Standing up to bullies takes courage. That’s true, whether it’s in a school playground, workplace, or a home. Politics is no different. It takes courage to stand up to ideological bullies, especially those with roots in extremist doctrines that are well organised and have strong links to supportive media.
The feminist movement is one such group. Their key goal is the destruction of the patriarchal married family. Major progress towards that goal was made in the seventies when Norman Kirk’s Labour Government was persuaded to introduce the Domestic Purposes Benefit. By giving a secure State income to mothers – conditional upon them bringing up their children on their own, without the help of fathers – the feminists incentivised decades of family breakdown and fatherlessness.
With statistics clearly showing that sole parenthood and fatherlessness are significant contributors to child abuse and neglect, replacing the DPB with support based on work, was one of the key recommendations of the Welfare Working Group – established by National in 2010 to advise the Government on welfare reform. Their advice however, was rejected and instead, the policy – which was tweaked and renamed Sole Parent Support – continues to put children at risk.
When US President Bill Clinton became aware of the danger to children of their stand-alone sole parent benefit in the nineties, he ordered it to be replaced with obligations based on work. In doing so he improved the outcomes of millions of American children and their mothers.
With almost no other countries having in place a policy which is so dangerous for women and children, it’s a tragic state of affairs when no politicians have the courage to stand up to the feminist bullies and call for reform.
Another group of ideological bullies are biculturalists. Their goal of Maori rule is being achieved through the implementation of anti-Government bicultural policies throughout the public service.
The Maori seats in Parliament are their power base. These race-based reserved seats were introduced on a temporary basis in the 1860s to ensure that Maori men could vote. But instead of being removed upon the introduction of universal suffrage, they were retained.
The 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System recommended abolishing the Maori seats if MMP was introduced. But while the MMP Bill tabled in Parliament by Jim Bolger’s National Government removed the Maori seats, the Party caved in to the biculturalists’ demands – not only retaining the seats, but changing the system to enable the numbers to increase from four back then to seven!
At the present time, no party appears prepared to stand up to the bicultural bullies, by promising to hold a binding public referendum on removing the Maori seats in Parliament.
A third group of powerful ideological bullies is the environmental lobby. Many of the extremists within this group are said to have migrated there from other socialist causes. In particular they have seized on climate change and “saving the planet” as the vehicle for achieving their communist ends of curtailing economic freedom and progress.
Like the other groups, they are well-organised and have powerful friends in very high places, who continue to promote their alarmist claims – in spite of real-life evidence to the contrary.
Over the years, New Zealand politicians have pledged to confront these ideological bullies with their dangerous agendas – such as when National promised to abolish the Maori seats during the 2008 and 2011 election campaigns. But time and time again when they are in power and in a position to make the changes necessary, they lack the political courage to follow through.
That’s what makes US President Donald Trump stand out – love him or hate him, he is ignoring the shrill demands of the extremists by delivering on his campaign pledges to the American people to put America first.
His latest move has been to stand up to the environmental lobby and fulfil his promise to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Accord. In announcing this development, President Trump said:
“One by one, we are keeping the promises I made to the American people during my campaign for President… we’re following through on our commitments. And I don’t want anything to get in our way. I am fighting every day for the great people of this country. Therefore, in order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord but begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris Accord or a really entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers. So we’re getting out. But we will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair. And if we can, that’s great. And if we can’t, that’s fine.”
He explained that the Paris Climate Accord undermined the wellbeing of American citizens by disadvantaging the US “to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers – who I love – and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production”.
He said the US would immediately cease implementing “the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country”, including ending contributions to “the Green Climate Fund which is costing the United States a vast fortune”.
The Green Climate Fund’s objective is to collect US$100 billion from richer countries to redistribute to poorer ones. The promise of this money was instrumental in persuading many of the almost 200 nations to sign up to the Paris Accord. But officials have already signalled that $100 billion a year will not be enough and they are looking at increasing their demands to $450 billion a year by 2020.
The President outlined how the energy restrictions of Paris Accord could cost America as many as 2.7 million lost jobs by 2025 – leading to “the further decimation of vital American industries on which countless communities rely”. This would put the US at a major disadvantage to other large economies like China and India that have no plans to restrain growth.
While the Paris Accord was promoted as a mechanism to save the planet, by requiring countries to lower greenhouse gas production to keep the global temperature rise from 2020 to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – with a goal of 1.5 degrees – its real aim is to curb economic growth and redistribute wealth.
James Hansen, a former Nasa scientist who is considered to be a ‘father’ of climate change, called the Paris Accord a fraud: “It’s a fraud really, a fake. It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words.”
Former Vice President Al Gore, who claimed in his movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, that catastrophic human-induced global warming would destroy the planet by 2016, has described the Paris Accord as ‘symbolic’ – sending “a very powerful signal to business and industry and civil society, and countries around the world.”
So what will withdrawing from the Paris Accord mean for the US?
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, Professor Richard Epstein of the New York University Law School, has examined the implications and believes President Trump has done the right thing:
“The Trump administration has bit the bullet, and to the outraged dismay of the political left has withdrawn from the Paris accord. That agreement, which went into effect on November 4, 2016, just days before Donald Trump’s election is a complex affair in which the United States made the key ‘voluntary’ commitment to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions in the next decade by about a quarter of their 2005 rate, with further reductions to come thereafter. At the recent meeting of the G-7, Trump was the lone holdout against a ringing endorsement of the agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, joined by a cast of thousands, has denounced Trump and the United States for leaving the fold.
“The President’s instincts were spot on. Notwithstanding the furore, he was right to withdraw the United States from the accord… I see no gain in having the United States participate in a treaty that combines bad science with bad economics. In the long run, the United States will gain in both wealth and influence if it adopts a more restrained approach to climate change. It is fortunate that President Trump did not let himself be scolded to move in a fashionable but unsound direction.”
Through his actions, the President put American jobs ahead of the Paris Accord.
This raises serious questions about the priorities of our Government. Why are they not putting Kiwi living standards and New Zealand’s economic future ahead of posturing on the world stage to impress the environmental movement?
Why is $1 billion a year being allocated in the Budget for the big black hole of climate change, when communities are crying out for more Police and better access to health care?
Most of that funding is associated with the bureaucratic Emissions Trading Scheme, which is New Zealand’s main policy for addressing climate change. Under that scheme, industries – including transport and electricity – buy carbon credits to pay for the cost of their greenhouse gases. However, the cost of this effective ‘tax’ on emissions is passed on to consumers, forcing up the price of all New Zealand goods and services, and putting increasing pressure on household budgets.
