Letters: Focus on keeping roads open might not be best approach to coping with climate change
The road to climate adaptation
Good on Matthew Hooton for advocating “radical change in how we think about climate change” (Feb 8).
Indeed, “climate targets” and ETS are a fool’s errand, imposed by a hypocritical global bureaucracy. The Paris climate agreement was a scientifically vain and politically doomed project from the day it was signed.
Now the new world disorder imposed by the feral Trump administration shows clearly New Zealand has to look after itself in the face of guaranteed-to-accelerate climate disruption.
Hooton is right about the urgent need to completely redesign and rebuild our infrastructure, and I agree with his focus on clean, local energy supply.
But I am not sure our roads are a top priority. Rather than making sure they all are open at all times, we should perhaps transition to living and producing without using them as we so excessively do now.
Our national security in the face of the coming climate mayhem should be the number one pre-election issue. And it obviously isn’t. Let’s hope that Hooton’s sober analysis puts it back on the top of New Zealand’s agenda.
Dr Dushko Bogunovich, retired professor of urban design and planning, Auckland.
Time to reject Aukus
Nicola Macaulay’s article about our defence ties (Feb 6) was timely.
Our surveillance commitments lock us ever more tightly into Five Eyes advanced military technologies. The information from drones, satellites and radars is not just about protecting us from disasters but is also about targeting potential enemies.
In 2024, we learnt from the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security that New Zealand and had been hosting a critical signals intelligence system (2012-2020). The minister responsible for the GCSB was not in the know and there was no way of knowing how the information gathered had been used.
The Inspector General said the system was designed to locate remote targets. Nicky Hager, who matched this information with documents released earlier by Edward Snowden, said this was almost certainly the US “Apparition” system designed to analyse data from very small satellites – think remote internet cafes, and it would be capable of locating suspected “terrorists” so that they could be executed.
We will never know if we helped such killings to take place.
It is time to reject Aukus outright with all its creepy intelligence gathering and AI-assisted targeting.
Maire Leadbeater, Mt Albert.
Finding the money
Here’s a question for those in power.
Last year, you suddenly felt you had to increase your defence budget. So you found the money to accomplish this.
What if you suddenly felt you had to stamp out homelessness. What would you do? If you decided it was not simply a nice thing to “try” to accomplish but something you had to do?
John Harris, Herne Bay.
Epstein’s trap
With the widening circle of famous, rich and powerful people entrapped in Jeffrey Epstein’s sticky web of manipulation and temptation, the well-known opening line: “Will you walk into my parlour?” said a spider to the fly, in Mary Howitt’s 1828 cautionary poem The Spider and the Fly, springs to mind.
Walk in they did – with all the repercussions.
Brian Byrne, St Heliers.
On-field arrogance
Italy played an exciting brand of attacking rugby in the pouring rain to beat Scotland 18-15 in Rome.
England dismissed a valiant under-strength Wales predictably, with the assistance of another poor refereeing performance by Andrea Piardi, who penalised Wales for man in front of the jumper at lineout maul, then let England away with the same misdemeanour (plus many others). Yellow cards came as fast as tries. This is the same referee who allowed the Lions to beat the Wallabies 29-26 in the second test in Melbourne last year.
England at Twickenham are disrespectful to their opposition. One huge rose at centre ground, three enormous England flags, a sponsor product brand and not a single Welsh emblem or flag.
World Rugby could have a word with England Rugby organisers and explain there are two teams in every rugby game.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Another bit of advice
Herald journalist Mitchell Hageman recently gave good advice for attendees of music festivals that included taking lots of water, plasters and Panadol (Feb 4).
There is a great photo and caption of “the young crowd at the Rhythm and Vines festival in Gisborne in 2024″ enjoying themselves. However, news reports after that festival stated that there had to be a major clean-up of the site and along roads leading to and from the venue which took many days. Locals, volunteers and staff were involved.
Another piece of advice to young festival attendees would be to make sure that they clean up after themselves.
Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui.
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