New Zealand Celsias

Why is the Government being so resistant to the ideas put forward in the report from Pure Advantage?
In the questions in the House last week Steven Joyce responding  to questions from Russell Norman  could barely contain his contempt for  either the Greens or the report “NZ’s Position in the Green Race “ from Pure Advantage and their ideas that there was real economic advantage in using our green advantage.

But look at the report in tone and content.

“Green growth is the aggregated economic benefit that comes from minimising 

waste and the inefficient use of energy, reducing pollution and greenhouse 

gas emissions, enhancing natural resources and biodiversity. It is an economic 

progression driven by a series of interrelated and unprecedented global commercial imperatives, including the geopolitical drive for domestic energy security, exploding population growth, changing social demographics, mounting climate obligations, rapid decarbonisation of economies towards renewable energy and initiatives to conserve natural resources, particularly water. Rather than a burden, green growth is an economic pathway to sustainable wealth

While New Zealand’s international branding relies heavily on portraying our environment and economy as 100% Pure, we’re failing our own branding test across a range of key environmental tests.”

This is not radical economics. It’s not even mildly frightening. It doesn’t suggest anything that would make the national Party lose sleep, such as tax redistribution or not subsidising private schools.

So why are the National Party so resistant? Pure Advantage is a group of very well respected businessmen.

They don’t suggest any non-profit oriented concepts.

They simply suggest that minimising waste and inefficient use of resources such as energy and reducing greenhouse gases and keeping our natural environment and species is a good idea.

Do the National Government really think that wasting energy is good, or waste is good, or species extinction is good? I can’t believe that .

Some of these guys are good friends of theirs. They know how to lobby effectively . They have been prepared to risk their own money ( and in Air New Zealand’s case, government money as well ) in the pursuit of a green agenda .And still their report gets no traction at all.

Steven Joyce was all but spitting.

He stopped short of casting them into the same label as all the rest of us who are terrified by the prospect of fracking and oil extraction – the “extreme greenies” that Phil Heatley insists on calling us .

National bowed to the pressure to do their own report on Green Growth after intense political lobbying from a number of their good friends. But they so restricted the terms of reference that they made it impossible for the group to come out with anything except a predetermined outcome. So there was absolutely no point to it.