Today, hapuu, and community and environment groups are tentatively celebrating news that Bathurst Resources is finding it difficult to find a market for the coal from a proposed extension of its its Rotowaro coal mine in North Waikato, and may no longer be applying for Fast-Track approval for the extension.

BT Mining (a Bathurst Resources and Talley’s joint company) told a recent Genesis Energy community meeting that market conditions are no longer favourable for a coal mine extension.

This is because its main customer, the Glenbrook steel mill, is set to halve its coal use once it has fully commissioned its new Electric Arc Furnace, which will focus on recycling steel rather than making new steel with coal. Genesis is moving to burn biomass instead of coal at Huntly, and other major local coal user Fonterra is switching its Te Awamutu dairy factory away from coal.   [See RNZ story 28 May]

Local and national groups oppose the mine extension, including a rangatahi Māori-led climate justice group from Kirikiriroa, Ngaa Haumi, who have collected 1214 signatures on an open letter to the Fast Track panel to highlight the importance of Te Tiriti and community opposition to the new mine.

“Coal mining disturbs the mauri that binds together all living things by destabilising the balance of carbon, the foundation of all life, between Ranginui and Papatūānuku. That is why we are hopeful  today that there will be a discontinuation of the Rotowaro operations, along with movements towards a just transition, which would help us move closer to protecting the wellbeing of whenua and wai for future generations,” said Hannah Huggan of Ngaa Haumi. 

Other groups campaigning against the mine extension are Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Forest & Bird and 350.

“It is clear that coal is on the way out for industry in Aotearoa, and that more modern, low-carbon technology designed to reduce emissions is the future for this country, not dirty coalmines,” said spokesperson for Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Cindy Baxter.

Glenbrook’s new Electric Arc Furnace was supported by the last Labour government under its Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund, which was designed to target emission reductions. The fund also contributed to Fonterra getting out of burning coal, and it has been converting its Te Awamutu dairy factory to biomass, whereas it was previously taking coal from Bathurst. The fund was dropped by the current government.

“That Bathurst is finding the market for coal difficult demonstrates that strong policies to support the decarbonising of industry do work, and the decisions to support Glenbrook and Fonterra out of coal are doing what it says on the packet; putting a question mark over a dirty new coal mine,” said Baxter.

The project would have extended the life of the Rotowaro mine in Huntly for a minimum of 19 years, which would enable the company to mine an additional 6.64 million tonnes of coal.

“If Bathurst decides against the mine, this will stop around 14.5 million tonnes of polluting carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere. It’s good for the climate, and for the country,” said Baxter.

“Policies that mitigate climate change and support decarbonising New Zealand’s industry helps protect our vulnerable wildlife. Stopping the expansion of this mine has saved habitat for our wildlife and reduced the amount of carbon released. Anything we can do to reduce the acceleration of severe climate events can save habitats,” says Elvisa van der Leden, Forest & Bird.

“The best choice now is to take further steps towards a just transition, led by tikanga, mana whenua, and the affected community. It is essential to move away from fossil fuels in a way that ensures people thrive, where workers are respected, supported and protected from last-minute job losses. There is more work to be done,” says Ngaa Haumi.

The post Bathurst may scrap Rotowaro mine expansion as industry cuts coal use; renewed calls for a just transition appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

https://share.google/1CwTO1kJx4rIo8iew

This documentary premiered at Parliament recently; here is the press release from that event, featuring Jenny Patrick OBE, the author of the historical novel, “Denniston Rose”:

https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/resources/denniston-rose-author-backs-petition-stop-mega-coal-mine

Forest and Bird have launched a national petition that asks for more than just stopping the mine; it demands a permanent solution, calling on the Government to reclassify the public conservation land on the Denniston Plateau as a Scientific Reserve.

This is the only rational, long-term solution to protect its unique ecosystems and ensure we are not fighting this same battle every decade.

