Mosa I believe a drop in our standard of living is inevitable and already happening. We will produce less because we are so busy saving the world by planting pine trees everywhere. The weather events will take out not only homes but domestic produce and that means expensive food and less export income. It means future governments of any colour will have less money to replace infrastructure and less money for social support. If anyone thinks life is too hard now they won’t like the picture in Ten years.
Good points New view.
Its not just property but the land damage particularly to growers is having a flow on effect.
If we were smart we would have a multi party consensus on a realistic plan going ahead as these events don’t discriminate the way humans do.
Probably way to contentious and complex to ever be confronted and expect consensus.
In 2016 some people tried to tell Mr. Twyford that the next big one would be just pure misery, as no one really was / is prepared, no fixed evac centres, the town mainly running on the good graces of volunteers showing up to do unpaid work. Well, as always when speaking to polititians, that conversation fell on deaf unwilling to hear ears.
And i am sure there were people warning about such things when it came to infill housing, concreting over any strip of green, removing wetlands, little sicker reserves, in order to perpetuate the ludicrous idea that anyone can afford a million dollar house, while all we needed specially in Auckland was build to rent for low – to median income households suitable for singles of all ages, small and large families.
But then, they are our betters, and if shit hits the fan, they will just blame the last hire – hoping it might not be one of the empty useless Labour suits.
They are not our betters, just willing to do anything to make a fast buck.
Or get votes.
On an international level, ‘Spare’ by Harry shows the millennial mind set. Too much counselling, interviews, books about themselves and me time, to save the planet – apparently being a prince is not enough – everyone else has done so many ills to him, he can’t ever get over it. Thus set to spend his entire life, worrying about what happened to him in his past and why others are so terrible and harmful – all helped by his wife who shares his angst.
In short civic duty is dead, self obsession and anger at others shortcomings, reigns. Hypocrisy is the absolute norm for many!
Don’t expect anybody to help you in a flood anymore, or the government to proactively stop climate change apart from banning NZ farmers – we can all eat sewage filled fare, 5 trillion dollars of food miles for slave food, and chemical meat!
Are we really better off now, with tenants growing up in hotels (businesses like compass are SO much more ethical and they don’t answer to the the tenancy tribunal ).
The Kainga ora neighbours who shouldn’t open their door https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/131159250/man-stabbed-woman-23-times-after-she-refused-to-give-him-cigarettedue to the growing high needs groups being empowered.
Yet, public transport is still not free. Go get an E-vehicle, it will make a difference. s/
Wellington, Newlands 194 metres above sea level and exposed to cold southerlies. Went out in my shorts same time as AKL floods and was attacked by voracious mosquitoes leaving streaks of blood smeared on my legs. That day Newlands felt sub tropical. You bet Climate Change is here!
Climate can not win, while politicians take dirty money for bad policy and politicians are getting less and less ethical, practical and smart and employing consultants who are even worse.
BP scales back climate goals as profits more than double to £23bn
Energy company faces calls for toughened windfall tax as it reaps rewards from high gas prices
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/07/bp-profits-windfall-tax-gas-prices-ukraine-war
Leaked video footage of ocean pollution shines light on deep-sea mining
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/06/leaked-video-footage-of-ocean-pollution-shines-light-on-deep-sea-mining
No fines, not even named!!! Clearly no interest in stopping killing endangered animals being killed in NZ. Private profits are more important.
Twenty at-risk birds killed on a single fishing trip
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/131117602/twenty-atrisk-birds-killed-on-a-single-fishing-trip
Absolutely disgusted by the Green Party in particular for their scandalous missing in duty on the environment after all their time in power. Even their pet policies seem to be even more of a disaster like housing criminals in luxury while kids live in hotels and male rapists now being able to identify as woman.
They are so appalling and unlikeable to the majority, they make Natz and ACT seem more attractive to more people that are less repelled by them than woke.
Yes a percentage of people want to do nothing but attack others, leach off others while virtue signalling and have no accountability for criminal action. Maybe they are the voters who the Greens are wooing but as seen by current society – not making NZ or the world a better place to live in.