Rosemary Penwarden was born and bred on a small dairy farm at Brunswick, just north of Whanganui.
Rosemary Penwarden was born and bred on a small dairy farm at Brunswick, just north of Whanganui.
When I was young, squelching through the bush with dad, conservation was easy. It meant little more than putting our piece of Brunswick lowland forest into the newly formed QE11 covenant.
Conservation has a new meaning today — it's not enough to save a snippet of bush.
Now conservation includes the very air we breathe, the life of the oceans, the very survival of our grandchildren.
We're already seeing the result of one degree of global warming with bigger cyclones, floods and wildfires, populations on the move and accelerating species extinctions.
Which is why it's worth celebrating when good decisions get made — like our government's banning of new oil and gas permits (except for three more years in Taranaki).
New Zealand joins Belize, Ireland, France and Costa Rica in leading the way towards curbing global emissions by taking this logical first step of stopping the problem at its source.
I feel proud to be one of thousands of Kiwis who have worked to make this ban a reality.
Another decision worth celebrating is the national phasing out of single use plastic — thanks again to the work of ordinary people all over the country like the Plastic Free Whanganui group.
It's a good first step but plastic, like fossil fuels, must be stopped at its source.
Methanex methanol plant, Waitara. Photo / File
We happen to have a source right up the road. Canadian multinational Methanex uses close to half of New Zealand's natural gas in three methanol plants at Motonui and the Waitara valley.
The methanol is shipped overseas to produce, among other things, PET plastic, the type "1" plastic that most drink bottles are made of.
Not only is Methanex helping pollute the world with plastic bottles, this company has consents from the Taranaki District Council to use up to 33,600 square metres of water per day from the Waitara River, to discharge up to 12,096 square metres of plant effluent daily into the Tasman Sea, uncontaminated stormwater into the Waitara River, the Waihi and other streams, and emissions into the air.
What about its contribution to the economy? Methanex was named in a 2017 NZ Herald investigation as one of 20 multinational companies most aggressive in shifting profits out of New Zealand so they could pay less tax.
After the government's announcement to ban new oil and gas permits earlier this year, Cameron Madgwick of PEPANZ (Petroleum Exploration & Production New Zealand) said that New Zealand might run out of gas in 10 or 11 years.
If Methanex closed up shop, not only would there be fewer plastic bottles in the world, there'd be enough gas — without having to frack for any more — to heat New Zealanders' homes and fire up our barbecues for more than 30 years. Not that this is a good thing.
In his research report Why Natural Gas Isn't a Bridge Fuel to a Low Emissions Economy, Dr Terry Loomis explains that to meet our Paris climate targets all gas needs to be phased out in 20 years or less.
There's a hell of a lot to do to secure a future for our grandkids. The recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report reminds us of the urgency. Here in New Zealand, despite the stalling efforts of industry spokesmen like Cameron Madgwick, people power is once again showing the way.
And it feels good to stop now and then, perch on the roots of the giant pukatea in the snippet of bush dad saved and remember what I'm fighting for.