• Please sign and share the petition here: https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/petitions/make-denniston-scientific-reserve

Bathurst’s proposal for open-cast mining of the Denniston Plateau and Mt. Frederick is already on shaky ground. They face significant financial hurdles, and are in litigation with their business partner, Talley’s, in what seems like an attempt to get money out – Talley’s are aware of the risks if Bathurst spend a bunch of money developing these new mines and then soft demand results in Bathurst going belly-up, with nothing for Talley’s.

Globally, the coking coal market is turning. This year, China announced it will not consent new coal-powered steel foundries, and the global coking coal price has softened in response to oversupply.

It doesn’t take many of these factors stacking up to make the entire operation economically unviable.

WITH YOUR HELP, WE WILL WIN THIS!

Kia Kaha,

Coal Action Network Aotearoa

The post The Save Denniston campaign kicks into high gear appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

By Simon Gascoigne

One of our greatest challenges in getting things to a better place, is challenging human thinking and human behaviour. We are embedded and conditioned in a system that has evolved through our history with increased technological complexity. Add in things like debt and time pressure and it’s little wonder more ‘convenient’ and ‘efficient’ solutions are embraced.

When it comes to complex abstract and less accessible concepts, such as scientific data or even legislation, things can make for pretty dry reading. Pages of modeled emissions data, listening to intense debates on scientific results and methodology, the finer details of new exotic ‘high tech’ processes or tables of chemical residues listed in micrograms are prime examples.

Similarly, everyday things that we cannot  see, can quickly disappear off our personal horizon once incorporated into everyday activities.    Electricity is a classic example (hence the monthly bill surprise). The waste that we throw in the bin that gets removed is rapidly relegated to cognitive history.

So, imagine the human drama when all these elements are wickedly combined together – greenhouse gas emissions, rubbish, electricity, scientific methodology, dense tables listing chemical residues, legislation and legal processes – not to mention debt and time pressure.

The small Waikato town of Te Awamutu has been embroiled in such a drama. A company is propos to build a plant that will supposedly deal with rubbish by incinerating it at 850 degrees – and to make steam, to spin electrical generators thus potentially powering the town.

It might sound like a viable option – getting rid of waste and creating electricity at the same time. As we have discovered however, ‘convenient’ options are at risk of creating insidious unexpected outcomes on the longer timescale.    For an example with some evolving consequences (literally, in terms of fertility) think no further than microplastics being discovered everywhere in the human body where we finally decided to look – from human blood, to brain tissue, reproductive systems, breast milk and surprise – even inside bone marrow.

For incineration, the laws of thermodynamics very much apply, no matter how good the marketing material. The equation of reducing rubbish volume into ash is perfectly balanced by the release of greenhouse gas emissions (in this case some 150,000 tonnes per year), the ash, heat and the creation of exotic toxic compounds (think families of dioxins and furans). Nor does this come cheap, costing around $250 million to reduce a daily load of 450 tonnes of rubbish into around 23 tonnes of ash (or more), for the next 30 or so years.

A Municipal Incinerator – photo: Denfran from Pixabay

The application for the consent to ‘discharge to air’ (gas emissions from the chimneys and any other air pollutants), mapped Te Awamutu with static gradient lines extending away from the proposed site.  It looked like the simple line isobars on an old weather map but in this case for pollution levels. As bland and uninteresting as a modeled map could be.

Enter ‘PlumePlotter’ – a depiction of modeled exhaust plume behaviour that is updated every hour.

Plumeplotter software visually depicts exhaust gas from point sources like chimneys, using real time meteorological air data to show the behaviour of modeled exhaust plumes from either real or proposed incinerators. It also gives a visual depiction of cumulative time spent by the exhaust plume in a location.  Plume plotter also estimates ‘fallout’ – for gases such as nitrogen dioxide – of concern for respiratory effects and acidic residues, as well as anything else that might get through the plant’s filters over its 30-year lifetime.

Being modeled hourly, more data can be combined into a video and speeded up – see such video based on 2023 weather via a YouTube search for ‘Waipa incinerator plume 2023’, or see it at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfnGZyVxNJg.

