Over the weekend, I have been joining people across Wellington (as well as across the world) who have been showing their support for a broad political agreement that will reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions.??
Local schools in the Ohariu electorate Onslow College and Tawa College have already held related events last Friday. I gave a talk at the Centre for EU studies at Canterbury University on climate change issues.
The next day I was at the Avalon Park Windmills in Lower Hutt at a 350.org event organised by the St James Anglican church. A video of their rally is now posted on Youtube:
I was at the Labour stall at the 350 Wellington Climate Action Festival, held on the Wellington Waterfront (next to Te Papa). Pictures of the day are here and below:
These events were part of a day of action by 350 Aotearoa. Other events included an Auckland bikeride from Britomart to Mt Eden where Jacinda Ardern spoke, and an event ??at New Brighton in Christchurch featuring Ruth Dyson and Lianne Dalziel.
Climate change is not a fringe issue; people from a diverse range of backgrounds want bold, fair and comprehensive action. Make sure you are being heard.
Good on them for getting out there and trying.
Now what we need is some good progressive clean technology to make life better.
Ka pai. Thank you for your efforts, we all need to be doing more.
Good on them for getting out there and trying.
Now what we need is some good progressive clean technology to make life better.
Moderation?
First thing to do is go around your house and find energy savings. Put socket timers on things so they are really off when they are supposed to be off, and not acting like energy vampires. Two things I did that saved the most money were shutting off the computer downstairs connected to my router. The wireless router will work without the computer attached via ethernet being on. Also, I used the built-in timer on the oil heater to shave off 2 hours each day. Also changed all the lightbulbs to lower wattage (not fluorescent, though–gives me headaches).
Overall, I found 9 kWh per day to save with little sacrifice at all. At 15.83c per kWh, that is $520 per year.
Saving money is nice, but that many kWh turns out to be equivalent to not burning 1.3 tons of coal per year.
As far as clean energy for the future, I’m anxiously awaiting the laser-based fusion test next year at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the USA.
https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/nif/
Might be good to stay in touch with them so NZ is on the list to get the technology when it is proven.
[...] is not a fringe group. They understand that if Kiwis don’t