Kent Duston

It’s decision avoidance. If he said ‘we’re going to prioritize agricultural production and food transportation’ then a bunch of people will be angry; this way, everyone gets to stick their heads in the sand and still use the ute to drive the kids to school

The approach by Hipkins does seem to reflect the lack of desire by politicians to ever prioritize - in effect, he’s talking about lowering the price and then letting the market decide. This is not ideal when the adequacy of supply is the issue, and price is only the indicator

ThE mArkET wiLL pRoViDe!

I had to drive down to Wellington yesterday - because the airfares are eye-wateringly expensive - and every time some moron in a Ford Ranger went speeding past I yelled “$3 a litre!” at them. It was very cathartic

There are an infinity of Downfall memes just waiting to be written

And that photo of a bulk carrier on fire in the Straits of Hormuz over the top of Trump saying ships should just sail through the Straits of Hormuz is a pretty impressive display of how disconnected the rhetoric is from reality

This is via @sky.skymarchini.net

That graph wins the Internet today

I think people believe the point of progressive politics is to try to convince malicious, bad-faith bigots to not be violent, instead of defanging their movements and making them politically irrelevant.

It's not about "saving the souls of the lost". It's about making sure their harm is mitigated.

The underground pipe work was filled with concrete to stop it corroding and turning into dangerous sink holes, as I recall

Rohan’s a very impressive guy and will make a great MP

#nzpol

A very insightful and balanced view of forestry in Tairāwhiti from @manucaddie.bsky.social. Well worth a read

#nzpol

Of all the Prime Ministers we’ve had, he’s definitely one of them

It’ll never work - they’ll be arrested by the cops while they’re still looking for the clutch pedal

You’re thinking of Major Major Major. And I’m here for it

And there’s this: Brent oil at $109 and West Texas Intermediate at $110. If these prices persist for more than a week, a global (and AoNZ) recession is guaranteed

#nzpol

What Paul said. And any amount of smugness from us EV owners is going to fall pretty flat in the face of oil-driven stagflation across the whole of the economy … maybe we can EV our way to the supermarket, but it doesn’t mean we’ll be able to afford anything it stocks

wow they woke up

The Hill United CEO: Airfare likely to rise as jet fuel prices surge United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby warned this week that soaring jet fuel prices tied to conflict in the Middle East could soon push airline... . 4 hours ago Aerospace Global News Airfares could rise as Iran conflict drives soaring fuel costs and flight detours Airlines face rising jet fuel prices and costly rerouting around Middle East airspace after US-Israel strikes on Iran, and may raise... . 1 day ago BBC Surge in jet fuel prices could push up air fares, analysts warn Disruption to supplies from the Gulf, in the wake of the US and Israeli air strikes on Iran, has pushed the cost of aviation kerosene up by... . 1 day ago Українські Національні Новини (УНН) War with Iran triggered a sharp rise in fuel prices in the US УНН Economy ✎ Gasoline prices in the US rose by 11% due to the conflict with Iran and oil at $90. This creates political risks for... . 15 hours ago Simple Flying Airfare Warning: United CEO Says Ticket Prices Will Rise ‘Quickly’ As Fuel Costs Skyrocket As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, airlines brace for the impact on their pocketbooks, with United CEO warning of rising...

Public service announcement: this is a FOSSIL FUEL CRISIS

Not an 'energy crisis'. People need energy: it keeps them alive. This is a crisis due to forced dependency on the most unreliable and unstable fuel product in human history.

THIS IS A FOSSIL FUEL CRISIS.

Yeah … the potential conflict with Iran has been on the books for decades, and the implications of a war in the Middle East has been known for decades, yet somehow the reality takes these idiots by surprise

We could optimize the market model, or we could simply admit the Bradford reforms are an abject failure and dump the market altogether - which would acknowledge that electricity is a strategic resource, not a rent extraction mechanism

And then there’s this:

At the moment they can’t decide whether reducing the power bills of some of the poorest whānau in the country is in line with their strategic vision … ffs …

Think of him as more a Chief Lobbyist than a Chief Economist

Given the amount of political capital Jeanette Fitzsimons had to expend to get EECA established, she’d be horrified

The scheme is great but requires legislative change. We’ve been chasing EECA for a measly $200k to run the pilot for a self-funding scheme and they’ve been indulging in what can only be described as bureaucratic masturbation for more than half a year

We’ve been working on a distributed PV/battery program for Tairāwhiti to lower power bills for some of the poorest whānau in the country, and EECA has been procrastinating about it for seven f*cking months. We have a problem as a country

He’s probably looking forward to the poll bounce from the photo

And we’re the Saudi Arabia of renewables! Name a renewable electricity source, and we have it in abundance. There’s literally no excuse for not doing the smart thing