Stuff Digital Edition

China’s coalmines dwarf NZ’s carbon emissions

Your correspondent Ian Miller (Letters, November 20), makes the comment that we (New Zealand) are ‘‘acting shamefully’’ in respect to curbing emissions.

Not for the first time do I take umbrage at the ease with which folk like Miller take a swipe at New Zealand, as if self-criticism solves all ills at one stroke. ‘‘New Zealand, you’ve stuffed up again’’, is their philosophical underpinning.

I suggest Miller and others of like mind, look at the situation in China. Not only has China declared its intention to expand coal production through 2025 and beyond, but is building domestic coal-fired plants apace.

As a sinister backdrop, China is building these plants in the Third World, financed through pernicious debt bondage.

The global emissions impact of these developments makes New Zealand’s contribution look like the equivalent of dragging on a clandestine ciggy behind the bikesheds.

Rob Harris, Dannevirke

State of the roads

Are most of us bad drivers, or can it be that for many years our roads and streets have had huge potholes needing resealing? Most responsible drivers of cars and all other vehicles refer to the editor of the Dog and Lemon magazine, Clive MatthewWilson. Moreover, as with the road toll the drownings in our lakes, rivers, and in the ocean rise exponentially from year to year.

Despite warnings from lifeguards, swimmers habitually refuse to swim between the flags. Furthermore, why do those who enjoy rides in both boats and yachts think they can walk on water and disregard the provided lifejackets? Watery graves must be avoided if our funeral directors are to stay in business.

Brian Collins, Lower Hutt

The love of money

In ‘Truckloads of cash swept Brown to power’’ (News, November 20) yet again the oftused Biblical verse is misquoted and misused.

The actual verse reads: For the love of money is the root of all evil. (I Timothy 6:10)

Money is a neutral, inanimate commodity, the use of which is entirely in the hands and at the conscience of its owner.

We can use our money to do good or to do evil – we have free will, the choice is ours.

Sandra Hunter, Matamata

Russian reality

Correspondent Frank Olsson (Letters, November 20) has a rosy view of the world. Neville Chamberlain tried the peace and prosperity approach with Adolf Hitler, and Barack Obama looked the other way when Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, and look where it got them.

Peacenik ideology is wonderful except when you’re dealing with bad actors who have fundamentally bad intentions. But the most concerning aspect of his letter is an indication he thinks China is being unfairly misrepresented and maligned by the United States.

The only cure is for Olsson to see and feel what’s happening in China by living there and then we can test if he supports the people who sacrificed so much to protect our way of life, or if he aligns with the lifestyles prescribed and controlled by an authoritarian dictatorship where the actor’s true intentions are unknown.

Steve Reindler, Auckland

Monetary theory

Has New Zealand now handed the keys to a monetarist (Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr) who appears to have no real grasp of macro-economics and is another highly paid theorist following on from the likes of Roger Douglas and with no genuine understanding of the real world and its people.

The governor, following another interest-rate hike, has sternly told people to ‘‘think harder about their spending’’, which will of course help to accelerate and deepen the recession – this follows on from his keeping rates far too low for far too long without sufficient safeguards to stem the obvious tide of overheated borrowing.

Commonsense, which sadly most of us now realise is in fact not common, especially at the Reserve Bank, points to the need to encourage a reasonable level of spending so as to keep the various sectors of the economy healthy, but restrict overlending/borrowing. At the same time the Government should be seeking more tax from those on high incomes while reducing tax for lower-paid workers – the resulting extra money in the pocket of the latter will be of greater long-term benefit to the economy – not to mention real people.

Robert Souch, Nelson

Politics and ideology

I note many letters, all across the print media, refer disparagingly to this Government’s ‘‘ideologydriven’’ policies. This clearly indicates the writers think ‘‘ideology’’ means ‘‘airy-fairy’’,

OPINION

en-nz

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282033331207608

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