Kia Ora Everyone! 

Winter is here! 

Some snow has arrived and there are heaps of people out and about enjoying winter in the mountains! In Otago the lifts are spinning and heaps of school holiday folks are hitting the slopes. The Canterbury club fields haven't been able to open yet, they've had the Ullr gods deliver some snow but then take it right away again. Rainbow with their hard working team has opened further north. On the North Island Mt Ruapehu is open on both sides but also still needs more snow for all the lifts to spin. 

BUT it wasn't looking so good in June. You were probably all thinking it was pretty warm last month. Turns out it was. In fact it was the warmest June ever in New Zealand. Looking at the long term forecast for this winter NIWA says mild temps are likely to be a trend for the season. June also happened to mark the 53rd month since New Zealand registered a month with a below-average temperature – a trend generally down to a warming climate. Check out the full summary from NIWA here.  

Remember the Climate Commission? 

Well, a group of more than 300 lawyers, from the oranisation Lawyers for Climate Action is taking is taking the commission and Climate Minister James Shaw to court. 

They allege the commission's recommended emissions budgets and advice on strengthening New Zealand's Paris Agreement target are not consistent with the international climate pact, the Zero Carbon Act or limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels. Read more about it here. Great to see so many communities out there using their skills to act on climate. 

EV's or E-bikes? 

Last month we wrote about the government's feebate scheme with subsidies for EV's and fees attached to vehicles with high emissions. It's a good system but what if you can't afford a new EV? Given that about 1/3 of car journeys in New Zealand are less than 2km and about 2/3 are less than 6km the majority of these trips could be done by bike. Or an e-bike! If e-bike will help with the behavioural shift needed to get kiwis out of cars, wouldn't a subsidy for e-bike be great! Yep we think so too. You can sign a petition to tell the government to subsidise bikes. 

Do you really need that adventure car?

We all know know that climate change is a problem. 79% of kiwis agree that climate change is an 'important' issue. So why then were the top 5 selling cars last year all high-emission SUV's or utes? There's a growing disconnect between our intentions and our actions. That's both with the government and individuals. It's partly due to tax loopholes that allow people to claim cars as work vehicles, and it's partly due to clever marketing which portrays SUV's as safer, more masculine and better for adventure. But they don't take into account the cost to the environment or to people. Check out this excellent and easy to read cartoon from the Spinoff which explains this very well. When you're done with that have a read of this myth busting article in Wilderlife about an adventure couple who have taken their small EV climbing, skiing, kayaking and more. Also excellent reading.  

EV adventuring; Photo credit: Kat West

No new coal mines in NZ! 

Did you know that there are currently proposals for new open cast coal mines in Southland and the West Coasts? AND on conservation land?!?! Yep you read that correctly! We shouldn't be mining conservation land at all, let alone for climate-damaging coal. Forest and Bird have a launched a petition to ask for no new coal. Please sign it here. 

Despite being the most polluting fossil fuel, the use of coal in NZ has been increasing. This is because of increasing demand for electricity and decreasing reliability of hydropower. In addition to no new coal mines we need to encourage rapid increases in solar and wind electricity. More on this next month. 

Intact forest from the proposed mining site on conservation land at Te Kuha. Photo: Neil Silverwood / Supplied by Forest & Bird

Upcoming events

If you're in Queenstown come along tonight to joint Burton's Welcome back to winter event at world bar. There's a showing of their film One World movie combined with live music and art. . A carbon neutral movie about snowboarders and their connection to their communities and environment. POW will be there with a sweet Burton snowboard to raffle off! 

We're also planning a movie night in Queenstown in about two weeks time, a tree planting event in Canterbury, an a speaker event in Wanaka. Watch this space!

In Wanaka (July 28th) and Queenstown (July 29th) Shaping Our Future is hosting a speaker and discussion evening exploring ways of getting around in the QLDC. Let's fill these events up! Sign up here!  Take their survey here. 

Nga Mihi,

The team at POW