For the Avoidance of Diesel, and Doubt
Yet another (not unexpected) fossil-fuel supply crunch is here. It will continue to affect everything in our economy. And be painful. But it should also, at last, shift discussion and action much more strongly towards reducing our structural dependency on fossil fuels where we can.…
71 Comments Is government grasping the crisis and opportunities?
With the fuel crisis ramping up, all eyes are on the government’s response. Officially there’s a plan, with four phases. There are two relatively similar phases, Watchful and Precautionary – and then a quantum leap to quite serious measures at phases 3 and 4, Managed and Protected, both currently under consultation.…
What Should We Do?
Or rather:
What We Should Do…
…about the maybe imminent – but always possible – imported liquid fuels crisis.
And by “we”, I mean the New Zealand Government, whose job this is.
First, and above all: we should think and act strategically, not just reactively.…
For whom the harbour bridge tolls…
Many people want a new harbour crossing, but do they want to pay $9 for it every time they cross the harbour?
Yesterday Te Waihanga, the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission released its National Infrastructure Plan (NIP). A lot of their case feels very familiar to many of the arguments we’ve made over many years, especially about transport investment.…
The promise of PC120: saying yes to more homes
This piece originally ran as an op-ed in the NZ Herald on Friday. To find out more about the Coalition for More Homes and get involved in YIMBY action, check out the website. Last year, 200 people packed out a town hall in Mt Eden to protest apartment buildings being constructed near train stations – and therefore their house.…
Minister admits RoNS reality is biting – and hard
“Whatever the problem, build another road” has been a hallmark of policy from the current government. And we’ve long suggested that is simply not affordable or practical – including just a month ago, when the latest costs were released for a bunch of the government’s flagship Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme.…
Time to get off the gas
With energy policy and the cost of power in the headlines this week, here’s a timely guest post by regular reader, and freelance Business Analyst specialising in pricing and operations management, Stephen Reynolds. (Header image: Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA4.0) Many New Zealanders view exhausting our fossil fuel reserves as inevitable and enabling us to move on from the emissions they generate.…
Yes we can retrofit Perimeter Blocks!
This is a guest post by Alex Bonham, Yasmin Tapiheroe, and Nic Williams of Women in Urbanism Aotearoa. They make the case that permitting perimeter blocks in mixed urban housing zones will better provide green space, trees and safe access to play.…
Great benefits, what about the costs?
Big infrastructure projects are great if you only count the benefits and none of the costs. That seems to be the position of infrastructure lobby group Infrastructure NZ, based on a report they released last week about the big motorway projects built in Wellington over the last decade.…
Fuel Taxes to go
The government look set to make things easier for big gas guzzling vehicles with the announcement yesterday that they’re progressing with plans to replace fuel taxes with road user charges. Cabinet has agreed to a series of important legislative changes to enable the transition of New Zealand’s 3.5 million light vehicles to paying for our roading network through electronic road user charges, rather than petrol tax, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop.…
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