In the recent European Parliamentary elections, where 27 European Union member countries voted for 720 MPs, there was a significant shift in voter support away from the left – including from parties prioritising climate change.
What’s notable is that this included young voters.
The result was in sharp contrast to the 2019 election where young people had swung towards pro-environmental parties with such enthusiasm, they became known as the “Greta Generation”, after the Swedish teenage climate fanatic Greta Thunberg.
But in 2024, young voters spearheaded the “greenlash” – a backlash against Europe’s obsession with climate alarmism. Their reaction was in response to the negative impact of extremist policies, and a growing scepticism towards claims humans are responsible for climate change – and bad weather.
With the war in the Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis top concerns across Europe, the green movement’s attack on farmers and other food producers played a key role in turning off voters.
It had also become clear to many that the greatest cost burden of the climate extremism promoted by well-to-do elitist urbanites pushing their anti-growth “reset” falls on the poorest in society. The hypocrisy of elites flying business class to warm locations while preaching the perils of climate change, was not lost on those who can’t afford the electricity bills to heat their homes.
With soaring energy prices across Europe causing voters to question the wisdom of abandoning fossil fuels, of banning new oil and gas heating systems, and of a planned prohibition on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, many parties backed away from sweeping climate promises.
The plan to make the EU climate neutral by 2050 was the focus of much of the backlash, with critics claiming, “Green policies from green parties didn’t work in reality. They wanted higher targets, they were too ambitious.”
New Zealand has the same problem. While we are essentially clean and green – a tiny country surrounded by ocean sitting at the bottom of the world – in true Orwellian fashion, we too have become captive to an extremist climate narrative. Pushed by an elitist cabal that includes politicians, journalists, and academics, they claim New Zealand is causing so much harm to the planet that drastic action is needed – even though the measures they are proposing will decimate our farming sector.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator Owen Jennings, the convenor of the Methane Science Accord and a former Federated Farmers President and Member of Parliament, outlines the problem:
“Imagine arguing over the difference between 4 millionths of one degree of warmth and 5 millionths. Something that can’t be measured even with sophisticated technical equipment. Pretty stupid?
“But now imagine if the outcome of that argument adversely affected 25% of all our dairy production and a big chunk of our meat and wool sector. Get the argument wrong and it cripples farming and devastates the economy.
“Farcical? Absurd?
“Get used to it. Seemingly, otherwise intelligent, sane individuals with science degrees, powerful positions in the Government are head down, seriously trying to figure out whether the heavy hand of the State should force farmers to reduce their alleged warming of the planet by a millionth or two of a degree.
“Of course, these same great intellectuals don’t talk about millionths of a degree. They talk about millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas. That sounds much more foreboding. That focus is more likely to worry the population especially young people. Folk might scoff at debates over millionths of a degree.”
And here’s where Owen has hit the nail on the head.
The whole climate change narrative is based on scaremongering to hide the fact that the two main greenhouse gases being demonised are essential for life as we know it.
Carbon dioxide plays a crucial role in photosynthesis: absorbed by plants and combined with water, it traps the sun’s energy, creating the food that all living creatures need.
And methane – a trace gas found in only minute quantities in the atmosphere – is produced by microbes in the rumen of cows and sheep as they digest plant cellulose to release that trapped energy that’s then converted into the milk and meat that form the basis of our food chain.
Over time, methane breaks down into water and carbon dioxide, that are recycled to feed the plants, that feed the animals, that feed the planet.
Basic mathematics reveals climate scaremongering is a lie. Any increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere does not cause an escalation in the temperature of the planet. The reason is that the relationship between greenhouse gas concentrations and air temperature is logarithmic, not linear. That means increasing gas concentrations lead to ever-smaller temperature increases.
Princeton University’s Emeritus Professor of Physics William Happer explains the logarithmic forcing of carbon dioxide: “Each additional increase of CO2 in the atmosphere causes a smaller and smaller change in temperature. Doubling CO2 concentrations from 400 parts per million to 800 ppm – a 100 percent increase – would only diminish the thermal radiation to space by about 1 percent. We could emit as much CO2 as we like, with little warming effect. There is no climate emergency. No threat at all.”
It’s a similar story with methane – as British climate researcher Dr Wilson Flood explains: “The absorption of energy diminishes logarithmically as concentration increases. Doubling of atmospheric methane concentration… would produce very little warming. Methane levels are not rising rapidly and present no conceivable threat of any kind. At present rates the atmospheric methane concentration would need 360 years to double.”
He makes the point, that since “farm animals cannot contribute to global warming in any discernible way, research into altering the diet of farm animals to reduce dietary methane is hugely wasteful of resources.”
Yet that hasn’t stopped governments pouring vast taxpayer resources – including another $400 million announced this month – into developing mechanisms to reduce ruminant methane, involving methane inhibitor vaccines, genetically modified foods, and selective breeding for reduced methane – instead of for increased milk, meat and wool production.
Advocates of these ‘science solutions’ appear oblivious to the deep-seated concern of farmers that such remedies to this non-existent problem risk undermining their industry’s hard-earned reputation for having the lowest carbon footprint in the world -through natural farming practices – potentially destroying our key export markets in the process.
To make matters worse, last year the Labour Government set up AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture with the private sector which intends investing a further $180 million into methane reduction over the next four years.
While Labour successfully persuaded the country’s main farming businesses such as Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, and Ravensdown – along with the major trading banks – to be ‘good corporate citizens’ and join the partnership, they too appear oblivious to the fact that their involvement may end up harming the industry instead of supporting it.
Ironically, while it is the Government’s commitment to the United Nations Paris Agreement that is driving the zero carbon agenda, their planned use of methane inhibitors will be in direct breach of Article 2, which prohibits governments from introducing any measures that would “threaten food production”.
The impact of greenhouse gases is determined by their global warming potential – how much warming they produce compared with carbon dioxide. For methane, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calculated it to be 28: methane, they claim, is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
But Dr Wilson Flood’s research refutes that claim: “Molecule for molecule, methane is 7 times more effective at being a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.”
