let’s bulldoze this bill into oblivion

Minister Chris Bishop has already said he would listen to the wave of opposition to the Bill, which appears to be coming from all sides, even from independent government watchdogs like the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and the Auditor General, both concerned at the extreme power the bill could give to Ministers.

Tim Jones and Tom Powell presented our submission to the Select Committee last Friday (here’s a copy of it – have a read), repeating the issues we are most concerned with: it’s anti democratic, it undermines and ignores Te Tiriti, and would let things like the Te Kuha coal mine get past the consent stage, despite already having been turned down by the likes of the Environment Court.

And on Friday the Ombudsman also weighed in, stating the unchecked ministerial powers could put the country on a “a slippery slope”.

“On the one hand, I can see why speed achieves what’s wanted with a beefing up of executive power, but unless that’s matched by oversight and accountability, then I think democracy itself is the loser.”

Meanwhile, without even having final legislation passed, the government invited companies wanting to be listed in the bill to apply. That deadline was last week. As Dame Anne Salmond pointed out:

“They are behaving as if the select committee process has already been decided, and public concerns about this draft legislation have been dismissed in advance.  That is an insult to tens of thousands of New Zealanders who are writing submissions opposing this bill, and to the select committee process as well.”

So we need to keep up the pressure. Sign up here to join the March for Nature in Tāmaki Makaurau, 1pm on June 8

CAFT
Meanwhile, we’ve been working behind the scenes with a new group called Communities Against the Fast Track, a fantastic group of like-minded organisations.

Check out the latest activity:
We’re challenging the government’s Select Committee process
Providing a guide for the lucky few who are chosen to make an oral submission
Keep an eye on the CAFT website for updates, get on their mailing list and find ways to continue this fight

The post Keeping the pressure up against the fast-track bill: join us on June 8 in the March for Nature appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA), the national organisation campaigning for an end to coal mining and coal use, says Resources Minister Shane Jones needs to understand the world has moved on from the industrial revolution, and coal – and siding with the dinosaurs won’t do his grandchildren any favours.

“While Fonterra’s getting out of coal as fast as possible because its international customers are demanding it, Caveman Shane wants to take us back to the dark ages,” said CANA spokesperson Jenny Campbell.

Te Kuha mine, turned down by the Environment Court but said to be a top pick for the government’s fast-track process. Photo: Neil Silverwood

“Relaxing rules for new coal mines in the face of increasing climate impacts is unlikely  to be something New Zealanders will throw their weight behind. People across the country are still recovering from flood disasters: some from more than a year ago, and some just last week; farmers are suffering from a crippling drought and crying out for rain.

“This Minister, who doesn’t care about killing kiwi and never met a mine he didn’t like, clearly got his riding instructions in his four-hour meeting with mining lobbyists in January. The world has moved on from the 1800’s, here’s a climate crisis to tackle, and he needs to catch up.

“Between this and the fast-track Bill, this Government is showing it’s fast becoming an environmental vandal and climate criminal.”

“The International Energy Agency has been very clear: we don’t need any new coal mines.  And there is no such thing as good coal – whether it comes from Rotowaro or Indonesia, this stuff is a climate killer – and it also kills kids and vulnerable older people through its pollutants.”

CANA questioned who the Minister thought were the customers for all these new coal mines he wants to open.

“Is the Government planning to reverse the planned phaseout of low and medium heat coal boilers by 2037? That would further ruin the environmental reputation of New Zealand businesses in our key overseas markets,” she asked?

“Shane Jones may only care about doing the bidding of the lobbyists and donors whose interests he serves,” concluded Jenny Campbell

“But our children and our country deserve better. They deserve better than a Minister who specialises in aggressive ignorance. They deserve better than a Government that is selling our country off to the miners, the drillers and the despoilers. They deserve better than Shane Jones, and they deserve better than a climate change-fuelled future tied to fossil fuels and failure.”

The post Shane Jones throws a lump of coal to the mining lobbyists appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

By Tim Jones

What’s the Government planning to do?

The recently introduced Fast-track Approval Bill is a massive power grab by the new Government. Under it, three Ministers will have the power to arbitrarily decide that projects, including coal mines on conservation land, can go ahead without any public input. Radio New Zealand has produced a great explainer about the Bill which is vital reading – please do read it!

It gets worse. The Bill gives the Government the power to resurrect projects that have already been rejected by the courts – including the proposed Te Kuha coal mine on the West Coast, which Forest & Bird and CANA have worked together to oppose.

