Letters to the editor: Opposition to water bottling in Whanganui

Aquifer 182 wants to use Whanganui's former milk bottling plant in Anzac Pde to bottle bore water to sell. Photo / NZME

Ken Mair is using public resistance to the Aquifer 182 to assist Tūpoho's claims for ownership.

Whanganui Chronicle, October 3: "Mair lodged Wai 671 with the Waitangi Tribunal in 1997 on behalf of Tūpoho. It relates to groundwater rights in the Whanganui area and asserts that groundwater is a taonga protected by Article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi, guaranteeing Tūpoho ownership of and rangitiratanga over the resource.

The claims asserts that ownership of the groundwater is an exclusive right to use the resource or to consent to others using it."

Te Pāti Māori, October 14: "Our Te Pāti Māori policy is clear: we will put a moratorium on new consents for water bottling and overturn the Crown's position that "everyone owns water" and instead recognise the rangatira and kaitiaki rights of tangata whenua over wai Māori."

I reject and will continue to fight claims of water ownership along with commercial bottling.

KAREN KIRIWAI M. WILLIAMS
Whanganui

Stepping up for Earth

As IPCC scientist warns the world we are pretty much out of time to limit warming.

I have read several hysterical opinion pieces on the new government greenhouse emissions scheme for meat agriculture.

All so far have been from the distorted point of view of the meat industry.

Federated Farmers states that "methane emissions are overstated by a factor of 3 or 4".

For this group, methane is a trivial matter. But in reality, methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere (an overall warming potential of more than 28 times).

Massey University's Ralph Sims, a review editor of the IPCC report, said methane emissions need to reduce by a third by 2030. Even climate experts say the IPCC missed a key opportunity to underscore the urgent need for rapid reductions in emissions of methane.

The Feds say farmers have not increased their methane in 20 years. Yet 20 years ago our methane output was far too high.

The OECD's "third Environmental Performance Review of New Zealand finds that intensive dairy farming, road transport, and industry have pushed up gross GHG emissions by 23 per cent since 1990".

And we have not even touched the land use and nitrate debacles.

Many other agricultural products (including meats) are profitable, providing protein at a fraction of the greenhouse gas impact. The world will not "starve".

We may be small but we need to pull our weight. Our children's future depends on it.

BRIT BUNKLEY
Aramoho