Letters: Wind knocked out of power market by Government policy

The coalition’s enthusiasm for mining has been well understood, but this is madness, writes John McCall. Photo / 123rf

Gutted at cancellation

I was gutted to hear that BlueFloat has cancelled their offshore wind farm plans, in part due to incompatibility with Trans-Tasman Resources’ bid to mine the seabed in the Taranaki Bight, and in part due to delays in setting the regulatory framework for offshore wind.

If there must be a trade-off between seabed mining and offshore wind, then this outcome is surely a lose-lose for New Zealand. The joint venture wind farm would have gone a significant way towards addressing New Zealand’s energy supply problems, which were sorely exposed during the recent surge in power prices that sent major businesses to the wall and put further strain on domestic consumers during a cost-of-living crisis.

As minister Shane Jones noted at the time, the electricity market in New Zealand is broken. Generation from fossil fuels has remained stubbornly fixed at 20% for several decades and the large gentailers have failed to invest sufficiently in renewables because they make more money by keeping supply tight. The offshore wind farms that BlueFloat have withdrawn from would have added more than a gigawatt (GW) of renewable generating capacity.

So what do we have instead? The proposal for a seabed mining operation has already been all the way to the Supreme Court, and given new life by the deeply unpopular fast-track legislation. It is not only those concerned for the environment who are up in arms, the fishing industry is also concerned about the detrimental impact of sediment plumes on their fisheries.

There is an additional cost to choosing mining over renewable energy generation that must also be considered. Under our Paris Agreement obligations, New Zealand must pay for the shortfall in meeting our NDC, and the loss of a major renewable energy project will put that goal even further out of reach. It puts New Zealand in a perilous situation; either facing a massive bill to buy overseas credits, or reaping the consequences to trade and international reputation of failing to meet our obligations.

The coalition’s enthusiasm for mining has been well understood, but this is madness.

John McCall, Titirangi.

Celebrity endorsements a sham

Celebrity endorsements in the context of the United States presidential election are such a sham.

Celebs are simply conduits for voters to assume that their preference is the right one.

They have nothing to do with the actual nuts and bolts of improving the outcome for the majority. If America thinks Beyoncé can save their country from ruin then they have no hope in hell of achieving it.

John Ford, Taradale.

Good sports

Has there ever been a more successful few days for Kiwi sports than this last week of October 2024?

Would it not be great for us all if these triumphs were duplicated by our country’s economic success with an absence of political one-upmanship?

Larry Mitchell , Rothesay Bay.

Keeping the faith

I found the article “Losing our religion” (Weekend Herald, October 26) shallow and limited because no amount of figuring the numbers can change the facts.

The Christian faith is not based on feelings but on facts, and the Christian gospel is based in the facts of historical evidence and, importantly, 2000 years of sacrifice and faithful witness to Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, the roots of New Zealand were founded in the Christian faith, our principles of law are embedded in Christian ideals, while our commerce is built on the understanding of fairness and honesty.

Christianity has influenced sound education and medical practice; family life is grounded in the Christian values of marriage and the caring nurture of our children. In spite of indifference and gloomy forecasts, the Christian church in New Zealand is alive and well! And here to stay!

Joyce Callaghan, New Plymouth.

Shane satire?

While I was reading Clive Bibby’s assessment of Shane Jones (Weekend Herald, October 26) I was somewhat taken aback that anyone would rate him alongside Bob Semple, a great Labour minister of public works, and union leader.

It wasn’t until I read the last sentence, “Maggie Thatcher would be proud of him”, that I realised this had to be a very well written satirical barb aimed at someone who would dig our country up and sell it to the highest bidder.

Great work Clive, you almost had me there for a minute. Phew! Neither Shane nor Maggie has anything to be proud of.

Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.

Sobering thought on Games

Glen Stanton (Weekend Herald, October 26) is right, there were some successful Commonwealth Games held in this country.

Unfortunately, it is no longer 1990. About 30 years ago, the Government of the day created the perfect storm for sports clubs by introducing all-day Saturday shopping and “cracking down” on sports clubs selling alcohol.

The result of those two acts saw the steady decline of sports club memberships and subsequent demise of the very clubs that provided all the technical officials needed to run an event of that magnitude.

John Capener, Kawerau.