In 2021, the IPCC agreed – on page 1016 of Chapter 7 of their Sixth Assessment Report they concurred: “…expressing methane emissions as CO2 equivalent of 28, overstates the effect on global surface temperature by a factor of 3-4.”
Since methane makes up almost half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions profile, the implications of this correction are profound – as energy expert Bryan Leyland explains:
“If New Zealand accepted the latest information from the IPCC technical reports that tells us that the climate effects of methane have been overestimated by a factor of four, farm emissions would no longer be a problem.
“Which leads to the obvious solution: abandon net zero, abandon the emissions trading scheme, stop subsidising electric cars, forget about agricultural greenhouse gases and rejoice that the increasing levels of carbon dioxide are making our plants grow better and making us all more prosperous. It would also save the billions of dollars we are squandering on a totally futile effort to change the world’s climate.”
Instead remedying the situation, by replacing the incorrect value for methane with the correct one, the government has done nothing – the ‘methane problem’ is still misrepresented as being four times worse than it really is.
While it’s perhaps understandable that a Labour Government led by a radical socialist in cahoots with the fanatical Greens might want to ignore revelations that would expose her ‘climate emergency’ designation for New Zealand as the farce that it is, there is absolutely no excuse for the Coalition doing the same.
That’s especially the case when the amount of money being wasted on green initiatives that will have zero effect on the climate is truly eye watering: according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, in the last financial year government agencies spent $1.1 billion on “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.”
If common sense and realism prevailed, that money could be far better spent on things that really matter – and last week provided a reality check about just how vulnerable and third world our infrastructure has become: our Air Force couldn’t safely transport our Prime Minister overseas; our Cook Straight ferry has broken down again; a pylon failure caused the loss of power to the whole of the Northland region; not to mention cyclone-destroyed roads and bridges that cut off families over a year ago that still haven’t been repaired.
Even the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, is now speaking out against green madness, recently highlighting five inconvenient home truths:
“Let’s start with inconvenient truth number one. We can close polluting industries, but in most cases we will simply import the goods that rely on them from other countries.
“Inconvenient truth number two. Under certain conditions, we must be willing to entertain environmentally damaging activities like mining. The metals have to come from somewhere.
“My third inconvenient truth is that calling for green growth isn’t the easy economic and environmental win some people imagine.
“The fourth inconvenient truth is that any change – even a clean green one – is costly. Green growth is pitched as a win-win all round, but even when that is true economically and environmentally, there are usually losers socially.
“My fifth inconvenient truth is that degrowth won’t be an easy sell either.”
Simon Upton was right to raise these matters. For too long sensible criticism of global warming zealotry has resulted in critics being labelled as ‘climate deniers’ and cancelled.
In fact, our former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern even went so far as likening climate-change scepticism to a ‘weapon of war’, implying critics were a threat that should be silenced.
Fortunately, the new Government is sweeping aside the Ardern lunacy – and the insanity of the Greens – through a range of initiatives including encouraging mining, re-opening oil and gas exploration, and removing subsidies on electric cars. But they need to go much further to repair the damage that’s been done.
Just as Europe is experiencing a greenlash, similar sentiments are brewing here. That means the Coalition needs to show real leadership: they should reset the global warming potential of methane to its correct value as a priority – to free the country from unjustifiable climate restrictions and release funding for better use.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you believe a ‘greenlash’ against climate alarmism is brewing in New Zealand?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Many I speak to are expressing significant doubts over human caused climate change | John |
| Time to push back on the madness. New Zealand’s contribution to methane emissions etc cannot be measured because it is so small. Period. | Noel |
| And I think that is getting time the greens started using some working braincells. | peter |
| At about time too. What a load of rubbish all this climate stuff is – but it sure is lining the pockets of someone, somewhere. | Christine |
| I have always thought the climate thing was a scam and a hoax. Please make it go away messrs Luxon, Seymour and Peters | Derek |
| Albeit far too slowly | Michael |
| I certainly hope so! | Tony |
| Climate change is a threat to civilisation as we know it. In the last two hundred years or so, global temperatures have NOT risen by only a few millionths of a degree celsius, but by around 1.5 degrees celsius. just in the last few weeks, there have been deadly heat waves in southern Europe, India and Saudi Arabia. As I am tapping away, record-breaking floods are threatening Tairawhiti. Admittedly, we could encourage industries here if, by doing so, we can do the industrial processes here in a greener way than the production of the equivalent goods that we import from overseas. Alos, kick for touch the stupid policy that we need to grow N Z’s population. This policy belongs to the 1950s! Aim for a population of 3 million by the end of the century. Save money on infrastructure costs!!!! | Denbie |
| Climate alarmist are the old religious bigots of years | Geoff |
| Starting with the methane rating to be corrected to its true level | Robin |
| Yes I think more people are beginning to wake up to climate alarmist but with the Green fools indoctrinating our kids in the schools it will be difficult. | Paul |
| may be at last some common sense talk | leo |
| Probably, and many “facts” are being challenged. We are not in balance with nature and still set ourselves up for natural events to cause harm that was predictable and avoidable. | Donald |
| Hopefully – the sooner the better. They are just a pack of lunatics that are determined to see all the farmers go broke and the land revert to gorse and blackberry. | Don |
| Hopefully! | Patricia |
| I think the silent majority have had enough to the point that they are awakening from their slumber and starting to push back against this nonsense. | Scott. |
| It is a trillion dollar annually money making scam hatched up on Wall Street. It is tragic that NZ has wasted $1b on this nonsense, not even counting the corrupt ‘hot air’ emissions trading racket. Our scientists can no longer be trusted to tell us the truth, because they would lose their govt funding. | Susan |
