Original article published in the Mountain Scene, HERE 

I remember growing up seeing a bumper sticker which read “the only fresh air is the space between a greenie’s ears”.
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That phrase has always stuck with me.Well-intentioned yet illogical rhetoric from the green lobby, personal apathy and misplaced polices of political parties both foreign and domestic are the real threat to our environment.

Aside from a handful of exceptions, the poorest countries on earth have the largest challenges in terms of their environment and the loss of native flora and fauna going forward.

Their lack of wealth means they have very few choices and they are easily exploited by large corporations.
At a local level, if people are cold they need to burn what they can to keep warm or cook food.

If they are hungry they need to eat what’s available regardless how or where it’s grown to survive.
They cannot think about preservation for the greater good as they simply don’t have that luxury. New Zealand is different; our relative affluence gives us choices. We can choose to use plastic bags or not, or to protect some areas of our country from logging or mining for the next generation.

Even though we might forego some short-term economic gain, our country can afford it. We have chosen to try to restore some of our native species and become predator-free by 2050. Wildlife preservation campaigns are not cheap, neither is pest eradication, and all of these things come at a great cost and all rely on a successful economy to deliver funding.

There is a balance between the economy and the environment and we at least have the freedom of speech and political alignment to debate it. However, it seems often the conversation is sidetracked by the extreme green lobby and their views that defy logic and common sense at times.

As a result of this pressure at a global level we are about to spend $14 billion over the next decade on buying carbon credits to meet our Paris accord obligations. This is despite our greenhouse gas emissions being an inconsequential 0.1 per cent of global emissions.How many new waste treatment plants, waterway and beach clean-ups or recycling campaigns could that money buy? Not to mention the social services or even tax cuts for hard-working Kiwis.

Also riddle me this, what is more natural, a handful of Hereford beef cattle drinking from a high country creek or thousands of flush toilets funnelling human waste, sanitary products and cleaning chemicals via often sub-standard local septic and centralised waste treatment stations back into our waterways, oceans and ground water?
While it may be manageable and sensible to exclude livestock-intensive lowland farms, excluding those animals on our extensive farms would require millions of treated fence posts, concrete troughs and plastic piping from here to the moon.

The visual pollution alone would be devastating to our high country vistas.
We need to continue to have a common sense approach that allows the drivers of our economy to continue to operate in parts of our landscape so that we can foot the bill to protect others and maintain the quality of life Kiwis expect.

The environment is vital for our economy and our economy is vital in allowing us to protect the environment.
The fact they go hand-in-hand is often forgotten by certain elements in our society.

Read the original column in the Mountain Scene  online HERE

How is the local body election race going? It was great to see some healthy competition emerging before I left with a good selection of candidates.

​I’m sure Basil Walker will continue to barrage the Scene with his colourful ramblings to keep me somewhat updated on progress.

Queenstown, to be honest I’ve not thought about you much while enjoying myself here in Europe and I’m sure you haven’t missed me either – well, except George the Horse and Scoop, who might be short on a few running kilometres since my departure.

It’s good to get out of the bubble every now and then and I always enjoy poking my head out of the blissful mist of our own little utopia, dropping work for a while and experiencing some of the more redeeming features other countries have to offer.

Aside from a few speed bumps – care of some very out-of-character service issues with Air New Zealand, the usual complete shambles that is Spark’s global roaming, and the missions I had trying to find a milkshake in Stockholm, and a Speight’s in London – it’s been a great break to date in the UK and Scandinavia.

I’ve particularly enjoyed the fantastic public transport services and high-quality infrastructure in general. It’s still an area NZ has plenty of catching up to do.

Stockholm is essentially no bigger than Auckland and it’s got a fully functional underground rail system, comprehensive bus network and is laced with bike lanes. Work started in the 1940s and is always ongoing.

The moral of the story is prioritising spending on core services over fluffy nice-to-haves, planning well ahead of current needs and committing a substantial investment pays dividends in the long run. It’s a poignant message for Queenstown’s council hopefuls.