Signing up to the Paris Accord will make things a whole lot worse. National has now committed New Zealand to cut man-made greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent of 1990 levels by 2030 – that’s 30 percent below 2005 levels. Achieving this goal without compromising economic growth and reducing living standards will be impossible given that almost half of all New Zealand’s emissions come from livestock, and the only way to reduce those is to cut stock numbers. Further, with most of our electricity generated from renewable resources, the opportunity to reduce emissions in that sector is limited.
As a result, under the Government’s plan, only 20 percent of New Zealand’s Paris target will met by reducing domestic emissions – namely through phasing in electric cars – with the other 80 percent to be met by forcing businesses to buy carbon credits from overseas.
According to documents released under the Official Information Act, the cost to the economy of buying international carbon credits to meet Paris targets will be $1.4 billion a year. This represents a significant transfer of Kiwi wealth overseas, leaving New Zealand highly exposed to any increase in global carbon prices.
In effect, thanks to Paris, the total cost of climate change policy to the New Zealand economy will be a staggering $2 billion a year – similar to the cost of running New Zealand’s Defence Forces.
Whereas in the US, President Trump is putting America and its people ahead of an international agreement that would undermine their economy, our Government – in order to keep the environmental lobby happy – plans on wasting billions of dollars on a socialist scheme that will damage the economy, reduce living standards, and cost jobs, while doing nothing for the climate.
This is a price households will pay for politicians who lack fortitude.
With the election fast approaching, now more than ever, we need our politicians to find the courage to stand up to the ideological bullies who are damaging our future with their disastrous agendas.
Will any political leader have the courage to stand up to feminists by announcing plans to remove government incentives to break up families?
Is there a leader prepared to stand up to biculturalists, by not only removing their anti-Government propaganda from the public service, but by calling for a nation-wide public referendum to abolish the Maori seats?
And will any political leader be prepared to take a stand against the environmentalists and say no to reducing our living standards by pulling out of Paris – and abolishing the ETS?
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Should New Zealand follow the lead of the US and withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| There is no way that paying a dollar to govt will change the climate. A UN rort! | Allan |
| Given that Dangerous Anthropogenic Global Warming is based on provably bad science & is now more of a religion, we should not have a bar of it! It is palpable nonsense! And yet our schoolkids are fed it day in & day out. It really has to be brought down! Likewise, the two other items listed. | David |
| NZ needs to play it’s small part in reducing emissions. | Graham |
| A ludicrous idea. We would be shunned internationally as the USA is now. | Nolan |
| NIWA announced in the back pages of the NZ herald a couple of months ago the our South Island forests absorb 80% more carbon than previously thought. If that is the case why are we giving away $1.4 billion a year. | Alan |
| Would that the Nats had the courage to do so | catherine |
| Climate change has been based on false science and is a rort financially. The cost to NZ is prohibitive for no benefit. | Tom |
| Carbondioxide is a colourless, odourless, trace molecule, essential for all life on earth. More of it would be better than less of it. That our Government thinks it can change the climate by taxing us is rediculous. I hope those making these decisions to reduce the wealth of NZ live long enough, to witness the damage they are/will cause by being puppets of the green lobby. | Murray |
| The new Conservative Party leader Leighton Baker is one who would speak up, and the party policy statements cover at least 2 or the 3 questions posed at the close of last weeks letter. www.conservativeparty.org.nz/ have a look at their policy statements. | Ted |
| Definitely! I say if we want to diminish mankind’s aiding of global change, if we are responsible at all. stop destroying the planet’s forests! I recall an international geographic magazine one picture of the Amazon jungle taken from outer space, and in that one photograph was 2700 forest fires! | Kevan |
| But do it quietly, or simply ignore financial requests. Imagine spending that money on planting native forests… | Andrew |
| Bill English needs an Xray to find his spine.. Paula Bennett looks stupid and almost embarrassed(as she should) every time she talks about the Paris agreement. We have very few politicians with fortitude, Judith Collins, Winston Peters we’ll have to see, I’d love to see a Trump. Excellent newsletter on Standing up to Bullies however I would put the biculturalists first as they destroy this country with their Maori mumbo-jumbo. | Monica |
| Many twisted facts when it comes to climate, particularly in Al Gore’s movie. His graphs changed in the middle Y. | JC |
| go donald trump | dave |
| And that will happen – NOT!! | Caro |
| Buying carbon credits doesnt reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we must work at it ourselves instead of buying other peoples efforts. | Graham |
| I am very unhappy that major decisions costing zillions are being played out without conclusive evidence. Plus the deliberate continual misinformation from the press. | Maurice |
| Absolutely, I don’t see any global warming so therefore I think they are nuts. Then to penalize us because some dick head signed us up to it is deeply annoying. | Eric |
| The known cost is huge. The benefits are a best guess. I agree that there must be some other motive for the Paris agreement. We should stay away. | Graham |
| Time our politicians got some guts – get rid of the scams. | dona |
| Most definitely yes. This is a money grabbing CON TRICK. Paying carbon credits will never stop carbon emissions. | Graeme |
| I am so fed up with greenies discrediting agricultural practices by making unproven claims that cows are destroying the planet with their emissions. This is B S! because the grass that they eat absorbs the emissions through a process called photosynthesis which is wot we all learned at school. | Brian |
| I fear a wasted vote but Govt needs to be made aware of our feelings in this Carbon Credit racket. | |
| Absolutely YES. Glo9bal Warming/Climate Change is an absolute fallacy, created by the outgoing Helen Clark Labour Govt to create new wealth aquisition paths for the wealthy investors of NZ. | MervB |
| Once you declare that carbon dioxide is a poison everything that follows is misleading. We need more CO2! | Howard |
| This whole debarcle created by IPPCC’s pseudo science as a pathway for governments globally to charge pollution taxes and pay out ridiculous carbon credits for what…..junk science? Enough of this crazy socialist BS, I reckon nature will have it’s say soon with the coming of the next Ice Age! | Bruza |
| If this was true science it would be different but it ain’t, note the cyclic nature of the planet’s weather which accounts for today. Stuff all part-Maori IWI (I Want It) gaining what Europeans have bought to NZ & for wanting Stone Age myths | Carol |