Fast track protest in Karangahake gorge, Coromandel, March 2024.
Photo: R Rockell

As the Radio New Zealand explainer says:

This Bill has already provoked protests in Hauraki and Taranaki.

There will be more.

No Fast Track No Seabed Mining protest outside EPA hearings in Hāwera, 13 March. Photo: Matt Coffey

Next,  please write to your nearest MP – especially if they’re an MP from one of the governing parties. Tell them what you, personally, dislike about this Bill, and the consequences the Government is likely to face from pushing this Bill and its hidden list of projects through. Be polite, but leave them in no doubt about what you think and feel.

The coal companies are gloating over this Bill.

But they’ve gloated before, and we’ve left them with egg on their faces. Let’s do it again.

The post Shane Jones, Chris Bishop, and Simeon Brown want the power to authorise mines and motorways on behalf of their mates with the click of a pen. Here’s how to fight back. appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today heralded the Government’s decision to help New ZealandSteel cut its coal use by 45% as a huge step in decarbonising the economy and ending coal use in New Zealand.

“This is fantastic news, and the kind of step we need our government to be taking: it’s great news for the climate,” said Tim Jones of CANA.

“The Glenbrook Steel mill burns around 800,000 tonnes of coal each year, so cutting that by 45% is massive. Now we need to see the rest of the mill decarbonise.”

NZ Steel burns 800,000 tonnes of coal a year (Photo: wikicommons) 

CANA has long advocated for NZ Steel to start recycling scrap steel, but the company had previously argued it wasn’t ready to do this. 

“In the face of a decarbonising world, we’re seeing technologies like electric arc furnaces become mainstream, and getting this up and running in Aotearoa is a no brainer,” he said.

“New Zealand Steel has received more free allocations of emission reduction units under the Emissions Trading Scheme than any other industry, to the tune of millions. This is a far better use of taxpayers money than throwing big overseas-owned industries like NZ Steel money to pollute,” he said.

However, he noted that given the government’s statement today that the abatement cost for NZ Steel would be $16.50 a tonne, compared with the carbon price of $55 a tonne, then why not stop giving big emitters free allocation? 

“This announcement shows how absurd and damaging it is that we continue to pay big industries to pollute by giving them free allocations of carbon credits. If we ended those free allocations, more industries would be incentivised to decarbonise and the taxpayer wouldn’t have to subsidise them to do it.”

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“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair

The CANA (Coal Action Network Aotearoa) organising team knows a LOT about coal. We’ve put thousands of hours into researching companies, mines, transport routes, shareholders and maps. All in our own time. But it’s a rare thing for the media to ask a grassroots group for any substantive comment.

On the other hand the coal industry seems to be getting more media time recently, like here on TVNZ (although we did get a little reply in), here on Newstalk ZB. It’s partly down to Patrick Phelps, current coal spin doctor, aka CEO of Minerals West Coast. He’s even managed to get a regular slot on RNZ’s “Nights with Bryan Crump,” where he has been given a platform to promote coal, unchallenged.

Patrick’s early media training with the NZ Broadcasting School has held him in good stead for his current career. He’s a slick operator and somehow the fact he’s a “professional” seems to be attractive to media.

Paid coal schill Patrick Phelps talks to TVNZ at a Waikato coal mine.

Schilling for a substance that’s burning up the planet is his day job, but haven’t we passed the “both sides” rule when it comes to climate change? That fully paid “professional” status seems, to media, to trump those who are fighting for the future of the planet – in their own time. They seem to love his gig.

Using the tricks of the tobacco industry, Patrick makes coal into the down-home-grubby-but-necessary stuff that any right-minded Kiwi would agree we can’t do without. The milk we drink, the out-of-season vegetables we eat, even our toothpaste, has coal somewhere in its manufacture. Coal keeps the lights on and our houses warm when the lakes are low.

This  all sounds quite rational until you hear the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who told ministers from 40 countries at a climate conference in Berlin last week that “Half of humanity is in the danger zone, from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires. No nation is immune. Yet we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction.” He added: “We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.” 

The  farmers in Northland suffering more floods after a protracted drought are now talking about climate change. The whole country is suffering a third round of floods in just a short two months, while Europe burns. 

There is nothing rational about burning coal in 2022. 

