We are also the only party that has ever introduced any legislation designed to address climate change. The Energy Efficiency Bill is back in the House, rewritten by the Select Committee but unchanged in its objective. It looks likely to be debated on Wednesday. I do not believe pricing alone can change energy habits and attitudes, and see the complementary measures of minimum energy performance standards, targets, information , education and monitoring, developed publicly through a national strategy, as essential. The crunchy issue for climate change policy is transport.
Most politicians avert their eyes and shuffle uncomfortably because the roading lobby is so strong.
Only the Green Party has the courage to talk about reducing car dependence, both to make our cities more liveable and our children safer, and to reduce greenhouse emissions. All the issues in the charter are important, but there are 2 on which we must make progress in the next few months, or we lose the opportunity. The first full commercial release of a genetically engineered crop into the New Zealand environment must not be allowed to take place. We are not opposing GE work in contained laboratories, for example, for gene mapping, diagnostic and medical uses, but it has no place in our environment or our food. The world revulsion against GE food can become a positive for us.