Media Release
15 January 2007

Green Party Leading Climate Change Debate in Wrong Direction

The Green Party is leading the debate on climate change in completely the wrong direction, according to Owen McShane, chairman of the policy panel of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.

"We should hardly be surprised that the Green Party ranks itself first in promoting Green Party policies. After all, we would expect the Pope to pronounce the Catholic Church as the leading campaigner for Catholicism.

"The strong focus on climate science and economics over the last couple of decades is now providing dividends in our knowledge and understanding of this most complex and least understood area of science. And, as one would expect, we are at the stage where this increased knowledge is increasing our uncertainty about how the system works, what is going on, and what, if anything, we should - or, indeed, can - do about it.

"Clearly, the Green Party is not keeping up with the work in science or economics. Otherwise it would realise that its 'T-shirt sloganeering' approach to climate policy is now totally out of date. The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition would rank all the other parties ahead of the Greens simply because they have not succumbed to unquestioning support of dogma.," said Mr McShane

"A couple of examples make the point.
"First, the Green Party announcement makes much of the need for action over sea level rising - apparently having been taken in by Al Gore's movie designed to support his investment fund.

The UN IPCC has taken the latest scientific information to heart and its latest draft recommends reducing the projected sea level rise by 2100 to only some 500 mm or 17 inches. Such a rise will be lost in the 'noise' of tectonic plate movement and ongoing erosion and accretion. Many parts of New Zealand will see overall sea level falls over the next 100 years because our tectonic plate movements are raising the coastline at a faster rate. (For general picture, see reference below)

"Second, the Greens demand action over farmyard methane emissions claiming they account for most of our greenhouse gas problems. Actually, water vapour is far and away the major greenhouse gas but we can do nothing about that. Methane is only an issue in New Zealand, compared to countries like Europe, because we have so many cows and so few people. We could solve our methane 'problem' by increasing our population to 50 million people. Then the Europeans would have no beef with us.

"Furthermore, for reasons no one understands, atmospheric concentrations of methane in the atmosphere are now falling, and it would be unwise to meddle in the methane system given our ignorance.

"One thing we do know is that New Zealand still has only a tiny percentage of the world's ruminant population and our ruminants our highly methane-efficient because our stock are of high genetic quality and feed on high quality pasture. A litre of milk produced on an English farm produces far more methane than one produced in New Zealand. Hence, if we reduce methane production in New Zealand by taxes or fines we would actually increase global methane emissions as consumers shifted to less methane-efficient producers for their supplies.

"So I am sorry. The Green Party ranks at the bottom of our list on climate policy because it is so sadly out of touch with the most recent science and economics.

"We do not expect the Greens to abandon their religious convictions regarding the relationship between people and the Earth Mother. But we do suggest that their convictions are an unreliable guide to ranking policy for the nation as a whole," Mr McShane concluded.

ENDS

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