One of Patrick’s arguments, that NZ’s contribution to worldwide climate breakdown due to coal is so small it doesn’t matter, is cowardly and inexcusable. It’s like me saying my personal tax contribution is so small I might as well not pay it.

Patrick says coal underpins the economy. That’s what they said about slavery back in the day.

Which brings us to ask: why is coal still being mined here? The biggest reason is that coal’s true cost – to the land, to the atmosphere, to our health – is not factored into its price. If it were, coal would be priced out of the market instantly. As it is, companies like Bathurst Resources and Talleys (which together own the West Coast’s Stockton mine, the country’s largest) can still turn a profit whilst offloading all those externalities onto the rest of us. 

Bathurst is even planning to open a new coal mine in Southland so Fonterra can keep burning it and both companies can maximise profit at our expense. That coal is “already sold” says Bathurst boss Richard Tacon, making  a mockery of Fonterra’s insistence that it’s moving off coal. 

Coal’s true cost is something the government could fix with the stroke of a pen, but instead it has adjusted the country’s transition off coal to suit Fonterra’s timeline – 16 years from now. And Patrick Phelps’ latest piece of PR insists we need even longer  to adjust to a coal free economy. 

Yup, they also said that  about slavery back in the day.

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One of the most interesting things in watching the Australian elections over the weekend was seeing the shock of ABC presenters when the results of its post-vote polling showed climate change was far and away the most important issue on voters’ minds – a massive 27% compared with the next most important: the economy, at 14%.

Why was this so shocking to the media, the political analysts?

It hasn’t stopped raining in Lismore for three months, during which time there have been two devastating floods: today, the town barely exists – it’s all been underwater, twice. There’ve been ongoing floods and storms – from North Queensland all the way down the east coast. Western Australia suffered record heatwaves and horrific bushfires last summer. The Great Barrier Reef is undergoing its sixth – and worst – bleaching event.

The terror of the 2019/20 firestorms that turned the sky orange, burning seven million hectares, are etched into people’s minds, and so is the response from Scott Morrison from his holiday Hawaii as Australia was burning: “I don’t hold a hose mate.” Equally, his slow response to call a major emergency after the Lismore flooding disaster (rightfully) enraged locals.

ScoMo’s response to climate-related disasters didn’t endear him to the Australian people.

As the election campaign rolled out, Scott Morrison didn’t want to talk about climate, because his position was pretty dodgy; Antony Albanese didn’t want to scare the mining communities he needed the votes from (which he didn’t get anyway), and the Canberra press gallery didn’t want to ask either leader about it – it wasn’t in their minds.

Climate specialist journalists were having the devil’s own job in trying to get analysis on climate change published by their editors.  There were pockets of it, but it simply wasn’t a gotcha front page issue. While the Guardian rolled out a number of good pieces, the vast majority of the media largely ignored this issue, entirely missing the story of what voters really cared about, despite polling telling them otherwise.

But in those communities on the ground, climate change was top of mind. As Greens leader Adam Bandt said on Saturday night, the feedback the Greens were getting in Brisbane was that people from all political persuasions were deeply concerned about climate change. They could see it happening in front of their very eyes,  and they wanted action.  And this was one key reason for the “Greenslide” that saw the Greens gain seats in both the House and the Senate.  And the teal independents win liberal seats.

The trauma of having your house (or that of your family or neighbours) underwater or burned to the ground, your wheat crop ravaged by a mouse plague, seeing your beloved forests – and the animals living in them – torched, your Great Barrier Reef bleached, is not easily dismissed. It lives with people for years.

Labor now looks set to gain a very slim majority, so in theory it won’t have to negotiate with the 16-seat crossbench to get its legislation across the line.  PM Albanese has already stated Labor’s 2030 climate target – a 43% reduction below 2005 levels – is not up for negotiation. The target has been arrived at through detailed modelling of all the party’s climate policies (something that would be good to see the National Party do here in Aotearoa – if it HAD a plan).

That crossbench has a strong climate focus: the Greens want to see a target of 74% by 2030 and the teal independents 60%, both 1.5˚C compatible, according to analysis from Climate Analytics – and Labor’s target is around 2˚C compatible.

The Greens look set to hold the balance of power in the Senate, so that will be one to watch. Will they insist on strong climate legislation, such as independent Zali Steggall’s draft Net Zero Bills (60% by 2030)?

