CEAC Again Warns: National Party Position On Climate Change Is Still Abysmal

CEAC review of pre-election National’s “outline plan” just sent to us by Todd Muller 9/7/20 was actually his speech about his plan and was described as ‘an outline’. So in our review of National Party response to A Greener, Smarter Future; climate change policy’, is yet again lacking in substance without any clear policy, and that will leave voters with no idea of what National Party plans for saving our climate.

Glancing at their ‘Greener Transport plans’, National only seems to support a Government policy for building yet more roads, because not one word was used to mention “rail freight” – while they are still on track for cutting plans for elevating clean ‘Rail Transport’ over truck transport, for moving more freight by rail, which would thereby keep CO2 ‘climate emissions’ at a far lower levels.

Here is National’s answer to climate change here.

“A Greener, Smarter Future
That third element is inextricably linked to the fourth element of National’s Plan to Get New Zealand Working: a greener, smarter future.

New Zealanders want a greener future, and the world wants food, fibre and holidays that are green and sustainably produced. My commercial background is in agri-usiness, on the senior executive teams of Zespri and Fonterra and as CEO of Apata. But my political background has been mostly in climate change policy, negotiating the historic Zero Carbon Act with the Greens’ James Shaw, including bringing along some of the more sceptical voices in my own party.

National commits to the Zero Carbon framework, and to cleaner lakes and rivers in provincial New Zealand – and a cleaner Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora here in Canterbury, and a cleaner Waitemata Harbour in Auckland. I do not see any conflict between the interests of agri-business and a greener future. I reject the Government’s demand on Tuesday that agriculture must be “transformed” rather than constantly evolve and improve by building on our status as the most productive and sustainable food-and-fibre producers in the world.

New Zealand has the world’s best farmers, and New Zealand agricultural scientists. National launched the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, which now involves nearly 60 countries working together to find ways to grow more food without growing greenhouse gas emissions. It is well within New Zealand’s capability to keep improving productivity while protecting and enhancing the natural environment from which we all draw our mauri as New Zealanders, and on which our economy is based. That in turn creates intellectual property for export.

A greener, smarter future is about much more than tourism and agri-business. It is about technology and intellectual property across the board, which is clearly the future New Zealand must focus on whatever the industry – including the super-coders I mentioned for the video game industry, and in every area, from movies, to rocketry, to accounting software.

As well as the looming challenge of AI we also need to invest further in connectivity, as a major enabler of better services, better productivity and better lives, whether you are in Auckland or Akaroa. Where would New Zealand have been these past few months without Amy’s Ultra-Fast Broadband Network? We need to take it to the next level of its development. As we enter the 2020s, every New Zealander and every one of our businesses needs to know that the whole world is open to them in a way that other countries can only envy – and that’s what my Government will deliver.

National’s vision is of a post-Covid economy that is greener, smarter and better than the one we had before.”

Response from CEAC

CEAC adds our support to Government for elevating clean ‘Rail Transport’ over truck transport, for moving more freight onto rail when considering the benefits; thereby keeping our CO2 ‘climate emissions’ at a far lower levels, potentially stabilising climate changing weather events, saving taxpayer spending, keeping all our public highways/local roads safer, reducing road surface destruction from trucks causing immense road/bridge surface damages, and saving taxpayer costs from rising from paying for every day on roads all around our country.

Todd Muller could have mentioned ‘rail freight’ once but failed to do this; so read between those lines.