Cannot Eat Money

The consents for the lignite briquetting plant in Southland will not be notified because their effects are ‘de minimis’….apparently. They will be processed with delegated authority through the regional and district council for the respective plan infringements. This means that the public will have no opportunity to challenge one of the worst prospects for economic development, possibly in the nation’s history.

And inevitably questions will be raised over the RMA and it’s failure to provide for this input. And rightly so…the 2004 Energy and Climate Amendment provided for the consideration of the effects of climate change, except in relation to discharge of greenhouse gases. Greenpeace and Genesis squabbled about the same issue in 2009, all the way up to the Court of Appeal, with all but Chief Justice Elias finding in favour of Genesis’s contention.

It seems now that we are stuck… There was an opportunity in 2006 when a members bill from the lovely Jeanette Fitzsimons was tabled, suggesting the provision be repealed in light of the gravity of climate change…but that did not forge ahead of course. And it seems that such things, according to Environment Southlands plaintive press release, will be dealt with at a national level.

By what mechanism and when and how is not made clear. I fear what we will see is a quiet approval through a big gap in the net…and we will wait for the rest of the world to ridicule our decision….now or in the near future. Brace yourself for criticism…it is inevitable when one fails to provide recourse to challenge a ludicrous proposal such as this. Gutted.