(cows) Climate Change Commission (cows) ECan’s plans (cows)

ECan – tell Climate Commission to go harder & faster!

At their council meeting this Thursday 11 March ECan is ‘daylighting’ their submission to the Climate Change Commission. ECan’s CCC submission is on page 66-77 of the meeting agenda and here’s a googledoc of it.

Like the CCC report, ECan’s response is very detailed with lots of good stuff. BUT much of this good stuff will be irrelevant if GHG emissions don’t come down harder & faster.

XRŌ will bring this message to ECan on Thursday. Please join us, especially at these vital times…

  • 10.30am – Graham (350Ch) has a 5 min slot to speak to the climate science. We’ll be inside and outside ECan (200 Tuam St) with placards etc.
  • 1pm – ECan’s submission to Climate Change Commission is on the agenda, so we’ll be inside to hear what happens.

Bring your placards, cow costumes/masks etc… and your lunch if it’s a fine day.

This low-key event is to show ECan and the public that the climate/eco crisis is still here & we want action.

ECan deciding whether to roll over big irrigation consents

This story broke onto The Press front-page last week – MHV (Mayfield Hinds Valetta), a big irrigation company in the Ashburton area, has applied to ECan for renewal of their resource consent to discharge nitrogen to water. Water activist Angus Robson estimates that under their current consent this discharge represents a concentration of nitrogen in the groundwater of around 30 times the limit for ecosystem health, and 10 times the bottom line (maximum allowable) in the new Freshwater regulations.

This is the first of 3 such consent renewals coming through, covering around 200 farms and 95,000 hectares. The original consents were set up some years ago under the ECan Commissioners appointed by the previous government to drive through the big irrigation schemes. Under existing RMA rules, these consents can be renewed without public consultation.

The consent decision is in the hands of an independent commissioner who will also consider the change in national freshwater policy and the upcoming change to the RMA. We understand MHV has been asked if they want to make a new application (publicly notifiable.)

XRŌ is waiting to see the outcome of this – watch this space. We’ll keep highlighting the need to protect our whenua and awa, the health of people, animals and nature.

Cows – they seem to be everywhere. Hmm, dig out your cow-suits and watch this space and our facebook page for upcoming bovine events…

Get your Climate Change Commission submission in now! (by 28 March)

Submission Party Friday 12 March 7pm – 8.30pm at WEA – Ve have vays of making you submit! Come to XRŌ’s sub-writing party – if you are good and do your submission, you can have some dessert…

Feeling overwhelmed by CCC report detail? Just answer CCC’s most important question:
Do you agree with CCC’s targets and timeframe?

XRŌ thinks CCC’s targets for reducing GHG emissions are way too low and slow to tackle the climate/ecosystem crisis effectively. Let’s give the CCC and government the mandate to go harder and faster.

350 Christchurch/Graham Townsend’s submission covers the evidence of this crisis – you can say you agree with this submission without having to repeat it all.

This ScienceAdvances article is a good reference for why we are demanding stronger and faster targets. The hotter it gets, the harder it is for plants to soak up carbon emissions. This recent research suggests we may see “a near halving of the land sink strength by as early as 2040.” If CCC don’t set harder & faster targets, all their other good, detailed proposals become meaningless.

Here’s an excellent guide from Rosemary Neave, with great advice and lots of useful links.

Public meeting – Lan Pham & other councillors on ECan’s long-term plan

A heads-up that XRŌ’s Heartbeat on Friday 26 March will take the form of a public meeting with Lan Pham and other ECan councillors to discuss ECan’s long-term plan, and to discuss ways in which climate and enviro organisations can support ECan to adopt progressive policies.

Friday 26 March, 6.30pm – 8pm at WEA 59 Gloucester St, Ōtautahi (NB earlier time)

Facebook event going up soon.

Rod Oram on how we must urgently transform how we farm

This very useful Newsroom article by Rod Oram outlines just why Aotearoa urgently needs to transform its farming and food production practices to meet the climate/eco crisis. It’s a good positive article on regenerative agriculture and provides a clear message for us to give to both Climate Change Commission and ECan.

In love and rage
Torfrida, Rachel and Dave for XR Ōtautahi Christchurch