Waipa Plumeplotter image (used with permission).

Right now, having listened to various arguments for and against allowing such a plant, the Board of Inquiry (convened as the issue is of national precedence) is deliberating it’s decision. We may find out as soon as mid-August as to where the decision falls.

Either way, the underlying age old root cause issue still remains – how to ‘deal with waste’, and the unforseen future consequences thereof.  Our old human habit of ‘extract, use and throwaway’, has been vastly accelerated with a fossil fuel energy surplus, combined with technological hubris, plastic prowess, powerful interests and blinded consumer choice.

The incineration proponents have argued that the highest technology will get all the ‘nasties’ out. Unconvincingly they only had to consider 10 and 2.5 micron particle sizes (PM 10 and PM 2.5) in the evidence.  Just as we have just begun to find out with ‘nano’ plastic contamination (below PM 2.5) the particle numbers just go exponential.

The longer such spreading of ‘nano’ sized particles go on, the more the waste we thought we got ‘rid’ of starts popping up, everywhere, and in everything, bioaccumulating through foodchains and soils.

We expect a decision from the Board of Inquiry soon.

The post The Te Awamutu Incinerator Proposal appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

NB: This action was organised by 350 Aotearoa and Climate Liberation Aotearoa. For more information on these groups, or to join, support or follow their work, click on the links!

Protest Notes, by Masha Oliver

We’re sitting on the edge of a man-made drainage lake, staring at the landscape scar in front of us. A hill, cut in half and completely deformed, exposing layers and layers of rock, from grey sandstone at the top through wide streaks of white to a thick vain of deep black coal. It’s like looking at an abstract painting, as well as looking back in time. A human could not paint it better. Above it, stretches a banner: “Just transition off coal.”

It’s the first day of our encampment on Denniston Plateau as part of non-violent direct action for climate justice and to protect the unique landscape and biodiversity of the Plateau. Morning graciously offers us a window of sunny weather, which we use to roll out the banners, take some photos, chant and sing out loud what needs to be heard – Protect Denniston plateau! I look around and see all these people – from kids to elders – who I’ve never met before, coming together for the same reason, to protect something we all deeply care about. There’s a wonderful feeling of pride and power resonating through us. The spirits are high as we buckle down for the cyclone that is on its way and prepare for the main actions later in the weekend.

Photo: Neil Silverwood

We’ve come here because we all – the whole planet – are running out of time. We’ve come here because there is no planet B or a spare atmosphere we could replace and wrap our Earth in. We’re here because we know everything on this planet is intricately linked and can only exist in coexistence, which requires a stable climate. We are here because the new mine on Denniston Plateau, proposed by Australian-based mining company Bathurst, if developed, will create the same amount of emissions as the whole Aotearoa New Zealand produces in a year. Over 25 years it will extract 20 million tons of coal – in an era when the rest of the world is transitioning off fossil fuels, when global warming has already overshot the predicted models, environmental collapse is happening all around us and climate events are threatening the livelihoods and homes of our communities and communities around the world.

The mine is one of the listed fast-track projects. The fast-track legislation circumvents the laws designed to protect the environment and health of people. There is no participation process in the fast-track legislation. The legislation prevents public scrutiny and bypasses environmental considerations. Fast track is an assault on the environment and democracy and it has so far, resurrected certain projects that have previously been declined as they proved environmentally unacceptable. This is happening in a country that is perceived on the world stage as the “green queen” with strong democratic roots.

Photo: Geoff Keey

The specific piece of land where the mine is proposed is public land. It belongs to all New Zealanders and is managed on behalf of Kiwis by the Department of Conservation. It is public conservation land, put aside for protection in perpetuity due to its natural values. When DOC was established in 1987, huge parts of public conservation land were put aside, waiting to get properly assessed and classified either as National Park, Conservation Area, Ecological Area or any other classification designed to protect the natural or historical values of the public conservation land. This never happened, but a reclassification process started a couple of years ago. A national panel of experts suggested this land becomes a Conservation Area –  assuring the lowest protection possible – while environmental NGOs like Forest and Bird, Environmental Defense Society and Federated Mountain Clubs among others, suggested this to be a Scientific Reserve – which protects the land to even greater extent then National Park and permits no mining. This classification was suggested due to the incredible ecological richness of the area, with many endangered and endemic species living here, many of which have not even been identified yet.

