Short-term governments, long-term climate issues

The 2023 general election results are in and National will lead a new Government for the next three years.

Climate change and the environment are a low priority for National and its Act coalition partner, which wants to repeal the Zero Carbon Act. NZ First leader Winston Peters has been spreading misleading climate information at public meetings.

In your Saturday Herald, page 12, there was a report about trillions of tonnes of ice lost. Four dozen Antarctic ice shelves have shrunk by at least 30 percent since 1997 and 28 of those have lost more than half of their ice in that time. The biggest loss of all is in the Thwaites ice shelf, holding back the glacier nicknamed Doomsday because it is melting so fast and is so big. The shelf has lost 70 percent of its mass since 1997, about 4.1 trillion tonnes.

Sea ice reflects as much as 90 percent of solar radiation and its disappearance will expose the dark ocean surface, allowing it to absorb more of the sun’s energy — causing it to heat up and increase temperatures further.

I now repeat my words from your Friday the 13th edition. Weakest . . . Climate change is the most important issue we face. FACT: Climate change is happening, humans are responsible, and plants and animals, including humans, are struggling to adapt. We must stop the burning of fossil fuels soon. Yet it is National with their potential partners who have the weakest commitment to climate change.

However, now in my second decade studying people’s resistance to taking climate change seriously enough, I better understand why most humans are much better at short-term thinking.

In New Zealand/Aotearoa governments have only three-year terms in office. And capitalism runs the show — so why not vote for a National-led government.

So, why should I worry? Psychologically, denial makes sense. Despite the outrageous fact that I’ll soon be dead forever, I live in the present, not the future.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a happy next three years under a National-led coalition Government.

Bob Hughes