While the fossil fuel industry’s firm grip on government has now been loosened and hopefully will be addressed (this article in Renew Economy spells out just how many fossil fuel industry stooges Morrison and his energy minister Angus Taylor planted in key positions), there’s still a way to go, and a lot of damage to undo. Labor will submit its new target to the UNFCCC, and is likely to re-enter the Global Climate Fund that the previous encumbents walked away from.

Labor still wedded to gas and coal 

But as this great piece in Carbon Brief points out, Labor has not backed off its support of both gas and coal:

“Australia is on track to continue producing fossil fuels in large volumes, with 69 new coal projects and 45 new LNG, gas and oil projects in the investment pipeline, as of October 2021.”

The emissions from those projects, combined, would add at least 8.3% to Australia’s emissions by 2030.

But Albo does not oppose big new gas projects like Woodside Energy’s Scarborough Pluto extension in Western Australia, set to add 1.37 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere by 2055, and he hasn’t named a single coal-fired power station he’d close down early. He’s even said the country could still be burning coal in 2050, 20 years after the date Australia needs to get out of coal as its part in the global action required to keep warming to 1.5˚C.

Protesters challenge Woodside Energy’s Scarborough Gas project in Western Australia

The fossil fuel industry has been pouring money into the political parties, with Woodside giving the biggest donation – $108,350  – to Labor. The sector donated a total of $1.15m to political parties in the past year, similar to the $1.13m it donated the year before.  It would be good to hear Labor reject that funding.

Sure, Labor does have good, big plans for climate action, and there is certainly scope for its many policies listed in its “Powering Australia” plan to roll out in all the sectors neglected by the federal government: transport, industry, buildings, etc.  Labor had a plan, a plan that it had thoroughly modelled to get to its 2030 target number (something our National Party might want to consider if it wants to be taken seriously on climate change).

But if anyone expects a coal-fired power station to be closed down any time soon – or even a coal mine to be stopped, they will likely be disappointed. We will likely keep seeing coal from the Adani mine continuing to be exported to India. the fight against coal will – and must – go on. [Noting there has been a very long and effective fight against Australia’s coal development, and the Galillee basin in particular].

Perhaps the strong climate signal from the voters, combined with the crossbench in the House that is overwhelmingly in favour of it, will mean Labor will understand it has been given a strong mandate to do more to tackle the fossil fuel production problem – but my bet is that this won’t happen at least until after the next election.  The Climate Wars might be over, but they could come roaring back at any point.

We can only hope that this will bring more of the teal independents and Greens into the House in the next election.

The question that everyone here has been asking is whether the Australian election outcome will have an impact on New Zealand?  It’s probably unlikely we’ll have the same voter reaction based on climate concerns: we haven’t seen quite the devastation that Australians have experienced, even though pockets of the country have (think: Tairawhiti, Westport).

Although I hasten to add we ARE seeing impacts – such as the 40 dead kororā in Northland last weekend, likely because of warming seas.  Our glaciers are shrinking; we ARE seeing more terrible flooding events right around the country.  Recent sea level rise information has shocked the country.   While more of us need to be shouting about climate action as these events are taking place, we’re often told this is “not the time” when we try to.

Other non climate-related takeaways 

While COVID-19 WAS a factor in the Australian elections, I don’t think it was in quite the same way that a lot of the New Zealand media are claiming.  The vote wasn’t a message to an incumbent government from a population fed up with a strong covid response and worried about the rising cost of living. It was a population fed up with a right wing government that didn’t appear to care about its people.

The success of the Australian covid response was largely down to the State premiers, not the federal government. Every time ScoMo did something on covid he did it wrong – and late, he lied about it, tried to blame other people, and messed it up. The loss of liberal seats in both WA and Victoria were, to a large extent, driven by the sledging their premiers got by the Federal government in the face of their strong response. The people of WA didn’t like being called cave people.  Who does?

Aside from pushing back against ScoMo on covid and climate, the other factor was what we’re seeing a lot of here in Aotearoa, unfortunately: misogyny, and the misogyny of the Morrison government had to be seen to be believed. Australia’s women had had enough. They voted for independents – and those who won were almost all women.  This argument is best summed up in ABC’s Annabel Crabb’s fantastic article.

The post The Australian election: what does it mean for climate, coal and gas? appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network Aotearoa sharply criticised the Climate Change Commission’s decision to double projected coal use in 2050 in its final advice to the Government, released today.