| The creator of the weather channel in the US put it succinctly in an interview disseminated on youtube. Graduates in the climate field looking for jobs either jump on the climate change train and adhere to the discredited dogma or their job prospects are zero. Mature and tenured scientists whose jobs are more secure are more free to rubbish this junk science. Al Gore is a monumental hypocrite whose carbon footprint from his 5 mansions and jet-setting lifestyle would keep a small town in energy. The Paris Accord is looking at a .3 of a degree drop in temperature by 2020. This is utterly meaningless and one needs to look at who is behind this rort.It would appear the tin hat conspiracy theorists are quite right in their belief that this is a communist plot initiated by the secret banks to introduce a new world order and reduce the quality of life of every human being from now and into the future. | charles russell |
| The commitments under the Paris accord will only get us part way to the necessary reductions in greenhouse, but at least they are a start! Physics isn’t going to wait while Trump and his cronies procrastinate. Frankly most of the comments here are ignorant drivel! | Keith |
| Have some guts National | Kerry |
| The Sahara desert which formed and changed over 7 million years, is showing greening at its edges . This desert-shrinking trend, some predict may return conditions that turned the Sahara into a lush savanna some 12,000 years ago. And then about 6000 years ago climate change apparently saw the collapse of the Sumerian civilisation, in the Mesopotamis, and the return to desertification of Sahara. This was all well before the regressive Prgressives and the Antifa went to approved education systems and knew that climate started in 1958 or a little earlier. Now we have barbarians at the gate, and barbarians inside the gate . If Western society does not collapse it may be that in a few generations we will achieve broad recognition just what mercenary and social %u201Cscientists %u201C have given the world.. | paul |
| Absolutely.. total scam! | Brian |
| But no politician will do this with an approaching election. We have been convincingly indoctrinated about anthropomorphic climate change. To disagree now would be to risk criticism or worse, ridicule. This is something that we individually and as a nation would fear most….sorry. | Sandy |
| Most definitely YES! It’s all a part of Globalism, and its 2030 AGENDA (AGENDA 21) driven by the U.N. – not legally binding but culturally binding. I’m so pleased that President Trump has led the way. | Don |
| Yes, very, very definitely! Our stupid, incompetent Government and its even less able lackeys need a few lessons in pragmatism, rationality and straight up common sense, not that there is much left around these days.. The projected $14 million expenditure over the next 10 years for the purchase of carbon credits should be spent right here in NZ rather than depositing into some UN bank account where we will have absolutely no control over its prudent expenditure vis a vis over-inflated salaries to to money grubbing bureaucrats and empire builders. Group think is taking control of the planet at the behest of technocracy rather than true science. I cannot believe how easily the masses can be brainwashed into believing that CO2 is a problem. It makes up only 0.04% of the atmosphere but is absolutely essential for all life on earth. Reducing its concentration to much less than that can best be likened to turning off the oxygen to patients suffering from emphysema. Apart from the sheer stupidity, it is also usually terminal. While the original claim of global warming has morphed into climate change, it has now been extended to include smoke pollution, which is an entirely different matter. But by far the biggest immediate challenge is cleaning up plastic from the oceans, eliminating nitrates and phosphates from the waterways, deforestation, and public ignorance of the true issues. | Brian |
| The ‘Climate change’ hysteria is a globalist scam designed to transfer wealth and sovereignty away from individual;countries and into a grand centralised one world government. | Geoff |
| Political Courage is withdrawing from a flawed agreement which economically put the USA and other Western Nations at a grave disadvantage and for WHAT. Absolutely nothing in practical terms, the trouble with the Greens and the follow me leader politicians is that they seem to think they can foretell the future. Yet as proved they cannot even foretell an elections result. OUT WITH THEM, THEY HAVE SAT IN THIS HOUSE TOO LONG! BRIAN | BRIAN |
| I have always been a firm believer that so called Climate change is a hoax. I believe Margie Thatchers Spin doctors bought the thoughts of Climate Warming to world attention to disguise some other dodging political dealings going on at her time as PM for Britain. | Wayne |
| This is the biggest scam of the century | Max |
| We are wasting taxpayers’ money on “junk science” | Glenn |
| Makes a lot of sense | Lloyd |
| Man made climate change – more fake news. | Mitch |
| The accord is a waste of money. Climate change happens regardless of mankind. Carbon tax is a con. | Nick |
| Yes – the whole thing is based on junk science for the sole purpose of funding some nefarious UN scheme that will ultimately rob us of what rights and freedoms we have left. Furthermore it is naive to think that we can make any difference to climate change without the ability to control sun cycles as well as volcanic eruptions, any one of which puts more particulates into the atmosphere in a matter of days, than what man-made pollution ever could achieve in multiple lifetimes! | Scott |
| We MUST NOT be bullied/shamed into following a false accord. 2billion dollars needed back here, taking care of our people. | Mary |
| The Paris Climate Accord is a total fraud and the sooner our politicians realise this and withdraw NZ the better for our country. Put the money saved where it is needed most – in this country. | Rod |
| A disaster of epic proportions can be averted by pulling out of this. | Murray |
| Good to see that President Trump kept his promise not to buy into the “climate change” fraud. Junk science and economies for sure, just follow the money. | Jane |
| Thank you for bringing the truth to NZers when all they have is a steady sickening diet of MSM propaganda so they have NO IDEA what the truth actually is. And the reception of Rex Tillerson to Wellington recently was an absolute disgrace. Kiwis who know absolutely nothing (thanks to NZ news who feeds off of crap fake news outlets like CNN) jumping on the anti-Trump bandwagon just because it’s fashionable and showing such appalling disrespect to a fine man who only strives to make the world a better and safer place free from Islamic Terrorists.. | Janie |
| It’s just a money making scam and our politicians with the DNA of jellyfish will go along with it. | Rowan |
| Wouldn’t be nice to have some politicians with gumptian | David |
| Read Prosperity without Growth for answers. | Anne |
| Our gutless politicians need to smarten up and start creating policies that are for the benefit of all New Zealanders. And while they are at it wipe that racist Waitangi Tribunal. | Mike |
| Absolutely! We have nothing to gain from getting involved into this hoax. This whole agenda is nothing but a tool to squeeze massive amounts of money out of our pockets and redirect trillions into the pockets of a few. I find it disturbing enough that we have so many airheads in Govt who promote and defend this bullshit. | Michael |
| It’s just another con, designed to enrich a few fraudsters and bring down the west. | Fiona |
| And so should Australia. This whole thing is a con by the financial elite. | john |
| There is no realistic alternative to the Paris Climate Accord. Trump has clearly stated that he will put the USA above all other considerations. God help Planet Earth! | John |
