Stories about the environment, the challenges and triumphs, have proved to be among the most well read on listener.co.nz. This collection brings together some of the most thought-provoking articles on environmental awareness, arguments about the best way to preserve it and the technology changing the way we care for the natural world.
New push to extract minerals raises thorny issues but could it lead to greener future?
Sefton Darby is frustrated. New Zealand’s coalition government has announced a minerals strategy and changes to the resource consent framework – aka the Fast-track Approvals Bill – that are driving intense debate about the country’s mining future. But he feels no one is communicating.
“Both sides are just shouting past each other without realising they’re not having the same debate,” he says.
End of the wine? The mining threat to Central Otago’s vineyards
Long before pinot noir and tourism, central Otago was famed for its gold. Now, locals fear fast-track consenting for a large opencast goldmine could do more than tarnish the landscape.
Battle for the Bight: Wind farms vs seabed mining in Taranaki
A seabed mining project could spell doom for renewable energy off the Taranaki coast.
Unsustainable: The rise of greenwashing in New Zealand - and why we need tougher rules
Claims that consumer goods are environmentally friendly, sustainable or compostable often do not stack up. Do we need tougher rules, better policing or both?
What NZ waterways are telling us about plastic pollution
NZ estuaries may harbour an awful lot more plastic than thought, making clean-ups even more worthwhile.
Releasing the genie: The plan to ease restrictions on GM in New Zealand
The plan to ease restrictions on genetic modification in New Zealand promises advances everywhere, from food production to human health, but after 30 years of lab containment, doubts over safety and appropriate use remain.
Intensive farming in the cold Deep South could damage the image of our biggest industry
With many animals in a confined area, the grass is often grazed and trodden to bare soil… But farmer groups are opposing rule changes to safeguard the welfare of cows.
Tracking burps & farts: NZ’s first official government-funded space mission
NZ is a perfect natural laboratory to test the capability of a satellite designed to track methane emissions.
Climate friendly e-scooters are booming, so why aren’t more of us using them?
Peter Griffin on the stumbling blocks for users and non-users.
Off your bike: Why is the government so opposed to cycle and walkways?
Walkways and cycleways are good enough for New York, LA, London and Paris. Here, the government’s new transport policy means they have come to a screeching halt.
Off yer bike II: The questions Russell Brown wanted the government to answer
“Researching my article Taken for a ride , I put questions to Transport Minister Simeon Brown about the thinking that has led to the current government’s apparent reversal of support for cycle infrastructure, and what advice the minister had taken on this, especially as the urban cycleways fund, established by the National government in 2014, has been popular with local authorities around the country. Here are the questions I put to Brown. And below is the extent of his responses.”
Scientists have spent the summer drilling into the Antarctic seafloor to learn from the past what we can expect from future sea level rises.