Photo: Geoff Keey

I am no scientist or ecologist. But I am a lucid observer and I have spent my entire life roaming through natural landscapes. I can tell, usually just by moving through the land, how special and alive the land is. Coming to the camp spot, I was blown away by the landscape we traversed. Sandstone pavements, rocky outcrops, bonsai-looking bush stunted by extreme living conditions, and the wild Tasman Sea in the distance. This 40 million years old plateau laying 600-1000m high, is a place close to heaven – braided with streams and gorges, dappled with areas of high wetlands, extensive pieces of land mass rolling out as far as an eye can travel, with areas covered in red tussock, takahe’s favourite delicacy. The landscape seems surreal – something I have not seen elsewhere in New Zealand and I have tramped in many places. Looking at it from the birds-eye perspective on Google Earth, it stands out from afar – if you let your eyes travel up and down the island you will not see anything like it. It is truly unique.

And so is the abundant life up here. As we make our way to the camp, a fern bird, an extremely rare bird, flies by. This is a sanctuary for Great spotted kiwi, rare skins, ancient velvet worms, giant snails, weta, geckos, rare moths … The area is, as surveys in the past showed, of high ecological value. Many species here have not been identified yet. Bathurst’s mining project, if it goes ahead, will cause irreversible biodiversity loss, habitat and landscape destruction, increased carbon emissions, and acid metallic drainage that needs critical management for 100 years. Endemic plants and animals will be lost. This will all happen on Aotearoa New Zealand public conservation land with no public input. The profits will go to a private company, with 90% overseas shareholders.

Photo: Geoff Keey

And that’s why we are here. When there is no option for advocacy and dialogue anymore, action needs to take place. Our encampment is a compact flock of colourful tents in an area that was used by Bathurst as an operational pad for the nearby mining. From where we’re camped, we can see the hill, covered in bush, that will be beheaded, if this project goes ahead. There are about 70 of us here and I don’t know one single person, but walking through the camp, I feel I have slipped into a community, where everyone knows each other and a strong quiet sense of camaraderie resonates between us. As the rain settles in, so do we, under the big marquee, where the learning and collaboration begin. We’re learning about facilitation and de-escalation strategies. We discuss and practice how to react and talk to media, police or locals if any of them turn up. We look at the issue from many sides – what would you say to a local who works in the mine and needs to put food on the table? We head out for a botanical walk, to familiarize ourselves with what is at stake. More learning follows – about the context of the fast track bill, the mining plans and Bathurst. A workshop facilitated by a local environmental group takes us through details and different perspectives of the issues – what we are about to lose, what are the gains, and what are the false gains portrayed by Bathurst and the government. The hardest part to digest it the presentation from a university researcher. We are warned it will be grim, so we brace ourselves.

Tim, who has dedicated his master’s study to climate change, takes us step by step through the facts – what we already know and what the models show. It is not pretty. In fact, it is terrifying. We have already passed 1.5-degrees warming and plants have reached the peak of carbon dioxide sequestation in 2008. Proportion absorbed has been declining since. Emissions would need to fall by 0.3% per year, just to stand still, though at the moment, they are increasing by 1.2% per year.

It is no better on the fauna front. The total global insect population has declined by 41% in the last decade and animal populations have experienced a 70% average decline since 1970. Human-made materials now outweigh Earth’s entire biomass. The amount of plastic alone is greater in mass than all land animals and marine creatures combined. Looking at the effects of global warming in New Zealand, the most jarring one is the loss of  1/3 of the entire glacier mass since 2000. The sea water heatwave in 2022 pushed the water temperature to 4.4 C above average, causing the deaths of millions of marine sponges in Fiordland.
At 3C or more of heating by 2050, there could be more than 4 billion deaths, significant sociopolitical fragmentation worldwide, failure of states – with resulting rapid, enduring, and significant loss of capital – and extinction events.

