Posts by Russel Norman

  • Russel Norman

    Dirty rivers update – my first dirty lake



    Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora is apparently the fourth largest lake in our country. And it has the consistency of pea soup; toxic pea soup to be precise. I visited there last Friday. Prue lent us a couple of kayaks, so myself and Monique from Radio NZ headed out into the soup. To keep us safe [...] read more
    March 11, 2010 4:05 pm - 17 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    MPS – structural problems remain



    We had the Reserve Bank Governor in front of Finance and Expenditure Committee today about his Monetary Policy Statement. The MPS is very much a steady as she goes document. But if you look more closely it’s not so pretty. For example it predicts the current account deficit returning to more than 7.2% by 2013 (from 1.8% in 2010). [...] read more
    March 11, 2010 2:34 pm - 36 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Phil Heatley’s priorities



    An interesting aside to the Phil Heatley saga. I have been calling on central govt to consider sewerage systems as important infrastructure and financially support communities like Whangarei to upgrade them. There were 45 raw sewage discharges last year in Whangarei, many of them in the Harbour. Yuk. Phil Heatley, the local member, dismissed my suggestion that central [...] read more
    February 25, 2010 3:59 pm - 30 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Fresh water wasted out to sea



    Now here’s something to send a shiver down the spine of anyone with green inclinations – John Key in the House yesterday when I asked him about his plans for more big dams in Canterbury:   Yes, I do agree that there is pressure on the aquifers in the Canterbury region. The way to resolve that is [...] read more
    February 24, 2010 10:53 am - 29 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    No boat ride for me and John



    My Dirty Rivers Rafting Tour is going so well that I invited the PM to join me. Since the launch on the Hutt River in late January, I have visited the Waihou in Waikato and the Taumarere in Northland, attracting some good local interest and starting some great conversations with locals about the state of their [...] read more
    February 16, 2010 5:09 pm - 17 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Hutt river full of it too…



    Hawkes Bay DHB is worried about people getting sick from shit in our rivers and beaches, and now Hutt River too will give you diarrhoea, vomiting, cramps and skin infections according to this press release half an hour ago….. Greater Wellington Regional Council, Upper Hutt City Council and Regional Public Health are advising river users to [...] read more
    January 22, 2010 5:09 pm - 18 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Hawkes Bay in the shit again



    It’s summer. Which means it’s time for the Hawkes Bay DHB to make itself unpopular, at least with those in the Bay who want to put the shit in the water under the carpet, by issuing this release: Recent heavy rain has caused pollution to contaminate many Hawke’s Bay waterways, says Hawke’s Bay District Health Board’s [...] read more
    January 20, 2010 9:39 pm - 9 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    PCE wades into Mackenzie debate



    The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has called for the Minister for the Environment to call in the applications for dairy farm conversions in the Mackenzie country. She argues that the applications have national significance and hence central govt should step in. She’s right. Whether you look at it from the perspective of the water quality [...] read more
    January 14, 2010 1:25 pm - 4 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Avatar 3D



    I really enjoyed this movie. The story is compelling, the effects are astonishing and the 3D really worked. I can see why the anti-green anti-people brigade are hysterically upset about this movie. It is an overtly pro-environmental movie. It is an overtly anti-colonial movie. It is harshly anti-military and anti-private military contractors. And it suggests that resistance to [...] read more
    January 12, 2010 5:37 pm - 46 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Motorways and climate change



    So the New Zealand govt says it is serious about reducing greenhouse emissions, and building lots of new roads. Except that more roads mean more car transport and more oil use and more greenhouse emissions… Go figure. It seems the National Party intends to carry on with the nonsense of the Labour Party in building ever more motorways. [...] read more
    December 16, 2009 7:56 am - 640 Comments
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