| However the young still believe in climate catastrophe, largely. | Alastair |
| This coalition government is taking a common sense approach toward the environment and not getting themselves involved in the green hype and their agenda. | Owen |
| I hope so, this whole thing has been one of the biggest lie ever perpetrated on the whole world and sucked in the gullible youth and adults with all their scare mongering. This and the whole covid vaccine scam as evidence is now coming to light over all the deaths it has caused | Barry |
| I sincerely hope so! Let’s wake up those that are still asleep. | Dianne |
| I have no evidence and I am on FB and X and read newspapers and listen to conservative podcasts and listen to people, that any ‘greenlash’ is happening. People are content to let someone else speak up and not donate to conservative and truly progressive causes. | Ray |
| The climate models have never been right – A lot of scientists have known the false narratives to not be true – it was and is falseness. Truth is Truth. Just get with it. | Maurice |
| I believe (but stand to be corrected) that any plants under 3 (or 5) metres tall are not assigned any value for storing carbon. As much of NZ’s bush falls below this threshold, the calculations are skewed. | Steve |
| People are waking up to the GREAT GREEN CON | George |
| I HOPE that there will be a Green lash. I believe the brainwashing of kids in NZ has made actual curiosity into OTHER THAN taught “Knowledge” almost suppressed. “I was taught this at Uni….” “It’s all over Social Media”. If you express any of this LOGIC, you are almost seen as trying to prevent their future. | Lionel |
| How can we get the content of your latest letter out to the general public? Everyone needs to hear this!! | Caroline |
| Alarmist media hype and so we don’t hear true research reports. All the true reporters aged between 30 and 60 have disappeared to be replaced by snot gobblers that think money grows on trees | John |
| But it needs to. NZ’s do not like to admit they got it wrong. Let hope the coalition can get the message to people who believe they are right! | Mike |
| We see the ‘elite’ jetting all over the World, while expecting us to WALK | mike |
| An interesting observation globally is the evidence and data showing the push of the climate narrative with weather modification and I felt this needs more delving into. Cloud seeding is not conspiracy and openly discussed and admitted by several counties and included in their nightly weather forecasts on tv. China, Dubai and just recently 3 US States have now banned cloud seeding. Australia also have had issues with this too. NZ is no different and to e force a narrative is to create the problem. This needs investigation and already locals have had meetings with Council members in this very topic. | Ange |
| I sincerely hope so | Joyce |
| Finally people are waking up to the fact that this climate crisis is false and costing us mega bucks. Slowly we are seeing a turn to common sense. Still a long way to go though. Luxon needs to get off the fence and show some courage and stop being a worse. | Peter |
| Very slowly, amongst the older citizens. Barry Brill, ex MP, has some good writing on the over statement of the methane emissions. | Marianne |
| Many have seen thru the hocus pocus of “predicitions” and especially sea level rise for some time. May we finally have sense & real science prevail, we already farm extremely well, we are food producing nation. Stop the merry-go-round of wasted money on egos. | Paula |
| I hope so, this nonsense has gone on long enough, time for common sense to take over | Andrew |
| Unfortunately no. The majority of the population have been greenwashed by the government, the media and academics. The would not comprehend the logic that ruminant methane is part of a natural cycle with a miniscule effect on global temperature. | Alister |
| yes we do | rob |
| Definitely! The silencing of individuals and groups is indictment of any truths being revealed. The club of Rome back in the 60s had this agenda well in their sights as the next big fear factor snd money making opportunities. It needed the Trojan horse of covid to really amp it up to the next level. As we have observed the clean green agenda is anything but. There is no crisis. | Angela |
| I hope it is gathering pace and we can drop the silliness | Ray |
| Mythology is not proof , only provable science can be considered in this issue. | fred |
| One “REAL” scientist regarded climate alarm as “Scientific Fraud”. Just watch the movie “CLIMATE THE MOVIE” and you should be convinced. Climate change is now an industry and not a science. All predictions since the climate change alarmism took place has failed. | Alan |
| The truth will out – the science is IN We dont even align with the Paris Accord | Peter |
| Young people especially are being indoctrinated instead of being provided with balanced information | Ian |
| This Greenlash has been evident for some years but is still being ‘canceled’ by the media propaganda response. We as a nation need to catch up to the Global response, that it is a lie! | Christine |
| It’s a too slow process at this point. We can only hope more people start to critically appraise the whole climate change narrative. | Charles |
| While I believe it will happen, I also believe that it will take longer to be of any use. The adern years and the greens have done a superb job of convincing the people, especially politicians that their is a real threat and we can solve it | Alec |
| And long overdue | David |
| People have already shown it. In Nelson, the very expensive electric buses are generally empty, although the council pours ratepayer money into them. Meantime, the shopping malls are jammed with cars! | Dan |
| I chose yes but that is more in hope. Some days I think it will happen and other days I think it won’t. BUT IT HAS TO HAPPEN< AND SOON! | Murray |
| It has been over 30 years now that I have tried to speak out against this “Green” nonsense and all the while being thought of as a “climate denier”, “conspiracy theorist” and so on. Like banging your head constantly against a brick wall, using whatever real science available to make credible arguments in conversation to no avail in many cases. It is like there is a powerful delusion, a powerful magic spell that blinds most to sensible thought and recognising what is true, real and reasonable. They rather believe a lie and merrily continue in the path of assisting their own destruction. So sad. | Brian |
| People will continue to believe what the news media tell them | Paul |
| I certainly hope so, I’m sick of all that climate change BS | Laurie |
| Finally we are starting to hear common sense view points…. | Grant |
| Let’s hope it’s a huge greenlash. The lunatics pushing the climate scam need to go. | StevoC |
| I certainly hope so. | Mike |
| absolutely ! | mike |
| If it isn’t, it certainly should be. | Alan |
| I certainly hope so. Most even semi intelligent people have known about this hoax for years. Why are politicians so slow to cotton on. | Phil |
