Radio NZ - $22b transport plan drafted for Auckland

A $22 billion draft plan has been drawn up to improve the transport network in Auckland over the next 20 to 30 years.

The draft is being issued for public consultation by the Auckland Regional Transport Agency.

Electrification of the rail network by 2013, completion of the western ring route and a new transport network for East Auckland are some of the top priorities for completion within 10 years at an estimated cost of $10 billion.

A rail link across the Waitemata harbour is envisaged in 20 to 30 years and an inner-city underground rail loop.

Glass half full:
The Australian - China will soon lift demand for commodities, says ABARE

CHINA will soon regain its appetite for Australian commodities, with the financial crisis likely to put only a temporary dent in its massive and growing demand for iron ore and coal.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Resource Economics predict a sharp slump in Australian export earnings in 2009-10 as customers, particularly China, pay far less for commodities.

This week The Australian revealed the extent of the iron ore stockpiles building up at Chinese ports as the nation's steel mills cope with a slowing economy. But throughout the current downturn, Australian export volumes are expected to rise to meet developing nations' continued demand for steel production.

ABARE, the nation's chief commodities forecaster, predicts that by 2013-14, China will still be consuming up to 44 per cent of the world's steel output, while consumption in the European Union, the US and Japan remains flat. India will be consuming up to 90 million tonnes of steel, rivalling the US at 105 million tonnes.

Same Abare report, but "Glass Half Empty":
LineNews - Our coming commodities crunch

Australia is facing the prospect of rising balance of payments problems if forecasts for our vital commodity exports from the key government forecaster are anywhere near right.

In fact we could face half a decade of falling commodity export income, rising balance of payments pressure, an increasing international debt burden and some tough choices for the then federal government of the day.

TVNZ - Govt surveys oil potential in Reinga Basin

Survey work has started on assessing the oil and gas potential of the Reinga Basin, 300 kilometres off the Northland coast.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee says it is the first seismic data survey since the previous Labour-led government decided to stop data acquisition.

ABC - Shrinking economy no reason to delay ETS: Rudd

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the contraction in economic growth is no reason to delay the start of a carbon emissions trading scheme.

Stuff.co.nz - Display goes with the turf

A futuristic garden, inspired by a worst-case climate-change scenario, is taking shape for Christchurch's Ellerslie International Flower Show.

Wellington landscape designer Ben Hoyle is creating a pod which will be covered in grass inside and out as part of his On the Dark Side of the Moon exhibit for the Hagley Park show, which starts on March 11.

Herald Sun - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's green pledge was all hot air

WHEN KEVIN Rudd took to a UN stage in Bali, 2007, to announced he would ratify the Kyoto Protocol, it was a moment that received rapturous applause.

But the only thing that vanished in the year that followed the PM's grand gesture was the Federal Government's credibility on tackling global warming while stimulating the economy to move to a carbon-free future.

The ineffective climate change policy Mr Rudd conjured can be partly blamed on corporatised greenies -- the Climate Institute, Clean Energy Council, WWF and the Australian Conservation Foundation -- who were so mesmerised by the PM's smoke-and-mirrors rhetoric that they failed to provide him with the powerful message he needed to create meaningful renewable energy incentives.

The Australian - Thatcher saw climate threat

Now is as good a time as any to tackle global warming, as a former British PM knew

IN 1990, way before climate change became an issue fought from behind fixed lines, a government leader made a plea for action.

"The danger of global warming is as yet unseen but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at the expense of future generations," she said.

She argued there was a clear case for precautionary international action, action that would be sensible in any event if it improved energy efficiency, developed alternative and sustainable sources of energy and replanted forests.

[.....]

If the recession is a reason for delaying a decision now, there will be plenty more excuses in the future.

The 30 per cent fall in the value of the dollar has increased the competitiveness of Australian exports by many times more than any costs to industry of an emissions trading scheme. When the dollar goes up again, as it could well do in coming years, the rationale for further delay will be that life has become too hard for our exporters and import-competing industries.

Scoop.co.nz - Govt must tackle climate and economy together

Government needs to learn how to walk and chew gum if it's to fix this economy

Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons continued to question in the House today the Government's resistance to adopt a Green New Deal approach to solving the twin crises of economic recession and climate change.

Radio NZ - High turbine prices hinder windfarm development

The falling New Zealand dollar and high prices for turbines are causing power companies to delay investment in wind energy.

The dollar's fall from around 80 US cents to below 50 US cents makes importing turbine components to build a windfarm, about 50% more expensive.

In addition to the low dollar, the price of wind turbines is yet to reflect falling demand for the machines.

Otago Daily Times - Why the future doesn't need stadiums

[.....]

The current global economic turmoil is a symptom of a much wider change occurring in the global environment.

It is a symptom, not a cause of the problems we must overcome in the next decade.

[.....]

The most insightful document I have read recently on where we might all be heading is a report released in November 2008 by the United States Joint Forces Command entitled The Joint Operating Environment 2008 (JOE2008).

This document is remarkably frank, insightful and alarming.

It is not militaristic alarmism but a concise and comprehensive geographer's analysis of the possible consequences on our collective futures of the mixing of the demographics of massive population growth, the ageing of the West, competition for resources, economic instability and indebtedness, pandemic, international interconnectedness, technological change and relative changes in the economic and military power of nations over the next two decades.

[.....]

Building a stadium seems delusional once having read this report.

Joint Operating Environment 2008 can be found here. It is a PDF, 2.8 MByte in size.

The West Australian - Fertiliser plant set to create 1500 jobs
Yes, fertilizer is made using fossil fuel, but the fuel isn't always natural gas:

Mr Barnett confirmed interest from the private fertiliser company.

“The proposed industrial park has already created interest with North West Chemicals and Fertilisers Pty Ltd which has sought to utilise up to 140 hectares of the area for the development of a urea plant using gas-fired coal as a feedstock,” he said.

“This will leave more than 100 hectares available for other coal-related industries.”