I’m listening and the facts, one by one, are landing heavy on my mind, to a point, when I feel my cheeks are hot with tears. I don’t dare to look around, as I feel that will break me, but I sense the heaviness has landed on everyone and the mood has shifted. The question is not if we are crashing or not, the question is how hard we crash.
A support and debrief session is offered after Tim’s talk to help us process what we’ve heard. I fear it will make it worse, so I walk out. When I return, I find Tara completely red-eyed. She hasn’t stopped crying.

Photo: Neil Silverwood

Ironically enough, our climate justice action coincides with the arrival of yet another cyclone. Despite persistent rain and Tim’s talk, the spirits remain high. We prepare the camp for even more rain to come – the tents are readjusted and secured by rocks, and the drainage channels are dug while the dinner is being cooked. There is very little need for coordination and instructions. Everyone seems to make themselves useful with not much talking. People see work and pick it up. Things just get done. I’m impressed with how well everything is organized and how smoothly everything seems to flow. Regular check-ins make sure we  see how we’re feeling collectively. No one seems to be taking too much space or air time. It seems all egos got left at the bottom of the hill. I wish every workplace would function like this. Decisions are made with everyone’s input, but somehow very quickly and nimbly. I have worked in many places and been part of many groups.  I have never experienced such cohesion and a sense of unity before. I haven’t even imagined something like this is possible.

Sunday is spent in preparation for the main two actions on Monday – to climb up the towers and occupy the coal buckets bringing coal from Stockton mine, stopping operations for 24 hours, which later on extends into 60 hours, and an expedition to a Happy Valley, a place of resistance and protest about 20 years ago, an operating Cypress mine today. While climbers are practising their rope work and the support crew is preparing for the off-site action, the deluge begins. The rain is hard and persistent. Only later we hear about the flooding of the roads down below the hill, in Waimangaroa. The fire brigades are called out throughout the night. The camp remains standing. As the night falls, there is a curtain of water surrounding us. We gather in one and only dry communal space, normally used as a kitchen. There’s a feeling of excitement in the air, but also the anxiety of what the morning might bring.  Everything feels heightened. Dinner is being cooked while the climbers and action groups are frantically packing in the dark, walking around with their climbing gear and harnesses still on. It is impossible not to feel in the way, or be constantly pushing through a mass of damp bodies. The camp turns into chaos for a few seconds, we’re all blinding each other with torches, frantically trying to pack or help with packing.

Photo: Neil Silverwood

The next day I wake up to the news that the bucket crew made it in the buckets. Feeling happy are not words that I use lightly, but there is no other way to feel right now. The steely sky and the promise of more rain fade away by expanding happiness and pride. Only a small group of us remain at the camp – we’re holding the fort throughout the day, as the news starts trickling in. First is the news from our groups – the bucket team, the  Happy Valley team, and the support crews. Then the media news starts popping up. And then suddenly, it’s all happening – Bathurst, Department of Conservation, our lawyer, police – everyone is on board and communicating. We get visitors to the camp – friendly locals bring us doughnuts and come to show their appreciation and support.

As I am washing the dishes, and listening to the news from our crew in the field, a robin lands on my head. A brief light touch, almost fleeting, yet a certain blessing. I know I am where I’m supposed to be.

I can still feel the brush of wild and divine on my head. It’s a reminder and a plea. To keep returning to Denniston.

I know I am not the only one, returning. We are many. And we will not give up.

Photo: Neil Silverwood

Denniston, by Ben Lowe

Denniston is the most amazing place, maybe the most amazing place in New Zealand. It is also the most pivotal place in New Zealand. The reason it is so amazing is that the flora and fauna there is unique. The reason it is so pivotal is because it perfectly encompasses the two sides of the climate debate. Under this unique environment is coal, the most climate-destroying fossil fuel.  To lose here is to lose everywhere.