“The Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the Government is full of brave words about the need to phase out coal,” said Coal Action Network Aotearoa spokesperson Tim Jones. “But brave words mean nothing without the determination to act – and since its draft report, it looks like the Commission’s nerve has failed.”

“In the draft advice, the Commission showed coal use continuing at 10 PJ/yr right up to 2050. Continuing to use coal, the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel, up to 2050 is utterly irresponsible in a climate emergency. CANA wants coal phased out by 2027.”

“But the final advice is even worse. It appears NZ Steel have got in the Commission’s ear and persuaded the Commission that their antiquated, polluting technology should be allowed to continue at even higher levels past 2050 – in fact, at twice the level in the draft advice.”

“This is terrible advice,” Tim Jones said. “Alternatives to using coal to make steel exist, and will be available well before 2050. This backsliding by the Commission shows that we need as a country to have a real debate about alternatives for coal for high-temperature industrial processes, instead of allowing vested interests like NZ Steel to sweet-talk the Commission into allowing coal a future that is bad for Aotearoa and bad for the planet.”

The post Climate Change Commission slammed for doubling coal use in 2050 in final advice appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

PRESS RELEASE

“We’re disappointed and frustrated at the lack of urgency in the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan discussion document,” said Tim Jones of Coal Action Network Aotearoa, the national group campaigning for an end to coal mining and use in Aotearoa.

“In fact, this isn’t even a plan – it’s a grab-bag of generally underwhelming proposals submitted by Ministers and Ministries. None reflect the urgency of the climate crisis, especially given the government has declared a Climate Emergency.”

“Agriculture, which represents almost 50% of New Zealand’s emissions, is dealt with in just four pages – that tells you all you need to know about the Government’s lack of climate ambition, and the Minister of Agriculture’s refusal to cooperate with the Government’s emissions reduction goals.”

“Coal is the highest-emitting fossil fuel, yet this draft document would let coal mining and burning continue for decades,” Tim Jones said.

“The Government is still giving big industrial emitters massive subsidies, in the form of free industrial allocations of carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme, paid for by taxpayers, to keep burning coal and other fossil fuels: there’s no commitment to phase out those subsidies.

“The Government is also continuing to let Fonterra set the timetable for phasing out industrial coal boilers, instead of telling Fonterra to shape up. Letting big emitters continue to burn coal as long as they want isn’t a plan – it’s a failure of policy and a failure of nerve.”

“Aotearoa needs and deserves vision and leadership on climate action and climate justice,” Tim Jones said. “We need a real plan of action, with a strategy, milestones, and measurable deliverables.”

“The Prime Minister has spoken frequently about her commitment to strong action on climate change. This draft document shows that all too many of her Ministers don’t share that commitment.

It’s up to the community to step into the breach during the submission period and make it impossible for the Government to ignore the clamour for real, meaningful, measurable emissions reductions – and it’s up to the Prime Minister to get her Ministers on board and in line.

Let’s turn this into a real plan to reduce emissions and respond to the climate emergency.”

The post Coal Action Network On Government Emissions Reduction Plan: Where’s The Plan? appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

The Government’s latest efforts to tackle emissions from coal are not the kind of bold action required to get New Zealand onto a net zero emissions pathway, and disappointingly leaves the door open for gas, says Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

While the group welcomed today’s announcement of a ban on new coal boilers from the end of this year, allowing bigger users to carry on using coal as process heat for another 16 years (to 2037) is way too late.

“The second round of grants announced to reduce coal use, while welcome, would save around 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, but Fonterra pumps out half a million tonnes every year to make its coal-fired milk powder exports,” said Cindy Baxter a CANA spokesperson.

CANA is particularly concerned about language in the Government’s announcement that still leaves the door wide open to gas, where it says “An option proposed is to also prohibit other new fossil fuel boilers where suitable alternative technology exists and it is economically viable.”

“Fonterra has already stated in its submission to the Climate Change Commission that it wants to maintain its use of gas while it phases out coal, but gas is also a problem: from production to burning, gas leaks, and if you count those fugitive emissions, there’s little difference from coal.”

CANA calls on the government to impose an immediate ban on new coal-fired boilers, rather than waiting until the end of the year, and to bring forward the date of coal phase-out to 2027.

CORRECTION: This press release has been amended. 

Fonterra got in touch with us to say that it will not be building any new gas boilers:  its submission to the Climate Change Commission stressed that it wanted to keep using the gas that it already burns while it makes the switch from coal.

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