Robbie on why you need to make a submission.
We still have a little time left to complete our submissions. We’re meeting at Aro Hall tomorrow at 10 am. We’ll use this time to share and help each other with our personal submissions. We’ll also come up with a plan for a shared submission.
We’ve heard through the grapevine that there are only 600 submissions
so far. That’s not a high number for something like this and we know
many will be created by the polluters.
Don’t be daunted by the size of this task. Yes, the report is big, but
you don’t have to address it all. That work has already been done, by
teams of lawyers, researchers, and advocates of all kinds. I’ll pop a
short list below, but there are plenty more and we can search them out
for ideas.
What matters is that you take a stand. In fact, the submissions by
ordinary people stand out more than you think. Your submissions don’t
need to be long either: better to focus on a shortlist of points, make
them personal, and get them to stand out.
I’m planning to be around there till 2 pm. That means there’s time for people to drop by if they can’t make it at 10. Note there is no particular schedule for this time. We’re just using the time to share what we are doing and making sure everyone has what they need to make a submission.
We should also produce a combined submission, so this is also an opportunity to come up with a shortlist of points we’d like it to cover and decide who will write it.
Hope you can make it, and more importantly, I hope you make a submission. We’ll produce more stuff online with the little bit of time left. One last thought on why your submission is important now:
A few of us have been watching the Hot Air
documentary. It gives a brief history of plans that came before this
one, along with the way they were sidelined by the polluters. This time,
it’s vital that the politicians know the people are watching and expect
better. The difference between this plan and the ones before it is you.
Here’s a list to start:
https://www.orataiao.org.nz/put_health_at_the_heart_of_aotearoa_s_climate_response
https://act.greenpeace.org/page/75500/action/1?source=actioncallout
https://www.schoolstrike4climate.nz/ccc-report
(note – this also contains a link to a template you can use).
Lawyers talking about the report – they found some technical points worth knowing about:
https://www.lawyersforclimateaction.nz/news-events/zoom-on-ccc-draft-advice
A section from David Hall’s response:
Some submission stuff from us:
Kathleen can’t make it tomorrow but provided a link to her submission here:
And here’s my draft:
The draft for my own submission is here. Note that I WILL be making changes to it:
/It was easy in 1998 and 1989 to think that you could have a public interest approach to dealing with greenhouse gases. Governments would say we must get these emissions down, their populations would agree and support that, and there would be no major lobby to block it./
I’m pleased to see the calibre of the CCC. I’m sure the plans they have made improves on the ones that came before. Greenpeace, 350, the school strikers and gen zero, will all be asking to raise your ambitions and I agree with them.
My concern is that nothing in this report addresses that fact that every plan before it was sabotaged. So much so that emissions more than tripled since Simon Upton began the job in 1990.
And what is the point in another plan if it does not get to the core of the problem: the government is still not prepared to act. Since 2015, when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGf4maDU7Ps][Hot Air]] was released, we’ve had a Green Climate Change minister, along with some timid reductions to mining. Also, in that time:
– 2,400 square km of Taranaki land was opened for exploration (Megan Woods, 2019)
– More gas peaker plants have been created (Mangorei in Taranaki, 2020)
– The Crown Minerals Act continues to require that the Minister for Energy promotes petroleum products
– The Environmental Protection Agency is still expected to pretend carbon emissions are not happening
– Plans for low carbon transport alternatives continue to be scrapped
– Plans for Hydrogen are so driven by polluters that they overlook the of existence electric rail and suggest creating new markets by burning coal
In the 90s Simon Upton brought the head of Carter Holt Harvery into his house to join discussions about carbon taxing. The shepard attempting to rationalise with the wolf. And the wolves are still in the house. In the introduction to your report you acknowledge the ECNZ. Those of you with ties to Motu know that it’s former CEO, John Carnegie, is the now head of Pepanz, J. Under ECNZ he was already making bizarre defense for oil companies. In his new role he is now is the lead actor in Terrence Loomis’ /Predatory Delay Diaries/.
The most powerful industries all make their profits from artifically cheap energy. It’s a crowded house and this seems impossible, but what else is there? They won’t change, that much is surely clear by now.
Through these times our strikers have been starving on the lawn of parliament. After over 400 days of protest they are about to face their third winter. We remain unconvinced by the declarations. We know that not all treaties are honoured.
I say this with the greatest respect for what you have done, and for the support you have extended to the activist communities. You can’t watch Hot Air without seeeing the cyclic nature of this moment. This is an addiction, held tight by a dysfunctional relationship. Until that changes, the plans themselves are irrelevant. If you don’t speak to the predators directly, then you will find you have been coerced into enabling them.
ngā mihi,
Kieran