Comments on: Direct from Copenhagen

By: Rowen Greatbatch

Rowen Greatbatch — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:15:17 +0000

Oh to be young and idealistic and at a time when you don’t pay any taxes, give him a few more years when he will be paying towards this eutopia he seeks and he’ll change his views. How much carbon did he and all the others burn up getting to this conference?, surely it could have all been observed over the net?

By: Angela Hair

Angela Hair — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:48:20 +0000

On Saturday morning a group of 20 gathered by the Clive River, to affirm our hope that we can collectively find a way forward through the complexities of our current environmental challenges. Let us not lose heart but renew our resolve as individuals and communities to move beyond the model of exponential growth to one where we live within our limits. Louis sent this message .

“I write this message having just returned from our own
vigil here in Copenhagen. At this vigil, we stood with
hundreds of others and listened to songs and speeches. All
these carried a common message – the need to show unity in
preventing a climate crisis. As news flooded in of chaos in
the climate negotiations, we stood together and remembered
how far the movement has come. No matter what happens in
Copenhagen, we have seen people come together. This movement
has joined people across borders, religions and ethnicities.

Remember this as you yourselves come together. As you gather
in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand you stand with people from every
corner of the world. It is a tremendous challenge which we
face, but the opportunity to solve this challenge unites us.

Whatever result emerges out of Copenhagen, we need to
remember moments like this one. As deserts spread in Africa,
as waters rise in the Maldives, we know that there are
millions around the world who are ready to change their
lives.If this change does not come politically, then it must
come personally. As well as empowering our leaders to act,
actions like yours help all of us embark upon change in our
own lives.

You are the inspiration for those of us lucky enough to be
here in Hopenhagen.

Thank you, and kia kaha,
Louis”*

By: Dan Johnston

Dan Johnston — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:38:26 +0000

I would like to know what countries expressed shock, anger and frustration at the apparently deplorable environmental attitude in New Zealand? Having lived in six countries and traveled in well over 50, I can check off quite a few countries that could never offer what New Zealand can. Might this angst be based on envy perhaps? On the other hand, might it have anything to do with the fact that the Copenhagen event is a colossal failure having collapsed under its own weight. Small wonder John Key was reluctant to attend [as was the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper]. Anyone with the IQ above that of a geranium could have foreseen what would happened. Take the decision making process of the UN as a model on which to base one’s prediction.

Would it be accurate to say that the bulk of tourists to NZ come from Australia, US and Canada; all outstanding members of the ‘low target group’ according to Louis? That being the case, why worry about what participants in the Copenhagen Talk Fest have to say? Tourists from these countries will continue to come here regardless.

While I don’t deny the obvious fact of global warming, I am appalled at the lack of knowledge of climatic history on the part of many environmentalists. If the historic evidence of Roman Warming, Medieval Warming and the Little Ice Age upsets some computer models so be it. That is not to say that such information should be suppressed or ignored. A good reference on this topic is the book by Ian Plimer “Heaven and Earth”.

Let’s concentrate on how to cope with the problem on our immediate horizon instead of obsessing about some target in the distant future.

By: Collin Blackman

Collin Blackman — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:01:16 +0000

If this fails to make sense look at some sensible evaluation of our better choices here;
http://lomborg.com/dyn/files/news_news/143-file/BL%20op-ed%202009%20Aug%20Adapting%20to%20Climate%20Change.pdf

By: dick frizzell

dick frizzell — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:52:13 +0000

perhaps we were naive enough to be honest…

By: Collin Blackman

Collin Blackman — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:37:41 +0000

Louis, in your penultimate paragraph you say ” And that is exactly what this debate is all about” – Rubbish – all at Copenhagen have bought into ‘Made Made CO2 is causing climate change’, they are not debating, they are trying to ignore all opposing views. Check this out – http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/146138

By: John Moriarty

John Moriarty — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:24:57 +0000

Why are people sucked into playing the percentage game? Measuring contributions to emission reduction goals as a percentage of current emissions is pointless, since what that actually means depends on the base (the current emissions) that the percentages start from.
Maybe one among many reasons we have slipped from a promise to be carbon zero in 2007 is that the promise was dumb political rhetoric in the first place.
Your correspondent uses expressions like “Shock, anger and frustration” and “the right side of the climate debate”. Emotion and judgmentalism are luxuries the world can’t afford right now.
Finally, individual responsibility for the planet is not contingent on political failure, as Louis’ last sentence suggests. We are all responsible independently of what the politicians do.

By: Glennis Moriarty

Glennis Moriarty — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:53:57 +0000

Does Louis, and do others of the same opinion, realise that if every person (and cow) in New Zealand stopped breathing permanently, it would have a (positive, we presume) impact on global ‘climate change’ (= CO2 emissions, if the two equate) of just one-tenth of 1%?