Thread by @LisaMcLaren2013

Today I gave my personal submission on the #ZeroCarbonBill to Environment Select Committee. It was the last chance I had to influence the official process. Not that I think it will have any impact. It was a personal speech, so I had all the feels. Edited script as thread. 1/25

For the last 3 years I’ve been the National Convener of the #ZeroCarbonAct for @genzeronz . But I am here today representing myself and my views are my own. So get ready for three years worth of things that I couldn’t say as campaign convener packed into five short minutes. 2/25

I live across urban/rural NZ. I grew up on a sheep& beef farm. I am middle class Pākehā, currently with 3 university degrees & 1/2 a PhD. The legacy of colonialism is strong &has benefited my family greatly. My privilege is undeniable & therefore my future kids should be ok. 3/25

But because of govt inaction on #ClimateChange, I’m scared to have kids. The type of fear that keeps me up at night. The type of fear that puts my mind at war with my biological clock. I can’t imagine how that fear must be exacerbated in people without my level of privilege. 4/25

We’ve watched farming industry leaders spend the last few decades throwing stones at plans / politicians rather than working out a transition plan for their communities. They’ve been backed by MPs who politicised our rural communities, preying on their confusion & anxiety. 5/25

The writing has been on the wall about climate change all this time. They chose to ignore it, cover it up, make it into a joke. I am SO MAD they have messed this up. Purposefully. It is infuriating to have them called leaders after this blatant deceit shown to our farmers. 6/25

I am begging you to keep cross party support for this law. Our rural communities need ALL MPs to fully support this law. Pass this law with cross party support BECAUSE of our rural communities need this law, not against it as some political vote-gathering ploy in their name. 7/25

If you keep driving a wedge between rural and urban NZ on climate change then you are the problem. Our rural communities desperately need this law, whether they know it or not. This law could secure a just transition for their future, for the future of their farm and family. 8/25

We know there is good science, trustworthy science, economically verified science that shows how farmers can reduce stock numbers and on-farm inputs and still make the same profit. We also know scientifically that many of our farming systems are unsustainable. 9/25

Our planet is on the brink of environmental collapse. And therefore economic collapse. NZ is deeply included in this. The way we farm and what we farm HAS to change. Telling farmers anything less than this is doing them a disservice. Stop forcing their heads in the sand. 10/25

When we designed the split gases into our draft #ZeroCarbonAct, we worried industry groups with vested interests, & the politicians looking for votes, may take advantage. We’ve been proved correct. This is why we need this law to take the politics out of #ClimateChange. 11/25

These #ClimateLiars who intentionally spread rumours are the new version of climate change denial. They are an even more dangerous version, because #ClimateLiars come across as rational, well considered, logical, and even compassionate. 12/25

These #ClimateLiars are now preying on peoples uncertainty, confusion, mistrust & worry. They are preying on the urban rural divide, backed by the click bait hungry media. They have a vested interest in keeping the public divided, they WANT the status quo to remain 13/25

These #ClimateLiars want business as usual to continue, only with a new green facade to make for good marketing. They don’t want the public to realise that everyone could be better off in Aotearoa NZ if the right climate change action is taken now. 14/25

The action needed privileges decolonisation & principles of a just transition. One that creates a pathway into meaningful work. A country where people are supported, given the right info by people they trust, rather than sector leaders creating confused distrust and anger. 15/25

These #ClimateLiars state that our global portion of emissions is small. They conveniently leave out that if the countries in the world with the same emission percentage as NZ all reduced their emissions then we would take a third of the global emissions out of the total. 16/25

These #ClimateLiars conveniently leave out that fact that New Zealand has a ridiculously high per person emissions rate. We take on average much more than our fair share. We have a sense of entitlement to use these emissions. 17/25

And of course not all parts of our society have the privilege to be this greedy in their emissions usage. 18/25

These #ClimateLiars also tell us that it would hurt our economy to try change because the rest of the world isn’t changing and they would gain a competitive advantage over us. That argument is so 2010. It will hurt out economy NOT to change. 19/25

The rest of the world is changing to low carbon societies at a fantastically fast rate. We already have no shot of being leaders or maybe even fast followers in this race. We are playing catch up. The UK put in almost the exact same law 10 years ago. We are not leading. 20/25

We know that there are severe and devastating impacts are already happening. Changes that scientists thought were decades off. The planet is changing at a startlingly fast rate. These changes shouldn’t be happening yet. The models said we had time. We don’t. 21/25

So, we know that every tonne of emissions counts. We know that every degree of warming counts. But let us be VERY clear. You [MPs] are not debating the science. What you are now debating is our country’s policy response to that science. 22/25

Will this transition be done with democratic processes, trust building & proper engagement? Or will you delay action long enough that it becomes forced upon people later? Stripping many of the dignity that comes with making their own choices in the transition. 23/25

How much of the issue you are going to put aside for future generations to be burdened with in the decades to come? I have no confidence that you will create a law strong enough to make the reductions we need. I don’t think you have the guts. 24/25

I think you will be bought off by interest groups who claim to support their people, but who have been getting in the way of supporting those same people to transition with dignity for the last few decades. I hope you prove me wrong. END 25/25

5 minutes wasn’t long to pack in three years worth of thoughts but I hope the Enviornment Select Committee are honest in how and why they are including/excluding different views in their final decisions on the #ZeroCarbonBill.

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #nzpol #ZeroCarbonAct