| But it is not happening quick enough. The obsession with carbon dioxide and methane while ignoring atmospheric water vapour, clouds etc is a scientific malfeacence. Stop the lies. Liberate truth and common sense. | Kevin |
| Dont believe most people are well informed on the issue | Lex |
| Although it’s a silly question. The education system needs to be changed. State media auctioned off. | John |
| It is time that the coalition government exhibited leadership and reset NZ’s legislation and directives to reflect the truth about the Green movement’s climate “drivers” as being total lies. | Craig |
| yes people are waking up that it’s all nonsense that the left use to terrorize the population. Climate Change is a farse! | Nigel |
| Future generations will see so called climate change as we view those who believed the Earth was flat. | Grant |
| Having some background in measurement sytems, the fundamental errors of misapplied chemistry measurement has been obvious. It appears to be another fear-based rhetoric to make the populace docile and compliant. I decline and welcome others to vociferous resistance! | Peter |
| Alarmists and idiots. | Sam |
| Stop spending billions of dollars on a problem that doesn’t exist | Gavin |
| I think as long as educators keep up the myth of climate change in schools, our young people will not look outside the square. | Glenda |
| No backlash is brewing in New Zealand. Infact I am confident the opposite is happening. The INDOCTRINATION of the millennials has been so successful that The Green Party are one of the few Parties still showing expansion in the political polls. The major problem we have, is the National & Labour Parties are hell-bent on riding the W.E.F. / Globalist Agenda wave. Luxon has proved that on several occasions when National Party Caucus members have dared to challenge him on matters promoted by W.E.F. NZ-First have the most realistic view on climate, & yet they gain the least in the Polls. I rest my case.. | A.G.R. |
| Climate has and will always change. What doesnt change is the amount of FEAR being planted by global elites. Change from fear to freedom by seeking the truth. Easy for some but not so easy for others! | Alan |
| I’m not absolutely sure that it is happening, but I certainly hope that it is! We have suffered more than enough of Ardern’s ecological lunacy, and really, really need a reality check. | TOBY |
| I very much hope so! | Tony |
| The Greens are out of control. | William |
| the greens have lost their way over the past few years. they are just another socialist bunch of radicals. | Sharron |
| Some people are aware of the alarmists but there is a huge number that go along with the message, like sheep to the slaughter. | Kerry |
| At last common sense seem to be prevailing | frank |
| Read the book False Alarm” Very well researched . It proves the futility of spending billions | Russ |
| No. Kiwis don’t care. They just want to watch Married at First Sight and smoke meth. | Max |
| Hope so! | Pam |
| Methane and CO2 Global Warming is a complete lie! | Valerie |
| Unfortunately not. I believe The wider general NZ public is ignorant of true climate science, and as happened with the Cvd pandemic they suck up everything MSM put out as though it were the only truth. My two little Pug dogs probably have more climate change scientific knowledge than the entire MSM combined! | Graham |
| Needs to happen faster to save the country from cataclysmic failure | David |
| Time for the truth to be told. But who in our media will dare to actually investigate and go into print.? | Elizabeth |
| That “greenlash” needs to be ramped up 100fold. Why are (some of) our politicians so brainwashed that they spout this B/S? Are they afraid of the bullies or maybe being paid to comply? | ET |
| To the young people of today, I say: “Think for yourselves, do your own research, draw your own conclusions”. In my young days, I had something far worse to think about than climate change – I had World War 2. Kevan | Kevan |
| We are coming out of the Little Ice Age 1300 to 1850, so naturally the temperature is rising. During this period the city fathers burnt witches to stop the crops failing because of the cold! We are planning to kill cows instead?? | John |
| Simply through the evidence that comes through on a daily basis, delighted that MP Mr Jones sees it in a challenging light | Warren |
| it was all media hype with no scientific back up. | merv |
| It’s not brewing, it’s already started. A lot of people, including myself, are fed up with the bullshit attached to this dialogue. It seems that basic, well known scientific principles are being overturned, making science more of a religion of faith, rather than the adherence of “facts” as they used to be known. And one more thing – if New Zealand was to sink beneath the waves tomorrow, it would make not one blind bit of difference to the world’s climate, whatever you believe | Trevor |
| However if it is the MSM are not allowing it to gain much traction for fear of having to backtrack on the ideology pushed by Labour and the Greens. | Kevin |
| NZ should consider that they are penalising their own economy by the green agenda being promoted, while the largest economies in the world are not conforming. Unless the largest economies do conform to a green agenda the human induced climate change proposal remains an impossibility and New Zealand remains a voice crying in the wind to their own detriment. It will take the entire world of industrialised nations to take action to eliminate any rise in atmospheric pollution. Until then New Zealand will burn at the stake of its own fire. | terrence |
| Not fast enough though. | Terry |
| they need to protest about something | Rod |
| Yes,I do but the younger bgenerations are very caught up still with Greta Histrionic Thunberg and her slogan shouting. | Janet |
| Not yet, but it needs to. | Malcolm |
| I certainly hope so. It is about time past so called factual relationships betweed CO2 and methane are updated to the more recent and more factual relationships. Otherwise we are going to deverstate our farming income based on outdated and incorrect data. | Keith |
| The information that the Greens and the left have portrayed over the last 6 years is false and misleading, showing no ability to research scientific reasoning from credible scientists . It is time the factual statistics are used by the new coalition govt- so every day New Zealanders understand the wasteful spending and economical disasters that could face this country | John |
| And about time too! | shane |
| The politicians either believe the alarmist rhetoric or they don’t, if they don’t why is there a delay in shutting down the cult and saving taxpayers money. Being a new government intent on fixing the economy I wouldn’t expect any slow walking on the subject. | Rex |
| Get rid of all the stupid politics around the issue of climate. Let the farmers continue their world class food production. Keep on with oil production with its unlimited benefits for the human race and developing nations locked into poverty and primitive living conditions. Not only is climate a scam but an illusion and madness that needs to be rooted out of society. Thank you for summary, look also to the work of Ole Humlum for a categorical rejection of any human influence on global warming and on the parlous state of the surrounding science. | Peter |
