Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
This is why we need to stick together
I got an email through the Climate Karanga Marlborough website a while back.
It read: “From Google: a 10kg dog would be the equivalent of 240kg of
CO2 emissions per year. In response to the Stuff article showing a photo of two people and a dog.”
The photo was of me, my partner and our dog, which accompanied an article I’d written for the Marlborough Express. The intent of the email was clear: I was claiming to be a climate activist but owned an emissions-generating plaything. I was being called a hypocrite.
It got me thinking about the bigger picture. Climate sceptics accuse us of being hypocrites when we don’t “walk the talk” and we accuse them of wantonly spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for continuing to live emissions-intensive lifestyles. You’ve all heard of “flight-shaming”, I presume.
But, does this tit-for-tat battle get us anywhere?
There is a bigger issue here, when thinking about the weather disasters we can expect with continued global warming.
Some years ago I was working in the Philippines where I met a woman who told me of a family member who was stealing from other family members. I suggested she might want to kick that person out of the family. She said: “Oh no, you can’t do that. You never know when you might need their help when the next typhoon comes.”
You see, the Philippines is a country
that experiences regular disasters – earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and typhoons. They’ve learned that they need one another to get through these disasters.
There is a lesson here. In order to best get through the turbulent times ahead, we need to stick together.
I was out in the Sounds when the July 17, 2021, weather bomb hit. The road was flooded in one direction and blocked by a slip in the other. The power, telephone and internet were all out. Blocked drains and raging streams were tearing the place apart.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before neighbours appeared. Diggers were out clearing the slips, people coming up our drive checking we were OK and helicopters flying overhead. I was grateful we were all on the same team.
So now, as we look at the rates increase about to hit us, we’ve got a chance to stick together in a different way; in reading and submitting on the council’s proposed long-term plan. Democracies depend upon the participation of the people and upon people working together. We’ve got some big infrastructure repair and upgrade bills coming and we all need to have a say in how (or if ) we pay for them.
As our climate continues to warm, this likely won’t be the last rates increase needed to repair infrastructure after one or more weather-driven disasters. It is an unwelcome reality at a time of rising living costs and slowing economy. All the more reason to work together so we can all make it through.
Submissions on the long-term planclose May 6.
If you have any questions about climate change and global warming, visit and ask at Climate Karanga Marlborough’s website (climatekaranga.org.nz) or on our Facebook page.