Media press release from Ken Crispin, Secretary CEAC
“Simon Bridges on 24th September 2018 last year on News
hub said he now wants to work with Jacinda on climate
change”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/09/simon-bridges-jacinda-ardern-working-together-on-climate-change-plan.html
Quote;
“Simon Bridges says he and Jacinda Ardern
have been working behind the scenes to develop an "enduring"
plan to combat climate change.
He told The AM Show
on Monday he's had one private meeting with Ms Ardern, and
National climate spokesman Todd Muller has met several times
with Climate Change Minister James Shaw.
"We
talked about whether we can have an enduring framework that
everyone signs up to. That's a different thing from saying
'the target will definitely be this and we need to do those
seven things'."
Unquote;
We at CEAC say this is an un-believable change in Simon Bridges position, he has shown today on News hub as Bridges has been part of the effort to shut down our rail system and push all freight onto our roads that will increase the climate emission gasses five times faster.
Rail according to this
report will save us $1.5 Billion a year and cut climate
change emissions according to a rail study his Government
produced back in 2016 and kept under wraps when he found out
the truth in his report his government had ordered in
2016.
From his report we quote;
“Reducing carbon emissions by 488,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent of taking 87,000 cars off the road – saves $8.5 million.”
http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/The%20Value%20of%20the%20Rail%20in%20New%20Zealand.pdf
Facts at a glance:
• Rail contributes up to
$1.5 billion in often unseen benefits to New Zealand each
year.
• The value of rail to New Zealand far outweighs
its cost to the taxpayer.
• Using rail reduces the
number of deaths and injuries on our roads by a net 271 a
year.
• Rail saves taxpayers money on congestion, road
maintenance costs, injuries and fatalities and reduced
carbon emissions.
Reducing congestion saves $1.3 billion,
the equivalent of 100,000 fewer daily car trips and taking
30,000 trucks off the road for an hour a
day.
• Reducing carbon emissions by 488,000 tonnes a
year – the equivalent of taking 87,000 cars off the road
– saves $8.5 million.
• Improving safety outcomes
saves $60 million.
• Reducing road maintenance saves
$63 million.
• Rail is also an important and
sustainable economic contributor to the regions and links
New Zealand to export markets overseas.
We at CEAC
have no reasons to believe that Simon Bridges will reverse
his “anti-rail - pro-road freight policies” in an
attempt to help in reducing carbon emissions by at least
488,000 tonnes a year or more by increased use of rail
freight to lower all those carbon emissions, unless we see
solid evidence of this move back to restoring rail freight
written in policies by him laid out before the voters of
NZ.