| So called Global warming/climate change is a huge rort. One volcano erupting puts more toxic gases into the atmosphere than mankind has done since its existence. Maybe all the climate alarmists need to stop jetting around the world to their climate conferences and walk to them instead. | Wayne |
| At last | Evans |
| The perpetrators of this nonsense need to wake up and get real. There are far more important things to spend our money on than Climate BS | Chris |
| Greenlash long overdue. | John |
| I really, really, really hope so | Larry |
| Unfortunately the last government let the genii out of the bottle on many fronts and it’s not going to be easy to put it back! | Dominic |
| I am one of them, this government is still to pinky, 3 waters bullshit, climate bullshit, you name it we are still been feed bullshit. For me I can’t wait until a hard core right wing party comes about, then moves into wellington, we have had 40 years of neoliberal socialism rammed down our throats with no real gain for our country? | Sven |
| The media are too quick to cancel any serious discussion about climate change. Most NZers are oblivious to the problem our greenies and Adern/Hopkins lovers have created. It’s going to take a lot more debate and truth from our journalists. | Kevin |
| Yes. Had a gutsfull of alarmism! | Bruce |
| I damned well hope so. How long can people be so daft as to conclude that our cows are a problem. They have sustained the world population since Adam was in short pants and suddenly some academic maniac has declared our beautiful cows No 1 enemy. How bizarre! How absolutely bizarre and as stupid as stupid can be. I am delighted that populations are realizing they have been hoodwinked BIGTIME by their dopey naivety. | Dianna |
| I sincerely hope so. Someone will have to get to the news media to report both sides first, though. | Graeme |
| but not fast enough | warwick |
| Seems overly-optimistic to me. And while the whole climate change thing is way over-egged, there’s no doubt that warming is happening. And to the extent that’s linked to emissions, even if only in a minor way, the ETS is far and away the best means of tackling it. Trying to shoot that down is an own goal. | Coker |
| Its a slow brew here but it is becoming apparent that people are now willing to listen to alternatives to the climate alarmism | Alan |
| The population has grown understandably sceptical of computer modelling. | Mark |
| Never believed in it anyway just a money making venture for some and recking our country | Barbara |
| People appear to be waking up. We are being fed bias BS. | Chris |
| We still have too many people so scared to think otherwise. The narrative has been sold so cleverly that they will not look at the real science | Rod |
| Unfortunately, Owen forgot to mention that the major source of Methane is from undersea natural gas leaks ,marshes all over the planet as well as rubbish tips. | Gary |
| While I’d support a greenlash’ as I have long understood climate con is a Trojan horse for globalist policies and as such a lie, I see little evidence of a grassroots fight back against climate nonsense. There are still a vast majority of people who believe the braying of the media, the brainless prattling of ill-informed politicians and the raving of enviro commie zealots who lie about the issue. | John |
| Hopefully | David |
| I bloody well hope so… but why has Commissioner Simon Upton been silent for so long? All through his service during the long Labour/Green years. | Peter |
| It’s clear that climate change has been grossly over promoted | Bruce |
| would really like to believe that | anthony |
| As more people realise the science was not “in” and we have been conned into paying a heavy price for our climate zealotry then the backlash will grow, nothing more certain. | Geoff |
| Look back on history | Lynne |
| The Earth’s climate change is in constant flux. Volcanic eruption, the sun etc. These are all out of our human control. This is just yet another scam to get more money out of the public and stress the public with more unfounded fears. | Heather |
| And about time | Rodger |
| needs to happen | Colin |
| YES,it is happening now and my friends and neighbors now agree that after the 2021 climate change figures were wrong it was just one BIG LIE. Our Govt must be forced through public opinion to stop this sham and misinformation NOW ,before we become totally broke. | John |
| In real scientific circles it’s long been known there is no climate emergency and there never was. The Coalition Govt must show some guts and throw this BS in the bin and show the leadership New Zealand is reknown for worldwide | Peter |
| I believe there is some change occurring. The “Green” claim that sea levels are rising (unqualified), Co2 emissions will be the death of the planet and so on, and the UN spouting forth that we need to act with urgency, is unsupported by accurate information. Yes we can do some things to clean up our environment but some of the proposals being inflicted on us, to say the least are nothing short of rubbish. | chris |
| Yes most definitely. The smartest of the woke brigade have seen through the deceit and outright BS and have reevaluated their position. I see and hear this in my younger relo’s. The hour is late and I still fear for the future. | Ray |
| A “greenlash ” against climate alarmism is definitely brewing. N.Z. should decouple from the Paris Climate Accord (actually a treaty) and rightfully govern its own house and do what is right for the nation. Order in the universe which the climate is a part of, is not open to question – only the man-made is. Read “The Metaphysical versus The Man-Made” on the Von Mises website. A great essay on fundamentals. | Donald |
| Lets hope so | A |
| IF not it should be and more often We are being treated like mushroome | Arthur |
| Sure hope so .I would join it willingly | David |
| The so called climate models have always been false. Net zero is a farce and a total waste of money and resources. | Jo |
| At last someone who has a brain thinking about the absurdity of climate extremism. Please ensure the government read this and take notice. | Alastair |
| Man made climate change-the biggest HOAX the world has ever seen!!! | Derek |
| And May it intensify and open the eyes of blinkered acacadamia to their unscientific folly which is costing all of us dearly | Phil |
| I have not believed in Global warming at all, check out a bit of previous history. | Allan |
| People are beginning to understand the socialist agenda of promoting alarm and panic in the population to gain total control | Frank |
| It is the biggest ponzu scheme around | Jim |
| Let’s hope that common sense and good science rids NZ of the Jacinda parasite and scare-mongering. | Hugh |
| I just hope that the greenies are looking at the recent research | Andrew |
| I certainly hope so! | Barbara |
