The 'Electric Election': energy policies, side by side
For our latest episode of Political Power, Labour's Nelson MP Rachel Boyack tells us about her own electric life and the increasingly electric life of the place she's representing.
When she became an MP, she was challenged to give up her car for work, so one of the local legends Frank Witowski from Hybrid Bikes made her an electric bike that she uses to commute and get around the city.
She also pushed hard for a proper public transport system and now Nelson's bus fleet is 80% electric.
At home, she has concrete tiles on the roof, but when she gets a new one the solar panels will go on. And she might even get a battery while she's waiting.
When it comes to electrification, she reckons it's about individuals making the right choices, but it's also about communities, councils and the Government all working together to say "where are the best levers to pull to make this easy for people to switch because then we get a collective effort".
See the full interview and all the Political Power interviews here ⚡https://loom.ly/_vuINtU
BloombergNEF says sales of combustion cars peaked in 2017 and there's no coming back, while a new study in New Zealand shows petrol vehicles were losing value more quickly than equivalent models did a decade ago; big batteries aren't just for storing electricity, they can also store heat; the story of the world's biggest electric ferry and the Australian company that made it; electric motorbikes are doing a lot of heavy lifting on emissions reduction, so why don't they get more attention?; and a new show called HallowGreen2 that tackles the energy transition "with music, humour and a hopeful message”.
Read moreDownloadRNZ's Kate Newton looks at why no-one is really talking about emissions as an election issue. As Mike Casey said: "The climate movement up until this point has been very, very good at creating dartboards, but terrible at providing people with darts to play the game." That's allowed for inaction, and active lobbying against climate change action from fossil fuel companies and others who stand to lose out ... The solution is "flipping it into a strong economic narrative that they can't possibly fight with".
Read moreDownloadHumans are comparative creatures and they're particularly comparative during election season. That's why we've created a rundown of all the energy-related election policies that have been announced by the parties so far.
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