| climate change is a natural happening and will carry on forever money or not, climate in nz is fickle to say the least just like the weather, yes pullout quick and start stopping all of the northern hemisphere wars,. | james |
| We do need to take a rain check and relook at our situation. We are a small country and tour outgoings are far less than the USA and the majority of those still hanging in. Our governments are too keen to jump in, you had the UN resolution which failed, the TPP needs to be re analysed and you have China and Russia sitting on the outside no-doubt conjuring up something. What with the Govt., & Finlayson giving these iwi cash and the publics assets away for something that happened 175 years ago is beyond comprehension. We are under siege by our two faced dictatorial government. | Robert |
| We should put our money in our own back yard. We don’t need to follow flawed science promoted by bureaucrats with hidden agendas | grant |
| Why should we pay millions of dollars into some black hole that will have absolutely no impact on the climate.We should be using this money to find ways of being more efficient in lots of ways here in NZ | Bryan |
| not satisfied any of the detail so far is helpful as the science is moving on. | lance |
| I can not believe we have got ourselves into a position where it could cost us 1.4 billion dollars a year for nothing and nobody seems to know where this money will go to. | Digby |
| Yes, immediately. All credit to Trump for standing-up to this UN sponsored Marxist crap. This entire “climate change” religion is designed to destroy all western Christian democracies … It’s exactly the same principal being used with the Muslim “refugees” being dumped into western Christian democracies. Add to that the separatist / tribaist agendas being forced upon us by our government and it’s easy to see why we have so many social problems these days. Pity that we don’t have any politicians in NZ with guts / balls like Trump. | Pila |
| The Science for climate change is unequivocal. The US puts the planet at risk. To get clean water in our streams and rivers we must cull cow numbers, this culling will reduce the carbon contribution of our agricultural sector. Win-Win. | Huria |
| It’s a bloody scandal. No proof no pay | david |
| Until the environmental lobby can categorically prove they have a case they should not receive any Government support. | David |
| Would be political suicide, Kiwis would generally go bonkers with a decision like that. | Hilary |
| absolutely 100% | Fred |
| Buying credits from countries allowed to increase their emissions is crazy. | Alister |
| No evidence to suggest that climate change in the short or long term is due to human activity. The climate changes all the time and has done to lesser and greater degrees over the entire period of human existence on earth. There is however, solid evidence that sunspot activity correlates to extreme weather patterns, perhaps we should tax the sun seekers instead! , | David |
| Definitely. Our major emissions apart from transport are from livestock. There is no appreciable difference in the emissions from livestock to those from renewable fuels such as firewood or vegetable oils. Livestock doesn’t ‘make’ carbon or release carbon from fossil resources. It simply consumes the carbon which has been absorbed by pasture or other vegetation from the atmosphere before releasing it back to the atmosphere. I can’t comprehend the stupidity of our politicians in allowing emissions from livestock to be counted in our emissions equation. Human beings are the real problem – there are more of us than the resources of planet earth can comfortably accommodate. No people, no emissions problem! | Alan |
| We have no control over who the money goes to or what they will do with it. They have as much chance of changing the climate, as I have ast jumping over the moon. | Dener |
| Climate warming is a Hoax. | Ian |
| Yes we should. But we won’t. Our politicians totally lack the courage to make such a decision. The same applies to all the different areas that Muriel has outlined. Our politiciams are so concentrated on preserving their lucrative positions that they will not show any action that will make waves. They are collectively gutless and a disgrace. There is only one way to give them a backbone. Force them to listen to the will of the people by making binding referendum the law of the country. It has worked well for the Swiss for 150 years. | Ronmac |
| There should be no need for any monies to be paid by any body! | Theodorus |
| In my view, there is no tangible benefit to New Zealand in signing up to the Paris Climate Accord | Peter |
| The cost of remaining with the Climate Accord in terms of productivity and jobs is far too great, perhaps even dangerous, to ignore. | Laurence |
| There are common sense things people, companies and businesses can do to reduce global warming and I do not believe countries have to be bound by agreements to do so. Governments should be best left to work out their own methods to mitigate global warming without reducing the economic benefits of the country. | Dennis |
| The IPCC claims, with models of course, that if every country fulfills its Paris commitment until the end of the century we will pause warming for less than four years. That amounts to a pause of a mere one fiftieth of a second for every person alive. If this $1.4 billion cost also goes on until the end of the century that will cost each person $23,000 to stop the world from warming by a fiftieth of a second. Further, the notion that half NZ’s warming comes from livestock emissions uses such flawed accounting methods that if they were practiced in the financial world the perpetrators would be in jail for fraud. | Neil |
| The cost of the Paris accord is a shameful waste in terms of any change to climate.. That money could be put to much better use.. Refer ‘Copenhagen Consensus’ etcc.. | Rosemary Hubrich |
| Trump has got it 100% right. NZ needs to pull out and pull out of the UN while were at it. All of the top jobs are now Muslim controlled. Enough is enough. Put New Zealander’s first! | Trisha |
| Ask for true independent research. Do our part. Trump is on the side of the “me first and the Devil take the hind-most” brigade. Trumps move is not leadership, it is abdication of leadership. | Hugh |
| Awesome article about Political Courage. Standing up to the bullies is indeed what is required. | Steve |
| Right on!!! The advancement of International Socialism will ultimately destroy the remainder of Western World economies that have survived predatory onslaught by the developing countries and the totalitarian monster called China. | Frederick |
| Good article. Good on Trump for putting his country first. Seriously doubt New Zealand could elect a government with backbone. National cannot follow their own policies. No courage there! | Sherie |
| There are a lot of sheep out there still following blindly. | John |
| I have never believed in accelerated climate change caused by humans. In light of that we should never have considered the Paris Agreement. It will cost us jobs and a whole lot of other consequences. The 2 billion dollars should be spent here in NZ not lining some bureaucrats pocket in some international agency that has little or no credit/kudos especially when it has been proven that global warming was a hoax when the alteration of key data on a server was used to prove that global warming was real. Follow the USA – Trump has done the right thing. | Kevin |
| Absolutely.It was a sad farce from the start,with no one knowing the actual cost – until now. | Dick |
