Tuesday, March 19, 2024

ALTERNATIVE VIEW: Seaweed can help climate change

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I’ve been following the progress of the Zero Carbon Bill through Parliament. As I’ve written, my problem with the legislation is that it won’t work but it’s also going to cost the country plenty.
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It started with the dairy industry claiming the law sets farmers up to fail with the methane target.

That position was reinforced by Forest and Bird, which claimed no targets will be reached without significant land use change.

The Government estimated the cost to farmers at $2500, a figure DairyNZ disputes.

For dairy farmers fortunate enough to stay in business it estimates the cost at $37,000 annually or half a dairy farmer’s drawings.

The problem is the extra costs will inevitably lead to a further reduction in dairy with the inevitable cost to the economy.

And farmers hit with increased costs are going to retrench and employ fewer people. That’s a further cost to the provinces.

Treasury’s economic impact report puts the annual cost at $5 billion to $12b a year.

Like all parts of the legislation it’s not very scientific and there’s one hell of a difference between $5b and $12b.

What’s important is the Statistics Department put the cost to each of New Zealand’s 1,793,000 households at an incredible $3000 to $7000 a year for each and every year until 2050.

Over those 31 years the total household cost is $93,000 at the lower figure and $217,000 at the top.

You can buy a house in Masterton for $200,000.

It actually gets worse with Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter saying she is going to tax big vehicles and offer rebates on little ones.

The figures are an increase of upwards of $2000 on a ute, a Prius will be $1700 cheaper and a used Swift gets an $1100 reduction.

What a stupid, city-centric policy.

Take a farm worker out our way.

A Prius is no use at all and neither is a Swift in my view.

A ute has four-wheel-drive, which a farm worker on our type of country needs.

He’s going to get whacked another $2000 on top of the $3000 to $7000 annually.

On the other side of the argument Australian documentary maker Damon Gameau has produced a documentary entitled 2040 where he outlines the options for mitigating climate change.

I had little argument with his approach, especially his statement the environment movement is destructive in the demands it is making.

People are disengaging from the climate debate because it is too hard and his documentary is an exercise in fact-based streaming.

He claims there are great reasons for optimism.

Part of his answer involves seaweed. Seaweed is the fastest growing organism in the world, growing half a metre a day.

It absorbs a lot of carbon and can be easily farmed.

You can eat it, cattle can eat it and it provides a good breeding ground for fish.

There are seaweed farms in the United States, Bali and Singapore.

I’m unaware of any discussion on seaweed as regards climate change in NZ.

He also added if you use cattle the right way they can sequester carbon.

As I’ve said, the guy had scientific arguments to back up his claims. It was all very interesting.

That begs the question why we’re wearing a hair shirt by developing legislation that won’t work, isn’t based on modern science and is going to cost us all and considerably so.

Farming seaweed would be a lot better than taking 1400 hectares of good farmland for trees at a cost of $22.7 million as happened between January and May this year.

So, there are options available for climate change. It’s just that we’re ignoring them.

I suppose what offends me most is the cost the elite in Wellington is foisting on ordinary Kiwis. 

With the increased transport costs and the extra costs for farmers our food will be more expensive. 

Looking at the best possible scenario a family in central Auckland will be $60 a week worse off and that is crippling if you’re on the breadline.

A worker in the provinces will be treated even more harshly.

This has all been decreed by Cabinet ministers earning $300,000, six times the average wage and don’t forget their massive tax-free perks.

And ministers have chauffeur-driven, gas-guzzling limos on call and fly business class with the extra carbon that produces. They then effectively tax ordinary Kiwis with legislation that won’t work and is based on old science. 

Talk about casting pearls before swine and taking food from the mouths of babes.

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