Carbon Credits Don't Do Anything

I am at work today, and despite the date that will be published along with this post, it is actually a Saturday morning, my being in the southern hemisphere and all. So I am feeling more than a bit complainy, but that is not why I started this blog, so I'm going to try to think of something else to write about.

Okay this is still a complaint, but at least it's not about work...


I don't like the emissions trading scheme National has come up with, I just don't see the scheme actually reducing carbon emissions.

The system proposes to give credits to people with trees, which are obviously absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. These can then be sold to people in industries that release carbon into the atmosphere. Having purchased carbon credits, companies can then claim to be carbon neutral, as there are specific trees out there absorbing the equivalent volume of CO2.

This buying and selling of credits is supposedly going to cost each household $3.00 a week in the increase in both food and fuel prices. Increasing the cost of living does not benefit the nation.

This does not reduce carbon emissions.
This does not begin to address the matter of non-CO2 emissions, such as nitrogen gases, sulfur or methane, which are not absorbed by tress, but can still be "off-set" by the purchase of Carbon Credits.

Speaking of Methane...
The proposed scheme will require all farmers of both dairy and beef cattle to purchase credits to off set the methane emissions produced by the anaerobic digestion of cellulose in the cows gut. Oops, went I bit science geek there... farmers will have to pay for their cows farts.

Methane is a "greenhouse" gas. But to focus so much attention on this form of emission, and this specific source, strongly suggests a limited understanding on the part of our government. New Zealand is one of the small producers of Methane gas in the world, and yet we are the only country trying to do anything about it. Methane as produced by cattle has been labeled as the big bad wolf of climate change by our government, when our greatest emission villains lie else where.

I'm not saying we should ignore methane as a contributing factor in the alteration of the chemical makeup of the atmosphere, I'm just saying we have bigger fish to fry.

We really have to look at the scheme and ask ourselves, is the motivation really in meeting our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, or in some kind of power playing within parliament? These suspicions are compounded by the lop-sided deal made with the Maori party in order get the thing passed into law.

What really is irritating about the deal with the Maori party, is that the benefiting iwi are not those that need help, they are the ones who have already made deals for compensation under the Treaty of Waitangi, and have strong financial backing. The small iwi struggling to survive in their ancestral lands, where few job or educationl opportunities are to be found, they once again get nothing.

To perfectly fair and up front, I am from Te Whauna Apanui, so perhaps I am a bit bias in wanting my small coastal people to get some help rather than just lining the pockets of those who don't acually need it. But, I wouldn't want to see my people spending the next ten years logging our forests for profit either.

If we want to make a difference to the "greenhouse" gas emissions we produce, we should not be punishing the industries, nor the consumers. Tax increases don't reduce emissions, they just makes people poorer.

A better strategy would be to provide incentives for positive change.
Subsidize the cost of planting trees on dairy farms.
Improve public transport to reduce the number of cars on the road, don't just increase the cost of registration.

We pride ourselves on being an innovative people, responsible for splitting the atom and so on, so why not out our money where our mouths are and provide better funding to researchers working on alternative fuels and more energy efficient technology.

Okay, sure with only four million people we have limited funding, I am aware of the limitations of living on a little island at the bottom of the world. But, before this whole recession thing, our government had millions of dollars in surplus funding at years end. I say, (long term perhaps) keep the promise of tax cuts in years to come, and put my money to good use.

I know, expecting anything reasonable and intelligent from a parliament peopled by bored millionaires is a pipe dream. Sigh.

No Free Copies

I love the story of the little red hen, who bakes a loaf of bread without any help from her friends, and then won't give them any, because they didn't do any of the work.

When I tell people I am writing a novel, there are a couple of different reactions they might have. Oddly, the most common response by far, at least from people who think they know me, is for them to ask/demand a free copy once it is published. They may do it with a joking tone, or they may not.

Why would you assume that you get fee stuff just because an acquaintance has 'made' it?

And further, the author only benefits from copies sold. I'm no expert on the topic, but I was fairly sure that the number of copies of the printed book the author receives is actually worked into the contract, and not really free, as the cost of them is deducted from royalties.

So, it's like the other animals wanting the bread the little red hen worked so hard to bake, having done nothing to help her, even when she asked. People who have never helped with research, or character development, not even helped with the odd word of encouragement really should not be putting in thier order of free book whenever I happen to get it published. It is just so irritating!

I, currently, have not one but three separate books waiting for me to write them. They are all complicated and interesting and I can't wait for other people to read them, so they will understand why I would spend so much of my time working on them with no promise of them being published at the end.

I am however, a bit annoyed with the circumstances of one, the oldest and only one I am actively working on. I still think it is awesome and totally worth the effort, but unfortunately the main character is a vampire, and when I had been working on it for eighteen months or more (I have a full time job so progress is slow) "Twilight" hit the big time.

I have always liked vampires, there's just something about them. So it seemed natural that the first book I should write would be about them. I was worried though, that if I read any other vampire books while I was writing it that I would find something that was better than what I was working on and become disheartened, or some of the other books elements would accidentally leak into my own work. So, I was very careful not to even read the back cover of any book that appeared to be about vampires, not even the ones with interesting titles like"The last vampire" (oh that inspired questions/interest as I calmly moved right past it).

Because of my care, I didn't even hear about "Twilight" until the movie was due to be released. I immediately resolved not to see it, nor read the books, and continue as planned. Then a friend gave me a copy of the book for my birthday, and I had to read it, and became momentarily addicted, reading the entire series in a week, and going to see the movie with the afore mentioned friend a few weeks later.

Luckily, my book is so completely different that there was no way for the "Twilight" books to have an affect on it; it is quite simply a case of vampire apples vs vampire oranges.

Unluckily, there is still a but, and the but is, the sheer popularity of "Twilight". You say vampire, people say "Twilight" and ask you if you're on team Jacob, or team Edward.

Those with good memories, or even just a particular liking of vampire tales, will be aware that vampires are cool, but like the Beatles, their popularity, or prominence is pop culture, ebbs and flows. Yes they are cool right now, but given time (in this case it'll take until the final book has made it onto the silver screen), they will fade form the minds of most people. And, once again, those who like vampires will be considered a little weird, until another book or movie bursts onto the scene and reminds everyone that vampires are in fact cool.

Last I checked, vampire titles by half a dozen different authors graced the shelves of my local book store. And to me, this spells competition. I don't want my novel to make its debut in the shadow of "Twilight". I want it to be spacial , and for its vampireness to be independently cool, not just borrowing from the popularity of other works. So, I have to wait.

It could be that there will be room for another vampire tale in the market place by the time I actually finish (given that I am studying as well as working these days). But, it also makes me think I should perhaps be focusing my energy one one of the other stories I have, none of which have vampires in them.

I'm still not entirely sure what I should do. I have come to a place of great difficulty in my vampire-related manuscript, and am concerned that if I put it down, I won't pick it back up.

Huh. Maybe, after however many hundred words, I just answered my own question. Back to forming the first vampire council I go.

Well, here we go, I have started a blog. Tah Da?

It's not a big thing really, anyone can have a blog, but it's still something that can now be ticked off the list.

The list being things to get done before my death... I figure I only get one chance at this life thing, and once I run out of time that's it, no second chance. So, if I am going to get good use out the one life I've got, it seems I ought to be organized; make a list, and work off it. This way I wont accidentally miss out anything important.

Not that I am overly organized, nor prone to list making, but... the list is written up inside a attractive looking book, with pictures of certain things being done, and dates etc. I think it will be interesting to look back on when I'm old and forgotten it all.