India FTA Unites NZ First, Greens
National’s much-touted free trade deal with India featured in the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek, Hamilton on Wednesday night.
Ridiculed as hypocrites for clocking up obscene air miles during what they describe as a “climate emergency”; treated like doormats by their coalition partners who have knocked back most of the key Green pet projects, Milking It reckons they must sympathise with the frog.
But were they on the right track with their now-dead electric car policy?
A new study by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that even if the number of electric cars grows from the current 5 million (0.3% of the global fleet) to 130 million in 10 years, emissions would be reduced by a mere 0.4% of global emissions.
As academic and author Bjorn Lomborg wrote in a New Zealand newspaper last week, “EVs...will not be a major part of the solution to climate change. [They] are simply expensive gadgets heavily subsidised for the wealthy to feel good while doing very little for the planet.”
