Phasing out fossil fuel use – one town at a time

The Climate Change Commission Report to the Government is titled “Ināia Tonu Nei”, The Time is Now.  But in reality it fails to address the scale and urgency of the task to reduce carbon emissions. We need to act now, today, not in six months or a year’s time.  Our current lifestyle is based on consumption that is enabled by fossil fuel energy. This cannot be sustained to meet the targets needed to limit global warming. 

The Commission’s recommendations seem to reflect the mindset that we don’t need to disrupt out consumptive lifestyle too much. I believe business as usual cannot continue. The longer we wait to act and the less we do to reduce emissions will mean the greater the cost to ourselves and our planet. We can’t make any more excuses.

We cannot wait for the government to solve this crisis. We all have a crucial role to play to reduce reliance on fossil fuels now. To use less fossil fuels we need to buy local food, avoid processed food, reduce the use of petrol and diesel vehicles in towns and cities, and reduce, reuse and recycle.  Together we can make this our way of life and Martinborough is a great place to do it

It’s easy to walk and cycle around the town

We have good local amenities, for example supermarkets, cinema, health centre, and library

We can grow fruit and vegetables

We can support local agricultural and hospitality businesses

We have the beginnings of a public transport system

Also, it’s a great place to work from home. 

All these things that Martinborough has to offer make it easy for our community to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. Turning around global emissions requires everyone to play their part. Let’s support each other now to make the changes needed. Climate change is a big deal. 

Jude Brown