While I’ve had a great time I can’t help but feel a little for Europe. It has changed since my last visit – it feels a little less welcoming than it once was, with the famed freedom movement becoming a little less free if the series of questions I've been asked at airports are anything to go by. Just like Auckland and Melbourne, there is more visible homelessness, even in places like Sweden, which has shocked the locals.

The pool I went to in Stockholm was having some cultural issues with new migrants and the female bathers, leading to segregating of the spa pools. Communities are changing and security is noticeably tighter in many places.

So while we can’t build infrastructure to save ourselves, our unique geographic isolation has spared us from some of the more tragic challenges facing Europe.

I’m heading down to France for a wedding next and I’m sure they will be on edge still down there.
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However I’m hoping Iceland – recently ranked as the safest country on earth – will allow me to leave my car doors unlocked, like Southland in the ’90s.

Mark writes a regular column for the Mountain Scene to view the original click HERE ​

I could pick her up from the private jet in the Hilux, “mind the hay from horse paddock as you get in luv”! Then take her down to watch a bit of cricket, failing miserably to explain the rules while hopefully doing a better explaining our lack of Ozone and the desperate need for sun screen on that fair skin.  We could trundle into the Ale House for a Speights en-route home for a BBQ on the deck, consisting mainly of a variety of game meats and a bounty of garlic breads, you don’t win friends with Salad as Homer Simpson always says.
 
On offer would be quality airbed style lodgings in the guest hallway L cove at the Arthurs Shore palace. Complimentary wakeup call by the Shotover Jet to clear the jet lag. If she was lucky enough to be around on New Year’s Day she would have been woken up at 5am by an unnamed neighbour’s chainsaw as he rowdily celebrated the arrival of 2015 by felling a pesky Douglas fir after a few too many pints. It’s all go at Arthurs Point!
 
There would be no de cafe skinny soy latté with vegan bread for breaky, it would be a hearty venison pie from the Arrowtown bakery, followed by what would hopefully some bikini clad amateur gold panning on a 4WD trip to Macetown.
 
Of course I would need to give Scoop a chance to snap a shot for the scene and heard at the Ballarat but only after tucking into a very messy Chinese smorgasbord with the lads at Lake Side Palace, Bliss!
 
It’s no surprise they all stay at Blanket Bay and I’m still single is it! 
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Mark writes a regular column for the Mountain Scene

I don't deny climate change but suggest an alternative view of it and different solutions.
 
Climate change is a side effect of human existence. A natural bi product of growth, technological development, higher standards of living and longer life spans.
 
It's an ignorant naivety to think that we can enhance humanity's standard of living without environmental trade-offs. It's like having a company which only makes revenue but incurs no costs. 
 
Well intentioned climate change crusaders are not helping things with radicalised behaviour which at times borders on environmental terrorism.
 
In my eyes technological development created, identified and will ultimately solve anthropogenic enhanced climate change (not to be confused with naturally occurring climate change).
 
This technological development has meant humanity's environmental cost per unit of GDP generated has been shrinking for decades and we must continue to innovate and find ways to do more with less.
 
Population growth has somewhat stymied the positive effect but I don't see many greenies calling for population controls... just threatening to poison babies with 1080.
 
At 0.01% of global emissions, to think the strangulation NZ industry and agribusiness can make a global difference is ridiculous. To think the world will follow our lead at great economic cost is just as ridiculous. We could sink into the ocean and it would make no difference. The USA emits as much Co2 in 2 days as NZ does in a year.
 
We can only keep improving if we have the desire to innovate and more importantly the funds to do so.
 
Environmental choices and as importantly research and development cost money, we need the profits from our successful economy to fund these.
 
The clean Ideas and emissions reduction technology we create can be sold to the world's large polluters. This not only earns us a living but really knock's back Co2 emissions.
 
Targets which require shutting factories and removing cows will only leave our country devoid of money to fund environmental choice and struggling to look after our citizens.
 
Unfortunately as long we all want iPhones, overseas holidays, Facebook and beer fridges we will have an impact on our environment. The best way to mitigate these effects is via new technology from further incentivising R&D along with promoting and rewarding clean exports not via punishing emissions and strangling our economy.

Mark writes a regular column for the Mountain Scene - View the original  HERE,