"Do you reckon yours were 32s or 34s, Ginny?"
Parliament grounds were buzzing yesterday as The Great Electric Cherry Migration reached its final destination. The 100% electric cherries travelled north from Cromwell on a 100% electric truck and all our MPs had a box delivered to their office along with a personalised letter talking up the massive electric opportunity for New Zealand.
It was a tangible demonstration of what's possible when we embrace homegrown energy rather than foreign molecules - something that was thrown into sharp relief after the announcement of the LNG terminal the day before - and we had over 30 MPs and hundreds of passersby stop by for a chat, a look at the truck and a free cherry (or ten).
Mike Hosking received a load of cherries from his own adopted tree and spoke to Rewiring CEO Mike Casey about the season last week and he obviously got the memo about the campaign because he asked MPs Ginny Andersen and Mark Mitchell if they'd received their box on the show this morning.
It's clear Hosking has become a bit of an enthusiast and he's keen on those big 34mm cherries, but Andersen was slightly perplexed about what she thought was a rather personal question.
Could reframing energy independence as a national security issue, rather than a climate one, be our best chance to go electric? The Spinoff collects a range of views from various commentators like Liam Dann, Pattrick Smellie and Joel McManus and shows that it has clearly got the attention of the media and should be getting the attention of our politicians.
Read moreDownload"There is quite a lot of talk about EV price depreciation and resale value, but we are not really talking about petrol car price depreciation. In the next five years or so, we may start to see a big game of petrol car hot potato, first between New Zealanders, and then between other countries." That was Mike Casey writing in Newsroom in January last year but, after the current crisis, it might happen more quickly than expected.
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