Photo: Geoff Keey

The post Denniston Plateau Occupation, Easter 2025 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Things have changed since then. There is a new Mayor in town and the Breakdown Gang has wreaked havoc on the Hawkes Bay grocery, the Auckland livery and the Northland Ranch. They’ve slashed up Tairāwhiti. Will he confront them this time? We’ll see in this next, exciting episode.

Camera zoom into the sheriff’s office on Main Street:

Sheriff Ministers is having his toast and tea when Deputy Greenie Shaw bursts in.

Greenie: “Sheriff, it’s a mess out there. The grocery and the livery are all bashed up and now I’ve got Commissioner Carr asking why we didn’t use the ETS on the Breakdown Gang.”

The sheriff leans back and takes a bite of toast, “Just tell Carr that it’s complicated, we gots lotsa irons in the fire”.

Greenie: “That’s what I told him before, but he wants more spee-cifics. Should I tell him about the…”

Sheriff: “No, don’t mention nothin’ ‘bout the ‘lection. He’ll just think we’re a pack of coyotes who think ‘bout nothin’ more than holding on to our day jobs and sounding ‘portant.”

“Besides, that ETS don’t seem to work anyway. I took it out to the Unit Auction for a test fire and it didn’t work. I think it was may be a problem with the reserve price…”

Shaw looks incredulous, “Didn’t work? What are we going to use against the Breakdown Gang?

Shaw takes his hat off and sits down, pressing his temples.

“How about the Biofuels Mandate?”

The sheriff sips his tea, “Nah, Mayor Hipkins nixed that.”

“The Cash for Clunkers deal to get the high emissions vehicles off the street?”

Sheriff: “Gone too.”

Greenie: “Expansion of public transport?”

Sheriff: “Nope”

Greenie: “Maybe the light rail for Auckland?”

Sheriff: “History”

Greenie: “Surely, we could at least put back the petrol tax. You know, cheaper petrol is playing right into the Breakdown Gang’s hands.”

Sheriff: “Not gonna to happen. Hipkins has made some changes round here.”

Greenie: “So, what we gonna do? The situation’s getting dire out there! People are hurtin’!”

Sheriff: “Well, the mayor has sent around some bread and butter. Maybe that will help. It’s awful good. Here, try some… If he keeps giving these out, maybe he’ll win that ‘lection.”

The sheriff hands Deputy Shaw a slice of toast. Shaw looks on in stunned silence.

Camera fade to credits…

Sheriff Cabnet Ministers with his rusty ETS sidearm

So, dear reader, the situation in Aotearoa is looking grim. As you will recall, cabinet decided in December to ignore the Climate Commission’s advice and kept the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) price settings low for this year. As a result, the price of emissions credits fell so low that the last two quarterly unit auctions actually failed. Not enough bids achieved the minimum price set by the Ministry. No emissions credits were sold.

Compare this to last year, when a quarterly auction hit the cost containment reserve price triggering the release of extra credits and emissions unit prices were at an all-time high. The price of emissions units has been steadily rising in the last few years, as intended.

A failure of the auction is a little bit of good and a lot of bad. Good because it means industry will need to buy the credits they need to surrender for their emissions from the secondary market, soaking up some of the surplus units that Climate Commission has been worried about, but bad because the government didn’t raise any revenue for the Climate Emergency Response Fund like it expected.

It’s also really bad because the price for a tonne of CO₂ emissions has fallen from a high of around $85 late last year to a low of $60 now. Releasing greenhouse gas into our atmosphere has just gotten a whole lot cheaper.

And, there’s a whole lot more uncertainty in the ETS market right now. Companies planning to upgrade coal boilers to electricity or wood chip will now look at their balance sheets and wonder if it is still a good idea. It’s maybe going to be cheaper just to pay for more credits, if the price stays low. Yet another delay in the transition to a low emissions future.

