An editorial in the Otago Daily Times looking at the hard decision ahead in setting a 2020 emissions reduction target for the country.
An excerpt: Read in full here.
“It is only a short few years since Prime Minister John Key intimated to the House that he was a climate-change sceptic.
“Earlier this year, Rodney Hide, leader of National’s coalition partner Act New Zealand, called for – and got – a select committee investigation into the science of climate change.
“He has been silent on the subject of late.
“And in the discussion document prepared to accompany the ministers’ roadshow, Mr Groser says: “We are working hard in international negotiations to achieve a post-2012 pact where New Zealand does its fair share as a developed country in addressing this global problem.”
“Predictions suggest the Government is likely to settle on somewhere between 15%-20% domestic reductions.
“This will be too little for some and too much for others: moral and environmental imperative versus economic cost.”