Covid-19 may school us on our climate

A good test is before us, we await with bated breath.

The way to beat climate change, we are told by the experts, is to lower manmade greenhouse gas emissions. Covid-19 is going to prove one way or the other if this theory will work.

With significant reductions of emissions from air travel, manufacturing and internal combustion engines worldwide, the worst-affected countries (note Italy and China, where a large reduction of air pollution has been reported according to a recent letter in The Press), plus the reduction in exhaled human carbon dioxide associated with the virus, there should be a noticeable reduction in manmade CO .

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Keep a close eye on the weather page of The Press as the atmospheric CO2 reading is published daily. Friday’s reading was

409 ppm, Thursday’s 410.4. One year ago the reading was 406.5 ppm.

There is a slight reduction showing already, so that’s a start.

One would think that there will be a large reduction in the reading some time soon.

Brian Sowman, Belfast

Positive to pandemic

Congratulations to John Riminton for highlighting a positive side-effect of this coronavirus pandemic (March 11): the national and international financial markets may be in retreat but the climate can take a breather.

In fact, with factories closed and fewer people travelling during the current lockdown, more lives may be saved through pollution reduction than are lost through the virus. Just as economic booms and high carbon emissions go hand in hand, so the opposite is also true.

Now is surely a good time for economists to reassess the current growth at all (environmental) costs and rampant consumer-driven economic paradigm.

If we as citizens aren’t prepared to combat climate change by making radical changes to our lifestyle and our economic system then nature may force us to do so. Hopefully we’ll get through this crisis mostly unscathed but there will be a next time and it may not be pretty.

Ian Badger, Christchurch Central

Automatic weapons

I find it really hard to understand why sportspeople, recreational hunters, and farmers need automatic rifles capable of firing dozens of rounds a second to enable them to satisfy their sporting, recreational and vermin control activities. I had always believed that what was important in gun sports was accuracy rather than spraying bullets at random. Obviously not. That what was important for recreational hunters was gaining the skills to close in on a deer or goat to ensure a humane kill with one shot. Obviously not.

And if farmers want to kill off a few rabbits or wallabies that are a nuisance on the farm – surely a double-barrelled shotgun or a .303 is enough. Obviously not.

Why all these activities now require a highly expensive semi-automatic firearm capable of firing multiple rounds in a very short time beggars belief. One is led to believe that this is more like a need to play at war – something I thought most of those involved in past wars were very happy to give up, or that we’d all given up when we were kids.

Tom Brockett, Redwood

Buy some earplugs

As society changes I believe police strategy needs to change as well. I welcome the addition of helicopters to policing in New Zealand.

I think we underestimate the effectiveness of these very smart machines. The ability of these helicopters to read number plates from thousands of feet and pick up those playing Russian roulette by texting while driving will, I believe, save lives.

I suggest that the helicopter naysayers buy some earplugs, inexpensive but very effective.

Gwen MacLeod, Huntsbury

Public safety

I urge the community to support the thin blue line. You never know when you might need it.

We certainly hope that the police will decide to make the Eagle helicopter a permanent fixture across Canterbury. Surely the safety of people in the community should be an absolute priority.

In our neighbourhood, the noise levels at nights, particularly Friday and Saturday, which cause greatest concern, are motorbikes and high-powered motorcars screeching around the streets.

These activities often result in a police response with sirens sounding and pursuits activated.

As a community we need to give the police a break: support them in their challenging task of keeping us safe.

Barry Johns, Merivale

Hagley floodlights

Regarding discussion on the loan for the Hagley Oval floodlights at a recent city council meeting (Friday’s Press) the subject of guarantees on loans to prospective leaseholders, including the ability to service both capital and ongoing costs of facilities on council-controlled land, is a matter requiring careful thought. Similar issues apply irrespective of the source of funding.

In my 30 years as a staff member of the Christchurch City Council, in considering applications for leases on parks, the ability of prospective leaseholders to service both capital costs and ongoing maintenance was paramount in decisionmaking.

It also is interesting to note, a few years ago, a 20-page staff report to the council supporting the Canterbury Cricket Trust’s application for a lease for its new pavilion was initially rejected because of its lack of information on sources of funding for both capital and ongoing costs.

Neiel Drain, (former director, Parks and Recreation, Christchurch City Council), Burnside

Surcharge for tenants

I read your editorial on Friday discussing rent rises.

As a property manager looking after more than 100 properties, I have asked, under the Official Information Act, for the data the Government used to remove the 90-day ‘‘no-cause’’ termination available to landlords.

The answer was that it had no data and, therefore, my request was declined.

We are now looking to check criminal and Ministry Of Justice history on prospective tenants.

We will also be considering putting a surcharge on tenancies where tenants want the ‘‘convenience’’ of having a periodic tenancy.

I read many property-related blogs and can assure readers that landlords are leaving the industry.

Keys Kerdemelidis-Kiesanowski, LOTUS Property Management, Mairehau

Landfill stockpiling

As a waste prevention consultant, I attended the Belfast meeting about Renew Energy’s plans to stockpile landfill on a site next to the Kaputahi Creek, and I am furious that in 2020 (and after the disaster of Fox River) that they are even allowed to store more than 4000 bales at Chaney’s Corner, while they challenge Environment Canterbury’s abatement notices.

Now it wants to do the same in Belfast. Landfill should be sent to consented landfills, and paid for with the appropriate levies (set to increase), and I want to know which of the city’s waste companies are sending their waste to Renew Energy, and presumably passing the savings on to their customers.

I challenge every business owner who believes in environmental stewardship to ask their waste company where they take their landfill and get them to prove it – especially if they have recently had a company offer them low fees.

Dr Sharon McIver, Our Daily Waste Ltd, Little River