So, the Climate Breakdown Gang appears to have won this round in Aotearoa, and will have plenty of rein to continue its havoc. I suppose we can all thank the new mayor for our bit of bread and butter, at least until the Climate Breakdown Gang comes back. And, you can rest assured, they will be back.

by Tom Powell – Climate Karanga Marlborough

The post High Noon in Aotearoa, Part 2 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Sheriff Cabinet Ministers was busy at his desk, sorting through citizens submissions, when Deputy “Greenie” Shaw bursts into the room. “Sheriff, it’s the Climate Breakdown Gang again. They’re back and causing trouble. If we don’t do something, somebody’s going to get hurt!”

Sheriff Ministers knew what had to be done. It was all laid out clear in the Zero Carbon Act. He rose from his chair and reached for his trusty sidearm, hanging on the peg by the door. Those troublesome Emissions Boys would be no match for the Revamped ETS, its shiny emissions-killing metal gleaming from the holster. He strapped on the weapon and reached for the door.

But then he thought, “Wait. What about inflation? What about the election? What about my corporate buddies at the Parliament Saloon? Nobody understands the ETS anyway. What the hell.”

The sheriff turned back and sat back down at his desk and went back to the submissions.

Greenie, wide-eyed and exasperated, piped up, “But sheriff, we’ve got to do something! Mayor Adern has promised the townspeople that we’d be net zero of those emissions by 2050!”

“That’s another 27 years away, Greenie“, grumbled the sheriff. “Plenty of time to deal with those emissions. Now go away, I’ve got paperwork to do.”

“But, what will we tell the townspeople? They are expecting us to get out and fight those Emissions Boys with the ETS!”

“I’ll just hit them with another request for submissions. That’ll shut them up!”

The evil Climate Breakdown gang out to raise havoc

What? Wait a minute! That isn’t how the story is supposed to go! The sheriff is supposed to go out into the streets and fight the bad guys, not hide in his office doing paperwork!

But faced with the choice of either strengthening the ETS, (i.e., NZ Emissions Trading Scheme) by letting emissions prices rise, as the Climate Commission has recommended, or holding emissions prices down for another year, our cabinet ministers blinked and voted in December to keep the prices low. So, we are in for yet another blowout of the cost containment reserve, releasing more emissions credits into the market than planned, making it incrementally harder to reach our ‘net zero by 2050’ emissions goal. So much for using the ETS to cap our emissions.

This little episode, the latest in a long list of disappointing episodes involving the NZ ETS, points up its fundamental weakness – it is a beast that is easily defanged.

Which is perhaps why The New Zealand Initiative, a conservative think tank advising the National Party, likes it so much. They argue that government incentives and regulations to control emissions, such as banning the import of petrol engines by 2035, as recommended by the Climate Commission, are not needed because the ETS is all that is needed to do the job.

But, we all remember what happened to the ETS under the last National government. The emissions price went from $21 per tonne CO2 in 2011 to just $2 per tonne by 2013, recovering to $19 per tonne by 2017, when Labour returned to power. In essence, the last National government was quite successful in defanging the ETS, stopping nearly all progress in reducing New Zealand’s emissions along the way. Good for business but bad for the planet.

So, considering this latest example of how easily the ETS can be softened, and even by a government that has declared a climate emergency, it is clear that we should NOT put all our climate mitigation “eggs” into one basket, like the ETS.

Government incentives and regulations, on the other hand, are harder to “defang” because, once handed down, industry starts to take action. The government ban on coal-fired boilers after 2037, for example, would be difficult to change because industry has already started to invest in the change to other fuels. A new government relaxing the 2037 ban would be met with howls of anger from industry, asking why they want everyone to change horses in mid-stream. Businesses do better in a stable regulatory environment, so regulations made well in advance give them time to plan and make the necessary changes with minimal disruption.

So, don’t despair, Deputy Shaw. There are other guns we can use to fight off the Climate Breakdown Gang. Sheriff Ministers just needs to be pushed into having the courage to use them.