| that would be foolish. We as a small nation would be punished and would be found wanting. I’m sure that the Paris Agreement is far from ideal but the planet is heading towards a very uncertain future in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and solidarity amongst nations is critical to acknowledge and tackle this crises | Barbara |
| Darn right, the whole climate ideology is a big rort, however I cannot see any party in New Zealand having the guts to pull out, a crying shame really. Any party that would follow Trump would get my vote. | Fraser |
| Too high a cost for negligible return. | Alex |
| May as well, it’s toothless anyway. | Ron |
| NZ as a multi country should be first | David |
| Our politicians have NO Guts and only wish to keep their positions funded by the long suffering tax payer | Dave |
| should the cost to Nz be $2bill. pa. of course we should give our agricultural emissions an at the same time participate in attempts to keep a lid on global warming. | Alan |
| It makes good sense to do so. We produce less than 0.1% of global emissions – why must we be first? Ridiculous and unnecessary. | John |
| The reason given by America.It will be the same in N Z .But we have to stop over stocking our dairy farms and other farms.The environmental effects are to harm full with the damage to repair being socialized and the benefits are being privatized | Mike |
| Carbon credits ,who actually benefits?. I see people with money making large profits while doing nothing. we should not just follow the mob just to look good to the greens . | Brian |
| As long as we have MMP our governments will pander to the looney left in the search for coalition partners | John |
| We should withdraw asp | John |
| Climate Change..If enough people keep saying it it becomes the norm even if not true… Time to spend that money on things like health care and decent education in stead of the PC mumbo jumbo.. | Barry |
| I have yet to see any connection between CO2 and Temperature. The light of true science has become lost in all the political noise. | donald |
| DEFINITELY. We should have never signed in the first place | Bruce |
| The climate change agenda will do nothing for climate change just transfer not just wealth but livelyhoods to an elite, it will not help poorer countries or the islands but benefit those who desire political power. Just like the biculturalism argument. | John |
| President Trump might be different, but he is 100% for his country, and applies common sense to his decisions, which on the whole turn out to be correct | Geoff |
| The climate change science is not settled, we should do our bit here to reduce what we can but not sign up to that which disadvantages us and where there is no accountability for the money paid. | Jeremy |
| These Accords are a complete waste of time and money, a scam. Climate change will occur naturally, and always has done. These politicians are only showing their ignorance and arrogance in thinking they can “control” the Earth’s climate. | Gifford |
| The geological evidence records that our climate has been hotter & colder. Likewise CO2 has been much higher than predicted. Natural causes adjust. Ignore the B.S. | Doug |
| The Koch Bros boy their own admission spent US $940 million to ensure a Republican President to complement Senate and House. Oil industry backing | bill |
| ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | Murray |
| Yes we certainly should withdraw from the Paris climate accord; indeed we should never have entered it. I wonder when we might find an intelligent real leader who is prepared to face down the “man-made-cimate-disaster” green extremists, the bicultural “us versus them” Maori supremacists and the misguided social destruction wrought by extremes in feminism. When are we ever to hear something more sensible than the politically correct Chicken Licken sky-is-falling yap from television and the so-called newspapers? I suspect the silent majority in New Zealand is quite well aware of what is right and what is wrong but when election time comes where is the party or even individual politician for whom they could vote and make a difference? | Rob |
| New Zealand is already doing its best. The US companies & States are doing their but without govt. control. We do not need to waste billions of $ -just follow our practises by people who care about climate change. | Deborah |
| everyone should commie b/s | barry |
| Yes. We should not have been in it in the first place. We can do our own “help the climate” without an Accord which dictates. | Sheila |
| for the very sound reasons that the climate change models are proven to be wrong, we don’t know who will get the money and money movements will not effect the weather on earth! | Gordon |
| Scientists that doctored the data to suit their claims, the Al Gores that spread alarm and despondency based on half truths and lies and in the process gain immense wealth, all based on a phenomena that is as natural as the air we breathe, does not convince me that any government should be subscribing to a hedge fund that has no direct benefit to their citizens. New Zealand should quit the Accord at the first opportunity, and if possible on Monday 12 Jun 2017. | Michael |
| Add to the withdrawal the Japanese Kyoto accord | Rex |
| $2 billion for what? Increasing poverty in NZ? NZ citizens are living in cars! Oldies can’t get hip replacements or colon scans. Think folk what we could do with $2 billion PER YEAR to spend on New Zealanders! | Bill |
| Where are you going to find a politician with any guts??? | rik |
| The climate is always changing as we ride the huge elliptical course around the sun. | IAN |
| Obvious. None of our potential leaders have the balls! Meek n weak! | Paul |
| Two international Supreme Courts, New Mexico and Santiago, found no evidence to support Global Warming but it was proven that the gasses Global Warming condemn were, indeed, good for the planet. In short, “you are being conned”. When Global Warming first started our carbon emissions were quoted as less then 2%, yet according to NZCPR our total cost to our nation is $2billion per year. For me it’s “New Zealand First”. | George |
| Throwing $2 billion a year into a gigantic leftist hoax is outrageous! Unfortunately, most young people have been taught the myth that reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the only way to “save the planet”, and they fervently believe it. | Elizabeth |
| Absolutly pull out we have signed up for something no one understands but knows it is going to cost. Its a big ripp off. | Clark |
| Carbon Credits are a feather bed for lawyers and other money-shufflers | Peter |
| Absolutely It’s just another political taxation scam | Greg |
| The Paris Climate Accord is just another scam and N Z should not have signed up if you look at the cost and our contribution weare being taken for suckers as our foot print is so small we are being robbed by the big boys . Good on Trump. | ken |
| NZ Hospitals , Police, Education need that $1.4 billion per annum. Not that vague unaccountable purse of the Paris agreement. | George |
| What are we waiting for?? | Jim |
| As soon as | meg |
| The Paris Climate accord unduly penalises New Zealand’s small agricultural economy which has no measurable effect on Global polution levels. | Victor |
| We need to spend the funds in our own country, plus, what guarantee is there that some European individuals suddenly become extremely wealthy, through pilferage? This seems to be a common modern practice. | Michael |
| The science is not settled, it has been buried under an avalanche of propaganda. | Brian |
| Climate change hysteria is all nonsense – people confuse pollution with climate change b- the world over millions of years has had climate change – from colder to warmer and vice versa -the we gain nothing and taxpayers lose $2billion a year to stay part of this terrible hoax | hylton |
