What this extreme weather from climate change has taught us is how broken our resilience infrastructure is.
The disconnect between the Governments disastrous methane policy and their constant cut backs on climate adaptation programmes vs the predicted extreme weather events we are seeing now is so enormous.
This is a climate denial Government!
The danger for the polluters and the alt-Right is that with every passing year, the scientific evidence for climate change only gets stronger and the extreme weather becomes impossible to ignore, what this will do is force the political class to take the issue seriously.
We need a massive upgrade of Civil Defence and far more resources spent on ensuring our infrastructure has the flexibility to withstand these types of extreme weather events.
We need RSAs and Maraes to be built up into Community civil Defence Hubs and we need a solar panel campaign to ensure a flexible electrical grid alongside better battery cell towers.
We need a Civil Defence that is far better resourced than they are now with permanent clean up crew staff on stand by because this doesn’t get better right?
The 230km hour winds we just experienced only get worse, as heat continues to pour into the atmosphere because of human made pollution, the extreme weather gets worse and worse, we need a new Civil Defence regime that reflects the reality of what we are seeing.
Dr Bryce Edwards highlights that the recent local council elections had lobby groups like ‘The Local Government Business Forum’ — a coalition including Business New Zealand, the New Zealand Initiative, and Federated Farmers — openly calling for voters to elect candidates with “commercial and financial acumen” and a “pro-growth and pro-development mindset”, part of the problem here in NZ is that business lobby groups can mask their polluter interests with dark Ag money that the wider electorate can’t see.
The reason the astro-turf alt-right are so focused on undermining local councils and Government is because the polluter interests that fund these groups want a Government so undermined that when the realities of climate change finally get into the heads of muddle NuZilind, there isn’t a Government with the capacity to do anything about the Polluters.
Turns out taking your own bags to the Supermarket isn’t really going to solve climate change folks.
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The weather here in J’ville Wellington has been freakish! The wind has been going for it seems weeks. I’m grateful for a NW ridgeline above me reducing its strength a lot and protecting the pine trees out the front of the property. The wind waxes and wanes and then waxes again?
Good post Martyn.
Yes the problem is the disconnect, denial and refusal of this current CoC, to admit that most of their “new policies”, are to the detriment of our country and people. Looks like their leaders – if you can call them that – know they will be long gone so don’t give a stuff about those coming behind them. What a horrible way to think and what a disgraceful way to treat their country and its people. How I despise stupidity, greed and the money-hungry out there. There is more than enough to go around to solve NZ’s problems, but far too much of it is going around in the wealthy cycles, where money grows faster for those who already have it. We need to leave our country/planet in the best working order we can for those coming behind us – not selfishly destroy it. What in the hell is wrong with so many of you – have you no integrity, kindness, consideration, fairness – just NOTHING up there? How do you sleep at night? Also time to get rid of the sleezebags e.g NZ Initiative, Hobson’s Pledge, Atlas – in fact all those who are endlessly and gormlessly hobbling our country.
Morons , it’s just Weather doing it’s thing !
NZ is in a great place, by election next year the economy will be in good shape.
IMO there still needs to be approx 10,000 more government workers to be sacked (sorry, restructured out), still far too bloated.
So you think the government is bloated. How so? Where is it over supplied with resource and staff? You won’t be able to answer the questions because your premise is incorrect.
Are you saying the government needs to shed another 10000 staff? Are you, by chance, an ACT voter? This sound like something directly out of Rimmer’s playbook.
This government are NOT bloated – they are short in many areas but I would suspect you have private health insurance and a range of other private options so this doesn’t effect you.
The lack of government investment into ?NZ is reflected by all the public servants striking – did you see that. You because you and Luxon and his cronies are ‘sorted’ doesn’t mean the rest of us are
Dairy farmers have done well for years but many managed not to buy backup generators-resulting in frantic sharing and more woe is me stories than downed trees.
Agree with Martyn, the whole country needs improved infrastructure and Civil Defence capacity. Though how can that be achieved with the current clowns prioritising polluters over climate?
Yet another urgent reason to vote CoC into oblivion.
Yes it does surprise me, I lived on a farm for a few years and we used the backup generator a lot. A tree can fall on a rural powerline any time, even in normal times, never mind a climate change superstorm.
Yet another comment inspired by envy, based on nothing but ignorance.
Then why do you comment Bob when nothing but you’re own ignorance is inspired by envy on Tigers comment?
The weather disasters of the past month have really hit the CoC’s voting base hard with farmers having major damage to their properties.
The problem, however, is how do we persuade them that it is their fault in producing the emissions and then voting in parties that are making their lives worse.
Although decades of neoliberal fantasy have run our infrastructure down to appalling levels, it is the capacity for community response that is most critical. It was the fire brigade that cleared the fallen trees from the roads in Hamner – the gear & the people together are more meaningful than all the scribblings of Treasury’s naysayers.
It boils down to one side thinking we can walk this back, and the other side knowing we are fu#ked but not thinking we can influence it, so is partying to the end.
What is happening to our climate cannot be fixed.
The energy in the climate system will go higher and weather will become more catastrophic.
I disagree with Martyn on many things, but I 100% agree with his fortress NZ ranting of a few years ago!!