TO BE CONTINUED…

by Tom Powell – Climate Karanga Marlborough

The post High Noon in Aotearoa, Part 1 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Long-term CANA member Rosemary Penwarden gained global coverage for her recent trial for “disrupting” a fossil fuel conference in Queenstown.

Here is a sample of that coverage:

The Guardian

CNN

Greenpeace

Daily Express

Euronews

Who/What/Why

Although the judge disallowed her eloquent “public interest” defence, after the jury’s guilty verdict, even the prosecutor appeared to agree that Rosemary should be discharged without conviction.

This was, overall, a huge PR blow to the fossil fuel organisation whose conference she targeted, and they have since changed their name…

Well done, Rosemary!

The post CANA activist’s protest trial gets worldwide attention appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

We at CANA are concerned that the official panel, currently reclassifying the DOC stewardship land on the West Coast, is recommending too low a level of protection (“Conservation Park”) for this magical landscape, some of which has already been lost to opencast coal mining.

NB: The Minerals Council has stated that a “Conservation Park” classification will still allow mining!

More information is available on the petition site – please sign – and share with your friends.

We have until 26 July to make our final submissions.

The post Help Save the Denniston Plateau! appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Guest post by Silvia Purdie

On Monday 2 May a group of 30 protestors occupied the Takitimu Coal Mine, forcing the mine to stop operations for the day. This was a collaborative action by Extinction Rebellion groups around Te Waipounamu and supported by Greenpeace and the Coal Action Network. One of the activists is a psychotherapist in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Michael Apathy (pronounced Apayti).

Michael describes some memorable experiences from the action:

“It was a great moment at 5.00am on Monday morning. We had succeeding in getting in and we were all in place within the coal mine; the towers were set up at the entrance, the climbers were in place, we had a boat on the lake. “We made it! We have taken possession of this space.” Suddenly I felt a huge buzz and delight, that lasted through the whole day. Even though I’d had no sleep I had this peaceful, energetic, joyful feeling. It became a meditation on being in the heart of the beast.

As the sun rose, the first thing for me was how great it was to actually be there and to see it. There I was, inside the mine, surrounded by all the giant piles of coal, literally inside the machinery that extracts it. Coal is such an abstract thing to so many of us. I talk to people and they are surprised: “We still mine coal in New Zealand?!” It is out of sight, out of mind. Being there made the climate crisis very real, rather than just numbers on a spreadsheet.

It was so stark: here I am on this big piece of machinery among the coal next to a poisoned lake, and on the silhouette of the hill there are cows grazing. Industrial dairying is killing off our waterways and contributing significantly to global warming. This is a key reason why New Zealand is actually really terrible in terms of climate change. This coal goes to Fonterra to be burned to dry milk powder to be shipped overseas. The whole system was so vivid to me in that moment: “It’s all here, the cows and the coal together.”

For most of the day I locked myself onto the conveyor, and I had several police negotiating with me. Late in the afternoon our group made the collective decision to leave. So I said, “So if I unlock, you will not arrest me?” – “Yep” – so I said, “Alright”, and we walked out. It ended with no one being arrested which was nice.

As we walked to the gate we were greeted by a big crescendo of drumming and singing, a celebration of what we had done. It was so beautiful. It made you feel you are part of this thing which is a work of art as well as a political action.

We are taking very serious action about the existential threat of climate change. Direct action like this is intense and serious. But admidst that there was music and dancing. We hung beautiful colourful flags. People wore silly cow onesies. It is important to us that direct action becomes light and playful and a celebration all at the same time.”

There’s more information, photos and video of the action here.

To download  Silvia Purdie’s full interview with Michael Apathi, click here.

The post Takitumu Mine Occupation, May 2022 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Instead, Coal Action Murihiku will be focusing on organising a networking event in Southland early in 2022, and developing further ideas at that.

Many thanks to everyone who put time and effort into Summerfest 2022 – watch out for more news on CANA local and regional events in 2022!

The post CANA Summerfest Postponed appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.