| National SHOULD listen to EXPERTS & stand up for kiwis NOT bullies.They haven’t got Trump’s guts so WHY should we VOTE for WEAK politicians. | Cindy |
| Most definitely we should withdraw from the Climate Accord, it is and always has been the biggest scam ever – and is lining the pockets of the one percenters. We need to look after the people of New Zealand where Health, Housing, Education and Police need all the funds set aside to pay for the Paris Climate Accord scam. | Diana |
| Climate change is a constant and has been since the beginning of earth. Carbon dioxide is essential to earth for the growth and well being of horticulture and does not have a strong link with earth temperature. | John RL |
| Yes definitely it is a money grubbing accord. The only ones to benefit are those that will get the financial gain from the millions each Country has to submit and in the end WHAT????? No one can guarantee it will be a success. Those that continue will be throwing away our hard earned funds into a ‘s very large chasm—-but then we have Parliamentarians that like to be on a Gravy Train and bother everyone else’s comments. | MARYLIN |
| This Accord was a rort from day one and even semi intelligent ‘man made’ climate change believers (slightly oxymoronic there) should see that. | Gordy |
| Of course NZ should withdraw, but sadly there isn’t a politician in NZ with enough spine to do it. | Athol |
| I think Trump was absolutely correct in withdrawing from the Paris agreement but he is explaining it for the wrong reasons. He should say it is because the Global Warming Politics are purely a Scam Robin | Robin |
| Stupid NZ politicians are going to force tax payers to pay over a billion dollars each year for something that’s NOT TRUE – and Mother Nature is going to respond by going down 2 degrees! Are these people crazy? The emperor has no clothes! | Joanne Rolston |
| What has been done with all the money?????? Where is it????????? Who is saying how it is to be spent?????? | Patricia |
| Gutless pollies have no direction of positivity | IAN |
| The Paris Climate Accord can do nothing for the environment. It is a complete scam to include agricultural emissions in NZ emission profile. All agricultural emissions are offset by the carbon dioxide sequestered in growing grass and crops | John |
| Because the science behind the the claims are faulty | Simonne |
| Golly this is a hard one! If the tens of billions of $ going into attempts to reduce perceived world heating were redirected to holding & reducing World population .Yes!! | Anthony |
| Let’s face it, NO New Zealand politician has the balls to do anything but lie & cheat their way out of ALL responsibility. | Graeme |
| This whole climate change business is a so unrealistic that it is a joke. We save .02% and is costs 1.4 Billion dollars PA, Give me a break ! Congratulations Mr D Trump | john |
| The sooner the better. | Alan |
| More than ever NZ Government needs to be INVESTING in infrastructure, health, education, research & development and police. Not pouring billions of dollars down a big black hole. | Glyn |
| Can do better without pollitics being involved. | David |
| Should never have been there. Thanks very much Helen for your communist agenda of taxing Power to give the money to Africa. | Wayne |
| To enter this accord would be highly damaging to our economy & the welfare of all New Zealanders. | Donald |
| climate change is costing NZ 1.4 bil a year – where is the money going? | john |
| Because if NZ does not withdraw, New Zealanders will suffer through lack of funds which will be directed to the Carbon tax imposed by the Accord. | Alice |
| Almost all global warming is due to the sun and has been happening since the last mini ice age 5000 years ago | Terry |
| The weather changes every day – always has. It is just governments wanting to collect more taxes to waste. | Christine |
| The science is not settled but even if the hypothesis is correct we are far better to look at mitigation options than to redistributing wealth through the accords. | Lachlan |
| We have all been hoodwinked and we have known for a long time | Ian |
| $1.4 billion to who and for what …. farting cows?! | Andy |
| NZ people first | charles |
| There is no need or space here to counter Richard Epstein’s arguments. They can be found overwhelmingly on social media. | Hamish |
| To follow the Paris Accord is to follow the Dumb and Dumber. A massive swindle. | Geoff |
| being aligned with Trump will not be positive for NZ and we would be better off remaining as a signatory but modifying our response from paying to living with a warmer planet | Wayne |
| The whole Global Warming Theory is a fraud | Alan |
| It’s a pity that NZ don’t have any leader with half the guts of Trump to stand up for what is best for all NZers. | Alan |
| Epstien says it all. It was designed to deindustrialise the west and transfer wealth to the third world. It was always wrong. Scientific fraud. | John |
| And shut down the ETS ASAP | Michael |
| Do it now and save billions that we need here in nz not sending it off overseas to do absolutely nothing. | Peter |
| 110% YES. The scam and how it affects NZ needs to be stopped tomorrow. Would Sydney (similar population to NZ) pay $billions for this – No. How on earth can this small country accept our self aggrandizing Politicians need to “be seen to be doing something” at a huge cost to our country? | Di |
| Carbon credits appear to be one of the biggest scams in history, with countries paying lots of money for nothing. | Johan |
| Climate change by money is the biggest ponzi scheme that has been put in place since Bernie maddolf went to prison | Les |
| Has any party the fortitude to pull out? ‘Just do it’along with abolishing Maori seats | Pete |
| Yes!It’s all a scam! | Mary |
| Global warming is a load of BS | Ian |
| There is no such thing as climate change | Lynn |
| Damn right! It’s MY money the Govt is pledging to overseas interests and they don’t have my permission to do so! Bring on the election… Carl | Carl |
| It is frankly a ruse to implement wealth redistribution | Paul |
| It won’t do us or the world any good in the long run. | Terry |
| Why should we pay into the Paris accord when the amount of money could be put into our own country which does need those dollars spent to correct our own carbon quality and water quality. So far nobody has been able to say where this money will be used when it leaves our shores. The planet needs help not pie in the sky swapping of money vs carbon as I doubt that help a tinkers. | Elizabeth |
| Any tax or effort should be first put into reducing pollution levels IN NEW ZEALAND so we get the benefit. A billion dollars a year will go a long way to achieve that target. | Robbie |
| It cant possibly solve anything. Pollution, another matter. Carbon credits – where does all this money actually go? | Sue |
| The Paris Climate Accord is fleecing our country with absolutely No benefit to NZ | Deb |
| Withdraw immediately. It extorts money from NZ and gives it to murky channels of bureaucrats and dodgy countries. Keep the money in NZ, spend it in NZ on practical and local measures to improve our country. | john |
| I am all for a close eye on pollution, but I do not support the theory that manmade emissions re causing climate change. If thre was irrefutable evidence, why would global warmists need to blackmail their peer reviewers who disagree? These cycles have been going on for millions of years; and increased CO2 emissions actually trail mean temerature rises by about 300 years. | Hugh |
| Bureaucratic organisation that has and will continue to spend on ‘Will- o’- the- Wisp’ policies’, That will economically cripple many struggling. counties . While natures own actions continue down the “Global Warming Cycle, regardless”. i.e. Volcano’s and the like. | Percy |
