Media

This is an assortment of videos to introduce real world built examples of the concepts I am proposing for the protection of Wellington’s inner harbour and southern coast. If we are to deal with the increasingly destructive impact of climate change in the form of storms, sea surges and the compounding effects of sea level rise, we need to start thinking about solutions on a scale that will actually deliver real mitigation, ensure long term resilience and provide a foundation upon which we can extend or update our capacity to respond. If we continue with the current approach of reinstating what existed before we will end up in a constant cycle of destruction and rebuild that will eventually overwhelm our capacity to respond – both physically and financially. We need to make some bold decisions and invest in solutions that remain viable and effective well into the future.

The cost of doing nothing or not enough is beyond measure.

Here are some examples of the work being done by the Dutch government envoy Henk Ovink. In contrast, the Japanese tsunami barrier effectively removes beachside amenity, views and sunlight from swathes of coastline.

The final video deals with affordable housing concepts developed and implemented in the Austrian capital Vienna. There are lessons in their model that can be adopted and adapted by the Wellington City Council. I look forward to working on such projects and ther concept of urban consolidation when on council.

Now let’s talk about those “cargo bikes” being used to transport children rather than parcels. It can be argued that these are now passenger vehicles that should be subject to road worthiness tests and registration or road user charges. Safety of the children is paramount and it should be obvious that cycleways do not provide protection. The Ministry of Transport and NZTA should now accept that something needs to be done.

The argument that we all need to buy electric cars is another of those ethereal “green” notions that takes no account of the fact that electric vehicles (including e-bikes) have very high initial CO2 emissions as a result of the fact that they require the extraction and processing of rare earth metals and other elements such as cobalt and lithium. As well as the environmental damage caused by extraction and the emissions associated with processing, it should be remembered that extraction of cobalt in particular is associated with widespread child exploitation in the DRC. In the interests of informed decision making and philosophical consistency one would expect the reds and greens to be cognisant of these facts – but I wouldn’t hold my breath. In reality, e-vehicles, PV panels, wind generators, etc are a disastrous infill technology. The future is fusion energy and hydrogen powered vehicles. Right now we’d be better off going for small scale thorium fission reactors instead of plastering wind generators and PV panels all over the landscape. But don’t expect any sensible decisions from central government any time soon.