Toothless response
Nato's whimpering approach to Putin's war crimes in Ukraine should draw attention to the squandering of resources on defence systems that Nato is not prepared to use when called to confront Russian aggression.
It
is true that sanctions will hurt Russia, but not before they have dismembered Ukraine. No-fly zones over Ukraine are a must, but Britain and the US have refused to establish them.
The US defence budget for 2021 is $771.7 billion, and Congress has approved $778 billion for 2022. In the context of prevarication over no-fly zones, the US would be better to spend most of this on neglected US infrastructure.
It has been reported that there are 25,000 unsafe bridges in the US; all for the want of timely maintenance or replacement. A great deal of their other infrastructure and government services are similarly neglected.
The only people that are conspicuously showing that they have a spine are the Ukrainians. It is time to expel Russia from the Security Council, if not from the UN. The Security Council was doomed to failure from the start when it was established with a power of veto. It would seem that UNO stands for Useless Nations Organisation.
Hugh Webb, Hamilton.
Monster machines
There is a silver lining to high oil prices. It may finally end our ridiculous fascination with gas-guzzling macho utes and SUVs.
The top five selling petrol or diesel vehicles in New Zealand are high fuel consumption utes and big SUVs. How stupid is this when we've known for a generation we have to seriously cut back on burning fossil fuels to prevent dangerous climate change?
But instead of buying petrol-sipping hybrids or even economical salons, chest-beating drivers in NZ opt for the whole macho nonsense of utes. Grunt not reason seems to have taken over the psychology of too many vehicle buyers.
If the reality of climate change still doesn't register, perhaps very high prices for filling up their one-tonne monsters will wake them up. We can only hope.
Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.
Air conditioned
I'm hopeful that a silver lining to come out of the high petrol prices might be an end to the odious practice of sitting in a car with the engine running.
Top tip: if you're hot, the cheapest and most environmentally friendly thing to do is wind down all the windows - like we did in the "olden days".
Stop polluting my air.
Allison Kelly, Mt Roskill.
Super stasis
Michael Barnett (NZ Herald, March 16) seems to want a model of local government led by Government-appointed commissioners and in bed with the private sector. However, he fails to mention that the Rodney Hide-led restructuring – which ignored a Royal Commission - created a major problem in a mayor elected at large with a well-funded mayoral office which leads policy and spending.
I served with Barnett on the Auckland Regional Council and, despite political differences among the councillors, we came together as a team and made major steps forward for the future of Auckland: we had a regional planning strategy for Auckland that would have built a coherent city rather than the design-bereft housing muddle emerging all over Auckland.
There will be no appetite for a restructure of Auckland by central government so soon after the costly amalgamation, but I don't know why anyone would think a model chosen by Hide would have the welfare of Auckland citizens as its highest priority. Twelve years after amalgamation it is high time there was a review: that at least would identify where Auckland Council is failing and point to a pathway out of the morass.
Sandra Coney, Piha.
Troubled waters
I must applaud Shane Jones's excellent opinion piece (NZ Herald, March 15), wherein he exposes some of the obvious pitfalls of the current Government's agenda - namely the proposed Three Waters legislation, a necessary review of the Waitangi Tribunal, iwi settlements, the proposed Maori Health Authority and, lastly, the Resource Management Act.
His comments should be supported by Members of Parliament who are likewise concerned about the direction this country is heading.
Garry Larsen, St Heliers.