Goodies & baddies
New Zealand Listener|May 28 - June 3, 2022
The government's new Emissions Reduction Plan creates a road map towards a zero-carbon future, but expect plenty of tinkering.
JANE CLIFTON
Goodies & baddies

Coming, ready or not: the great Footrot Flats reset, in which farmer Wal fits methane-conversion masks on the cows, while Aunt Dolly toilet-trains the calves. Feed-out time is bales of seaweed and shearing is cancelled, since sheep have been genetically de-fleeced.

More so than ever, as of last week, improbable-sounding innovations - such as New Zealand's pioneering work in bovine potty training, nicknamed the "MooLoo", and a new British methane-neutralizing headset - will underpin this country's climate-change strategy.

The week brought two Budgets. The first, the Emissions Reduction Plan, is arguably more important than Thursday's annual Budget. It added more decisive ink to plans for halving emissions to net-zero by 2050, and unlike the other budget, it has cross-party support - albeit with niggling rights in perpetuity.

Climate-mitigation hardliners went into conniptions over the $339 million extra sunk into agricultural emissions research. But this trailblazing work - admittedly rather more focused on feeds and supplements than thrilling novelties like cow masks and lavatories has to be seen in the context of how critical the farming sector is to the economy, and how ferociously less agri-dependent countries are protecting their own farm sectors. No government in the world has hauled its farmers into the tough-love chamber of an emissions trading scheme (ETS), yet some people demand that New Zealand sacrifice its trading competitiveness and its very viability by doing this to its farmers.

Critics have yet to say how New Zealand would pay for health, education, welfare or anything else were it to decimate the dairy herd and silence the lambs as quickly as they advocate.

Even so, the "carrot first, stick later" approach startled the farm sector as much as anyone.

Esta historia es de la edición May 28 - June 3, 2022 de New Zealand Listener.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición May 28 - June 3, 2022 de New Zealand Listener.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE NEW ZEALAND LISTENERVer todo
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 9, 2024