Arctic melts while Labour drags chain

New discoveries about the rate at which the Canadian Arctic ice cap is breaking up should inspire urgency in our efforts to address climate change, says Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons.

“Researchers from various Canadian universities discovered a new network of cracks on the Ward Hunt ice shelf and a 23 percent reduction in the mass of sea ice in one year, underlining the need to move urgently on planet warming emissions.”

“This is why, looking at Labour’s Emissions Trading Bill, the Green Party is demanding it be more effective, and more fair.

“We can't take seriously the commitment of anyone who thinks half of all our emissions, those from agriculture, can be left to grow with no restraint till 2013 - a year after the time the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it is too late.

“The Greens are working to improve the bill so that it will reduce New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions sooner, and share that effort more fairly.”