| I certainly hope that to be the case. It has gone on far too long. | Sally |
| About bloody time | Dennis |
| The coalition leaders need to act immediately against the globalists agenda and lies about climate change. We need to remove NZ from WEF, WHO, UN and any other agency that is sucking the lifeblood out of our fragile economy especially our farmers. Its all lies and its about time NZ stood up against the tyranny of these self elected global elites who think they can bully the world into submitting to their greed and evil agendas. | Deb |
| But not enough yet. | Sanuel |
| I hope so! | Errol |
| I hope so as the ‘woke’ brigade are getting too much airtime. | Gerry |
| What emergency??!!?? | Brian |
| Please! Oh please! Allow commonsense to prevail. | Michael |
| Its only the tree hugging few making all the noise, blocking motorways and messing with the environment when they spray planes and ancient monuments with orange paint | Laurie |
| Its really hard to predict this. I just think we should do our best to look after the planet. Perhaps the problem is our destruction of trees not trying to control gas emissions | Michael |
| Its a nutty theory promoted by the likes of Al Gore etc. Plant photosynthesis during the day takes in Carbon Dioxide’ and gives out Oxygen, grass does that as well as trees. At night the process reverses taking in Oxygen and giving off Carbon Dioxide. Planting more trees etc does nothing to reduce Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. The whole climate thing is one big con job. NZ should get out of the Paris accord and other quango organisations and chart our own path in this world. Become energy independent, produce Oil, Coal and Natural gas and sell to the developing world. | Kevin |
| Its hard to believe it has taken this long given the expense and subsequent inaction on more important issues | Stanley |
| Yes, people are now aware that huge deception, has been used against them… Pandemic, war, climate hoax, A.I surveilence, Tsunami of TRUTH.. about to hit, we are AT WAR NOW !! | David |
| What a horrendous waste of taxpayer money & stress on our farmers. There is no point in New Zealand doing anything about this bullshit global warming nonsense & even if it is real the major culprits would be China, India & the USA. | David |
| Climate change is being run by people who use false statistics to ‘prove’ anything they disapprove of. Let’s STOP THIS NONSENSE! NOW!!!! | SYLVIA |
| This is what Ive believed (with common sense!) all along. Our taxpayer dollars going into the deep dark hole in Paris and started by Marxist Ardern and her cohorts, is a travesty of lunatic proportions. Climate and Covid with their massive international economic ramifications are their primary weapons of control. | Catherine |
| wish it would speed up!! | James |
| Common sense will prevail. | Graeme |
| The Volcanos that erupt cause the majority of the adverse weather we experience. However th Green House theory suits those that benefit from it. It is total garbage. | Elaine |
| Anyone can look up percentages of the 4 most common gagses in the atmosphere. CO2 is a tiny 4th. Without CO2 plants could not respire, releasing O2 for animals (humans), who in turn respite CO2. Cosmic rays may be a factor in climate turmoil but not food- producers. Common sense | Deb |
| It is clearly obvious we have been bullshitted by the many climate fanatics. The article makes it very clear that the effects of CO2 and methane have been grossly exaggerated to suit / support the claims of these climate change fanatics, contrary to the reality of the situation and to the major / severe detriment of ourselves . Government must make an urgent and much more informed reassessment of the situation and reposition our stance on climate change accordingly . | Hugh |
| Hopefully more and more NEW ZEALANDERS are awakening from Jacinda’s nightmare and WILL join a “greenlash”. Wake up and save our wonderful Country and our hard working Farmers – they don’t need all this “BULLSH T”. | Brian |
| Most definitely | John |
| The sooner the better | Roger |
| Oh boy! I hope to live to see that woman hoist on her own petard. In court preferably. | Jenny |
| This nonsense has to stop. Mother nature will look after itself without the interference of the loony squad | Tom |
| I would like to see a backlash but there is little evidence of one to date Judy | Judy |
| No – because the majority of NZers are apathetic and the current government are not putting words into action. Our children are not being taught to think for themselves but to believe the inaccuracies they are being indoctrinated with. | Dianne |
| The more these exposures of incorrect to previously false information occur, the greater the backlash – especially when it becomes obvious that our govt and others of influence have not allowed for updated facts, even when the update is from the IPCC no less. | Barry |
| The BS is becoming obvious to everyone! | Andy |
| Drom beats for political purposes only and for no gain. | john |
| If the evidence I have just read is to be believed the Government have a job to do. I for one will back any decisions they make. | Dennis |
| But it has existed for a long time; just not been reported. For our size, monies should be spent on preparedness, in the event of storm damage and drought. These weather events have occurred for decades, but are now becoming more frequent and out of season. The shouting voices in the room are being replaced with much more sensible, appropriate and workable proposals. | David |
| It is becoming obvious that we are being conned. | Ian |
| Absolutely. Can’t believe it’s taken so long for people to wake up to this B.S. I think our current economic mess has largely been caused by this green idiocy | Dave |
| i sincerely hope so!! The appalling waste of Govt funds on this stupidity should be halted immediately. It has been an exercise in futility and the truth is becoming more apparent. | don |
| Not that you would know if only consuming news from legacy media | Glenn |
| I don’t believe it is but boy it should be !! | Stuart |
| There is NO doubt that the world is having climate issues with extremes in temperature and adverse weather in most of the world, causing calamities. So, we need to look at the reasons and what can be done to improve these situations. New Zealand has been mostly sheltered from the most severe climate issues, but we only need to look to the USA and Saudia Arabia with the destruction of land and loss of life from severe temperature levels. We can put our heads in the sand and look the other way, but the reality is look what happened in Hawkes Bay. It can and will happen here too. | Alan |
| We have all been brainwashed – over the last 30 years. | Andy |
| Common sense will prevail eventually | Beverley |
| I certainly hope so! Never believed the alarmism in the first place – lots of friends have been horrified at my stand! | Jan |
| We should have ditched climate panic years ago.. Sadly so many people were greenwashed, when reality said otherwise. There is not enough questioning of political comments or involved science from all corners | Al |
| Stop wasting taxpayer money ! | Henk |
