International Policy/Senior Policy Analyst: Climate Change MAF are advertising for someone to fill this role; this is what they are requiring in terms of key skills. I have added a few extra skills in italics based on my experience dealing with people who make a living in the climate change and/ or sustainability business and in my dealings with MAF senior policy analysts. Strong analytical skills, preferably including experience in numerical analysis. (This is important because you will be dealing with made up numbers that have been adjusted several times and don't make any sense) A background in climate change and/or sustainability preferred. ...

The NZ Press Council has upheld a complaint made by Robin Grieve Chairman of Pastural Farming Climate Research Inc. against the NZ Herald. The complaint concerned their reporting of livestock emissions and the extent of agriculture's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The complaint was for inaccuracy. For some time now I have been trying to get the NZ Herald to publish our views about livestock emissions. In particular we have keenly sought to be able to balance the preposterous claims made by vegetarians that vegetarianism is a good way to save the planet from global warming. The claims that meat production ...

The Minister for Agriculture and officials in his Ministry are using the analogy of the 'three ovens' to try and justify the Government's policy on livestock emissions of methane.  It seems they like this analogy to try and explain why emissions of enteric methane should be reduced even though they now admit that most, if not all of these emissions do not cause an increase in greenhouse gases that is required to cause global warming. The Minister used it in a letter to me and officials and a senior scientist within the Ministry used it in a meeting with Neil ...

I had a productive meeting with John Boscawen from the ACT Party last Monday night. The ACT party is farmers only hope of progress in our case against being the only farmers in the world hit with the injustice of being taxed for no good reason whatsoever. National know that farmers generally support National and for that reason farmers don't have as much influence as a voting block. In fact it seems that National is going out of its way to punish farmers as an act of demonstrating it is not the National of old. Why else would you legislate to ...