Letter of the week: Niall Robertson, Balmoral
The road lobby and a young businesswoman, Lani Fogelberg (Weekend Herald, May 28) don't seem to follow the news. The road lobby is asking for more roads and Fogelberg is upset that people criticise her for owning a Ferrari.
For 10.000 years the
planet's atmospheric carbon level has been stable at 280ppm and man has prospered, but since the mid-1800s, carbon has been increasing exponentially and is now over 420ppm. This latest level may not have happened for over 14 million years. This has already caused species extinction, millions of deaths and millions of people being displaced. It is driven, primarily by wealthier countries' love affair with fossil fuels, our penchant for cutting down trees and intensive farming of ruminant animals.
If we don't change our behaviour we will be faced with a colossal calamity. This is all easily researched through reputable science agencies.
Politicians give us what we want and, if that is cheaper petrol then that is what we get. I want us all to tell the politicians that we want to change.
Norwegian would
Simon Wilson (Canvas, May 28) makes a number of comparisons between New Zealand and Norway.
Norway is more mountainous, only the South Island is comparable. It is also on the doorstep of Europe and is closer to North America than New Zealand is to China, meaning far better access to export markets.
Norway is dominated by a large oil and gas industry which not only contributes nearly 60 per cent of the country's exports and more than 40 per cent of state revenues, but it has created a sovereign wealth fund worth at least three times the country's entire GDP.
Norway's current centre-left Government, elected in late 2021, has pledged to further expand the sector.
While it's useful to look at how Norway has incentivised the uptake of EVs, it's also important to be upfront about the fundamental differences that have helped their government make such policy decisions. Only by doing so can we better understand the political calculations and fiscal limitations our own Government faces as it makes the decisions we need in order to get New Zealand to net carbon zero.
Gwynn Compton, Paraparaumu Beach.
Covid factor
I always find Emma Mackintosh's correspondence to be most thoughtful and keenly observed, as with her latest letter regarding Covid (Weekend Herald 28 May) - highlighting the distinction between "deaths with Covid" and "deaths from Covid", where other accompanying ailments may have been the actual cause of death.
However, what should also be considered is - would those people have died if they hadn't contracted Covid? And to what extent did having Covid exacerbate the conditions they were already suffering from – respiratory or other lung infections, or heart, for instance, thus making them fatal?
Clyde Scott, Birkenhead.
Port vision
Regarding your editorial (Weekend Herald, May 28) on Manukau Port, I take back all I ever said about you, albeit well out of your earshot. Andrea Fox's comment earlier in the week was very pertinent too.
As your editorial says, any attempt to set up a new port at Manukau would indeed be intrepid and both Brooke Hibberdine, who I do know, and I will unlikely to still be here to see its eventuation. But if it does and proves to be a huge waste of money perhaps you might like to mention us old mariners who did say "we told you so".
Just one other moot point: The very likely protracted consenting process will be a mountain to climb, indeed.
Ian Francis Burke, Kaitaia.