| I certainly hope so. We do not have the financial resources to waste on ridiculous luxury beliefs. CO2 is life, not pollution | davidf |
| I said NO as I believe people are SLOWLY coming to their senses, BUT just like the so called “Pandemic” when we were mostly led by the nose ring, Not Enough, not quickly enough and not in big enough numbers | Tray |
| When people wake up and discover REAL science, rather than listening to bought and paid for scientists, they learn the truth. The climate crisis is a hoax. | Grant |
| Green party is freeloading upon taxpayers by alarmist falsehoods and exaggerations, not practicing what they preach when not out shoplifting and law breaking with immigrants visas. income by deception. | mike |
| long overdue!! | Giles |
| too much vested interest to accept the facts | John |
| hopefully it will gather speed very quickly.. We have wasted far too much money already. | david |
| There should be a backlash, but I don’t think there is one at the moment. | Bill |
| Yes there is Climate Change, but human cause is unproven or insignificant. The new movie freely available on UTube CLIMATE CHANGE THE COLD TRUTH is a must watch and should be spread widely. All the while MSM continues to block any debate or contrary narrative. | Gerard |
| I certainly hope so 🙂 | Ken |
| About time some common sense prevailed. Some fossil fuel use is necessary, otherwise we can’t feed our populations nor maintain our standard of living in a modern & progressive world. The recent carbon trading schemes promoted world wide are a complete & utter nonsense. | Greg |
| But if not, it should be! The untruth told by supposed learned persons is nothing but a jumble of unsustainable and unproven detail. It is destroying this country’s primary produce sector, and against the Paris Agreement of ‘not to affect food produce.’ Sooner this nonsense is put to rest, the better. | Robyn |
| Why, because we are slow learners | Pete |
| Stupid greens have known about this for years. | Arthur |
| Of course it is!! As logic finally wins out and NetZero garbage is finally killed off in Europe so we will begin surely to realize what a gigantic con the whole thing has been. | Roger |
| a continuing deceptive attack against capitalism and progress I am thankful the scientific fight back | graham |
| The climate is not “man” made. Goverments need to build to manage climate events, especially floods, get better run off, don’t build on clifftops etc. | jJim |
| Yes! I believe most people are waking up to the lies, and the distorted facts. It’s all part of the plan to enslave us! The old maxim applies “follow the money” the rich get richer and we become enslaved! But more need to wake up to this nonsense, so we can ditch the wef,who,un and other parasitic organisations! | peter |
| Most definately. The Greens aren’t prepared to accept facts. | John |
| About time | Mike |
| Brewing, just not fast enough. | Kahn |
| Climate catastrophism is a dangerous myth based on a discredited hypothesis that deliberately excludes natural variability. The misallocation of resources it has caused is criminal. | Trevor |
| It needs to get very vocal and loud. | Wayne |
| Not yet….. population too slow to cotton on. Be careful you do not FART… | Gill |
| The greenlash has always been there, it just doesn’t get heard; Thanks to media, again. Thankfully the tide is changing. | James |
| I’d like to but I’ve seen little practical evidence of it. Kiwis are typically at the arse end of most global policy. Among the last to follow it – which can be a good thing – and among the last to ditch it. Unfortunately, as a country we have a bad track record of following the crowd, despite ample evidence negating some global policies. Our media and most of our politicians still buy into the climate change scam so I don’t see anything changing short-term here. | Derek |
| About time we started to be realistic and stop the scare tactics. | John |
| Very slowly and would be quicker if the indoctrination of children could be stopped. | pdm |
| Still a Yes possibility BUT Joe blow public are still brainwashed by mainstream media. I don’t know how many of them have actually have engaged their brains. I live in hope of YES to a back lash. | Jill |
| Yes. Yes. A bit brilliant newsletter that needs to be shared | RICHard |
| We should be dealing with hard facts and science and decisions made accordingly. The Green economic vandals have had their day in the sun, now time to fade into the dark abyss from which they emerged. | Chris |
| I notice a growing awareness particularly after the Covid alarmism woke people up to the power of media propaganda in support of the oligarchs%u2019 agenda. | Lee |
| I hope so. | Bill |
| I hope and pray this is so. | Allan |
| It is still very much in the early stages but it is brewing! | Peter |
| methane is an inflammable gas how can it survive in an environment along with so many forms of ignition , lightning jet plans bush fires ect its all bull. | Noel |
| yes | Wiremu |
| I agree and we’ll overdue but one cannot deny that we have damaged the environment and reduced many wildlife species to dangerous levels. Chemical pesticides are a threat to water ways and to humans. We must not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I question your comment on “natural” farming when tonnes of fertilisers are thrown onto paddocks. | John |
| Until the media and politicians stop promoting climate alarmism and base decisions on facts nothing will change. | Roger |
| The global warming claim is a scam pushed by extremist socialists scaremongering. Te reo Luxon needs to take the lead and dismiss this rubbish. Climate changes constantly, courtesy of nature, not of man. | Gavin |
| I certainly hope people have had enough of the alarmist “global warming” rubbish. Sure, we can clean up the waterways and any other harmful things we do, but – man against nature? No contest. | Sheila |
| Thank you Dr Newman. As usual I thoroughly enjoyed this your latest column. | Erin |
| naturally increasing temperature is a part mod govalwarming | George |
| I sincerely hope so !! | Bruce |
| The sooner it actually happens the better it will be! In fact it is imperative that it happens!! | Ron |
| Such fallacy against climste change is a waste Of monies! | Dominique Greenslade |
| The sooner the better !!! | Geoffrey |
| Wrest back control from the left wing green idiots. | Shaun |
| Maybe starting. Not enough people getting the messages however as news media are captured by the fanatics. | Graham |
| Only with those who have a modicum of intellect and challenge the obviously skewed data. The rest are sheep! | Martin |
| I don’t think it is yet. New Zealand tends to lack behind the rest of the western world in these things | Roy |
| Very slowly, our education system has brainwashed a generation. | Peter |
| It is an established scientific fact that warming and cooling of our planet are cyclic events over which we have no control.. We need to plan to mitigate damage caused by these fluctuations, but we can’t do anything to change them. | Rod |
| Alarmism is fostered by those who want power over others | Ken |