| Our climate has and will be changing forever and ever and there is nothing anyone can do about that. | Bryon |
| Absolutely!!! | Sharon |
| Should have had the guts to have refused to go into it! | Peter |
| Nobody can produce any evidence that the ETS has produced any tangible results !! | Michael |
| Finally – Finally! A world leader is standing up to UN led nonsense that is CO2 influenced climate change.! | Ron |
| We should pull out of all deals just like we did with Nucular Boats coming to NZ, | Geoff |
| The whole thing is a sham | Arthur |
| It is about time that our politicians educated themselves about climate change and stop following like sheep the propaganda of the global warming propagandists. | Ron |
| But no MP, not even the ACT representative, has the political courage to support such a course | Barry |
| It is hard to believe we have been so decieved, any one thinking New Zealand can reach these emission targets is stupid. And so it will cost us all TOO MUCH | Lisa |
| Climate change happens all the time – that is called nature. We’ve had ice ages and heat strikes – volcanoes cause air pollution, dust clouds block the sun, the sun warms the earth and us. Active under sea volcanoes continually discharge super heated steam (naturally) warming seas. Perhaps the Greens could ‘dive down’ and block all offending under sea volcano vents! | Stuart |
| Support it | David |
| AGW = biggest scam in recent history. | jerry |
| There will always be warming and cooling of the climate, If the ice caps are melting why isn’t the sea rising around NZs coast | Murray |
| I believe there is no point in us being a part of the Accord although we should, as a responsible entity, be developing policy that reduces emissions in a planned and non-damaging way. Money spent doing this would enhance our economy and at the same time show us to be responsible world citizens. | Alastair |
| This crazy climate change mob base all their case on very flawed research . This is purely money driven . No one can tell us where all the billions of dollars in carbon credit money disappears to and why it is necessary Why does so much money have to be involved in this con .The climate has always changed and point 2 of a degree isn’t going to change that much . | Jock |
| It is a most definite yes from me. It is a great pity that more people don’t know the truth about ‘global warming’. | John |
| There is not one fact that can show that the world will have a better climate by virtue of any of the impositions placed upon any nation by this ridiculous left wing dream. | Rob |
| I take climate change seriously, however, progressives are just as bad as conservatives. they are off overseas this time of year and are often population deniers. | John |
| NZ government needs to prioritize expenditure on Kiwis and not unproven debatable convenient science/political “clubing” . | Wino |
| Absolutely | chris |
| We shouldn’t be conned by all this global warming crap which will cost us dearly | Laurie |
| We should never have gone into it in the first place. The climate has always changed and always will. It’s been hotter than today and also colder, but it’s definitely not caused by man. Where is all this money going? | Helen |
| Yes we need to be out. I cannot believe that our Govt is so blind that it can’t see the damage that will be done to my country. They do not have my endorsement to proceed. I will be voting accordingly. So who out there has the balls to reject the Paris accord and toss the Maoris out of special seats and our statute books. Is that you Winston? You, or someone had better stand up and be counted! | Neil |
| This climate change is a load of bullocks | simon |
| yes as its only a money making rort for corrupt people/politicians of which nz has many. | Richard |
| I don’t feel we should be subsidising other counteris | Richard |
| The Paris Accords are just another Comeytose state of affairs. | Delia |
| We should not only withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, but also abolish all Maori seats in Parliament, as we as the ETS. Its a pity, that most of the general public of NZ don’t seem to care about what goes on, therefore these groups can get way with just about anything. | Reg |
| Climate change is a myth perpetrated by powerful people with a hidden agenda. | Mary |
| Absolutely and sooner rather than later, but NZ does not have a Donald Trump we have weak wristed politicians where are all the young men ready to stand up for our country | Nadia |
| The accord is a crock—- | Peter |
| Although Theresa May could turn out to be the shortest-serving British PM for a century, she’ll surely be remembered for that crucial statement: “Enough is enough!” Sure, she was talking about Islamic terrorism, but her words apply equally to so many of the socially destructive positions taken by extremist groups. The ‘environmentalists’, ‘feminists’, and ‘biculturalists’ are just some examples – and I put them in parentheses because they always have a hidden agenda, and are never honest in their declarations. The forthcoming general election will be a watershed in New Zealand’s future: if radical resistance to this fashionable extremism isn’t voted for, then this nation will rapidly become an unpleasant place in which to live. | Graham |
| Only if it is replaced with a more stringent set of climate protocols binding on all countries. | Graham |
| Unfortunately, Mike Hosking is the only one I’ve seen publicly declaring it a waste of money. The rest of us appear to be too “green” and sure of the “science” of global warming, and determined to do right by the world, no matter what the cost. Although if the cost was brought to our attention we might squeal louder! | Hilary |
| Name me one politician in NZ who has the intellectual capacity to even begin to understand what they are actually imposing upon the citizens and taxpayers of NZ. English is captured by his “beliefs”, Bennet “well solo mum” so should know better, Angry Andrew “stuck in the past and a bully to boot”, Morgan, “sucked in by the Green agenda”, Greens “:communists all, their new leader shows signs of departing from that way, National Party, should rename themselves the Maori Party, Parliament is now run by the Maori as there are more of them than any other group all be it that they are sprinkled among all parties. When push comes to shove they will unite with one goal and once that is accomplished they will go back to fighting one another all over again. Unfortunately the NZ electorate is not inclined to change as many think they are living life to the full when in fact most are just short of broke. Our productivity is lousy, we allow criminals and immigrants unfetted rights and access to NZ all because it makes the teachers and the builders busy. The Govt. i.e. the taxpayers spent about 340 million last year on R & D. a pittance really and given as corporate largess via Callaghan and a few others. Picking what they think are winners. Why can’t every company get a tax deduction for R & D? Another form of bullying, govt. picking winners at the expense of both the taxpayer and other enterprises. It just goes on and on. To many MP’s with their own favourite hobbies and no basic Governmental Principles. The only people to ever get this right were Bob Jones party, Act, and the now 79 year old Roger Douglas. | robert |
| The whole thing is a gigantic farce fleecing money from us to reward god only knows who.Yes we do need to minimise air pollution it must help but not in this manner. | Bob |
| Absolutely. Get us right away from this leftie climate con hoax. Donald Trump is a true patriot. I’m a fan. | Carole |
