As part of our drive to keep our comment section the best in New Zealand we showcase each week an example of a top-notch comment that adds value to The BFD.
Today’s comment was written by IainH. Thank you IainH for taking the time to craft such an interesting comment.
Hi Suze, not sure if this is an accurate comparison, I was one that voted CC as the more costly.
Covid response is a fairly neat and tidy ‘one off’, even if we are crippled with long-term debt. However, the climate change scam is a much wider spread of costly policies over the long term, not just the estimated costs attributed to the CERF. The overall costs regarding the CC scam are so widespread as likely to be unquantifiable.
I’m probably wrong on the total costs but I considered all policy responses (central and local) and their total costs to NZ as a whole.
For example, the futile and costly attempts to plan for ‘mitigating’ infrastructure (harbour crossing, light rail, cycleways etc), LGWM and other local body responses and plans are all costly to NZ. Some we can easily quantify, others are much more difficult to quantify. Some may be a % of a policy initiative (eg recycling, plastic bans) but still impose an economic cost.
Then consider the downstream economic impacts such as traffic congestion, increased transport costs and their overall burden (cost) on the economy. Let’s not even start with the impacts on the agriculture sector.
Once you start, there are so many costs we have heaped upon ourselves. Think of the Captain’s call on oil and gas, importing coal from Indonesia, and arguments over CC hazards and adaptation. The list goes on (and on, and on..).
Would these costs total more or less than the Covid response? I have no idea, but they are huge and as they are all imposed in the name of a new religion, apparently virtuous.