| I certainly hope so. The Greens blind insistance on “kill the farming industry” has already done far too much damage. Time to rethink. | Robbie |
| And the sooner the better | Andrew |
| It’s just commonsense, stop the nonsense! | Craig |
| I have to hold onto the hope that this c;imate madness will come to an end – and soon. I sense a change happening as people who were once very vocal have gone quiet. The damage financially, ecnomically and emotionally has been devastating for the country. . | sally |
| Any greenlash is not very apparent, should be promoted in media | Gareth |
| Why dont the climatists include ALL greenery in their calculations instead of only using Forrests above 3mtrs in height | Allan |
| send to the politicians | ian |
| just another tax grabbing scam | Greg |
| Should be. | Alec |
| Sigh…Here we go agin by trotting out the same old question , despite at least one government in my life time s having campaigned on removing the maori seats; but then not doing so.. WHEN will those elected to do a job, actually do it? | Vernon |
| I think that what is growing is an overwhelming tiredness with what people see as endless and apparently solution-less problems be they weather or war. The situation is like the dying days of the Weimar Republic where horrors like Hitler or Trump pose as saviours, and people listen. | Alan |
| Let’s hope this happens soon, before they kill a lot of animals. And we need to stop the Chemtrails I see everyday that are poisoning the air. | Larry |
| Let’s hope this is happening or our future is looking very gloomy | Bryan |
| The blinkers are finally coming off. | Michael |
| Yes and not before time. The damage done to our economy is immense and all this nonsense needs to stopped. Unfortunately I think Luxon believes in the woke ‘Climate Change’ crap. Someone needs to get through to National that it’s all baloney. | Simon |
| I strongly agree with your comments in this Time for a Reality Check article. The growing ‘greenlash’ against the climate control extremists heralds a return to sanity here and around the world. | Peter |
| As a FORMER active Greens supporter, for several years totally opposed to their now fascist direction, I am becoming more and more convinced the climate change issue is partially made up, and part of the new era of controlling the inhabitants of Earth. At my age, I’ll likely never discover the truth. | Colin |
| Long over due common sense needs to return. | John |
| Not before time! | Bryan |
| Actually, I’m not certain but I hope it is! | Duncan |
| Common Since has to prevail.I believe the average Kiwi could see through this Nonsense from the left.Who have never generated a profit in there own Business & had to pay the wages.DREAMERS!!! | Michael |
| And it’s been growing for some time. This Climate alarmism is all part of the WEF Globalist dystopian Agenda to depopulate and destabilize Countries with the one objective in mind of CONTROL !! | Geoff |
| It is a pity that New Zealanders are turning their back on good science. We ignore climate change at our peril. | John |
| OH YES. | Dick |
| we are finally realising we have been conned!!! | Rob |
| I do hope so! Time to stop wasting money on obvious false ideology. | Pamela |
| I hope so. Unfortunately too many of our children are still hoodwinked. And it often surprises me how often I have to have the conversation with adults. Unfortunately as some journalists have said “Fear sells.” | Catherine |
| time for the negative greenhouse thinkers to truly look at history in regard to changes in the earth and sea, and the natural causes | jenny |
| For sure can’t believe any normal thinking intelligent person would believe the nonsense that we were fed the money that’s been wasted on this rubbish is staggering | Peter |
| And about time | David |
| It was absolute lunacy right from the start | chris |
| Let planet Earth evolve on it’s own choatic programs, as it always has and focus on the Well Being of Humanity …. | Chris |
| I certainly hope so, and it starts to reverse the ridiculous amount of money being spent on meeting the ludicrous targets based on false science. | Roseanne |
| I can only but hope it is. Commonsense must prevail surely? | Richard |
| Yes, but the government are more interested in grandstanding than in REAL science . | Ross |
| I certainly hope the green lash is real. For too long now we have been fed lies about the causes of climate change. This government better start moving in the right direction to get our natural resources up and running again. | Gifford |
| about time | nevkath |
| Would like to think so. The sooner the better! | Peter |
| At least I darn well hope so! It’s total madness to be spending time and money on this nonsense when it’s so badly needed elsewhere! | Brenda |
| I certainly hope so. It is time that we recognize this madness for what it is in reality.: nothing but a malignent plan to re distribute wealth from us th a very few and at the same time give away any chance of being able to have input into what ought to be a democratic , socially balanced and humane system. The UN and the WEF and associated gangs ( that’s what they are in reality) have to be exposed . . We have to cancel any association with that lot and team up with all leaders out there on the world stage who oppose everything connected with these gangs. | Michael |
| That the coalition has not adopted the correct methane levels is appalling. | Allan |
| I certainly hope so! The argument against climate change is just as compelling but one is condemned for saying so. | Tim |
| Unfortunately, politics, media bias as well as the green ‘education’ influence on a whole naive generation is swamping any attempt at sanity. | George |
| ……and not before time…… | robin |
| About time. | Graham |
| I certainly hope so. The sooner we wake up to this fraud the better. | jeff |
| Our little country cannot afford to allow these nutty policies | Vivien |
| I certainly hope so. It’s time people woke up to the Climate Alarmist SCAM. | Peter |
| Imagine if revenue from this hoax dried up. | Doug |
| Yes, but it is still in the very early stages | Ken |
| Absolutely! The whole global warming agenda is a scam. Nature controls the climate not man. | David |
| Yes it is time National did the right thing on climate change. They might be surprised by the level of support they would receive – as many parties were in the European elections. | Murray |
| The persecution of farmers is horrendous. Thank you Owen for outlining it all so clearly. All power to you and your supporters. | Penny |
| The whole climate change campaign is aimed at scaring the public. Kiwis need to get on top of the science and realise they are being conned. There is no man made climate problem. The only problem is a political one – socialists have seized control of the agenda and the only way they can keep it is by scaring the public more and more. It is a shocking situation. | Simon |
| The public have had a guts full of the media’s continual hype claiming the world is about to end. People are simply turning off. And the teachers need to be held to account too, teaching kids to be afraid of the future because the planet is going to fry is irresponsible in the extreme. | Ian |