| It is a have – corruption by a thousand lies | Colin |
| I wouldn’t say New Zealand should follow the lead of the USA, but should never have entered into the agreement in the first place. | Terry |
| Absolutely. Particularly that evidence now shows that historic global warming actually precedes the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide – the food for all plant life on our planet. | Alan |
| Immediately is not soon enough | Phil |
| In saying Yes, I believe we should continue to do all we can to reduce noxious gases, plant more trees and make our environment healthier, but to give money away in the name of “carbon Credits” is just madness | Peter |
| …have the vision to discard the entrenched deliberate brain washing by the power mad egotistic, so called leaders of the modern world .. the time has come to say NO more liars and deceit …. | ChrisH |
| King Carnut sat in his throne on the beach and tried to stop the tide coming in and got his feet wet. The climate change lobby are getting their feet wet as well. This is because of celestial forces taking the earth closer to the sun and thus heating the planet. Nothing to do with carbon emmissions bringing levels higher as these have been proven to have occured in the earths’s past.. | Ian |
| We need to stand with the rest of the sane world | Michael |
| What a ridiculous question | Beryl |
| We certainly have much better uses for the money involved | Kevin |
| Of course as it is false science | Allan |
| Time to end decades of outright lies | Collin |
| It is not for climate change but a shift of money from rich to poor countries. | Graeme |
| See it for what it is – a money making scheme | Bryan |
| The Accord is nothing more than a huge money grab to outdo any Nigeria scam. | Ross |
| What a scam 1.4 billion dollars to buy carbon credits to satisfy some agreement that at least America had the wisdom to ditch The last 3 statments of your news letter no we have not got any one in Govt to stand up to the to the rot that is going on that is why I take my hat of to Donald Trump the nearest we can get to that is Winston Peters | russell |
| Without hesitation, it’s a scam!, | Ian |
| There well be climate change in one direction or another but that has always been the case. The very small affect the worlds emissions as a result of human and controllable activity relative to emissions that can’t be controlled is negligible and it is time NZ stood up to the false science and the money control and looked after itself too. I don’t have a problem with looking after the environment and reducing pollution but that should be based on factual information and not politics. | Graham |
| The Accord is nothing more than a huge money grab to outdo any Nigeria scam. | Ross |
| What a scam 1.4 billion dollars to buy carbon credits to satisfy some agreement that at least America had the wisdom to ditch The last 3 statements of your news letter – no we have not got anyone in Govt to stand up to the to the rot that is going on. That is why I take my hat off to Donald Trump – the nearest we can get to that is Winston Peters. | Russell |
| Without hesitation, it’s a scam!, | Ian |
| There well be climate change in one direction or another but that has always been the case. The very small affect the worlds emissions as a result of human and controllable activity relative to emissions that can’t be controlled is negligible and it is time NZ stood up to the false science and the money control and looked after itself too. I don’t have a problem with looking after the environment and reducing pollution but that should be based on factual information and not politics. | Graham |
| To whom does the $10b or so go too? NZ is following the UN – One World govt agenda – this will not end well – property rights – freedom of speech – freedom of worship comes to mind. Thankfully we still are able to worship freely in NZ – but compliance certainly is challenging property right – especially for SMEs. – compliance will increase Read the book Technocracy Rising by Patrick Wood for an insight to what we will face-are facing already . | Ross |
| Of course NZ should withdraw. When will people see, that all this so-called “green-ness” is just another racket. | John |
| We have always been jumping to the yes sir nonsense and always will be because of the “another NZ first” mentality. | Phil |
| Although a withdrawal would be in NZ’s best interests, it’s a step we are too afraid to take. | Andrew |
| Climate Change, its predecessor Climate warming and CO2 increasing have all been a lefty socialist construct wit the aim of softening the Public to Carbon Taxes that in fact are a straight out unmandated wealth transfer to the Communist UN empathizers. Its a scam and one that has has sadly taken in most of our Farmers and Foresters, albeit the Aussies have shrugged off this stupidity. Its a NWO croc, that New Zealand needs to have no part in. We can be grateful Trump has shown the way. TPP is another NWO fiasco nothing to do with trade everything to do with passing control to the central elite offshore. It is not cows that give us pollution it is the bloated bureaucracy in Wellington and our Cities and our unwavering Apartheid that cause all the stench in our community, | Richard |
| Also, we need to get out of the TPPA. Both of these agreements undermine our sovereignty as a nation. | Joyce |
| You have to love Donald really, because he is standing up to what is fake in our political systems at present worldwide. It is surprising that he has been able to make it this far while still standing. He has upset a lot of the Deep State and Globalists. The term I came across the other day, “Post truth” seems to really sum up the times we live in. We have lost sight of, maintaining and valuing what ‘truth’ is. Francis Schaefer, the philosopher saw this coming and coined the phrase, “true truth”. The Paris Accord and Climate Change are an assault on “truth” no less. | Brian |
| The notion of a run away temperature instability is a nonsense. Worse is the belief human activity is larger than the planets on feedback systems. | Chris |
| ASAP | David |
| sooner the better and lets have a vote on those seven seats | Eddie |
| not likely | ray |
| Climate change is normal co2 is great for starving plants | Heather |
| Its a no brainer. | Bryan |
| Climate change is real but it is not man made. Climate warming since the small ice age 500 years ago. Climate cooling since 1998. CO2 increase very small. | Charlie |
| No, Trump is a dangerous buffoon. I would not follow him anywhere and I am not a believer in climate change at least not without more evidence that any changes exceed the natural order. | David |
| As a small country in the scheme of things, our actions will hardly do anything if the weather changes. The reason to join was I believe a personal political move by certain politicians to gain importance on the world stage, was it really to benefit NZ, it only causes huge debts that we cannot afford and when large countries do not comply with the protocol, what difference are we ever going to make, if it really does make a difference. | Audrey |
| Absolutely! National should never have signed up to that ridiculous Accord. | Paul |
| Climate Change is scam. We should have stood our ground and stayed out. Other countries would have applauded us. | John |
| President Trump is showing up other world leaders to be gutless in the face of these radical groups. He’s standing his ground and we could do with many more leaders like him. | Garry |
| Great article and spot on about the bullies. Global warming is just a communist ploy. NZ politicians need to find the strength to stand up to them. | Angela |
| Absolutely we should pull out. We never should have entered in the first place. | Murray |