You can listen here to my last audio piece for Morning Report. Heartfelt thanks to Tui Warmenhoven for sharing her story, and the excellent Belinda Storey www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

I talked to @eloisegibson.bsky.social about universal Road User Charges. Govt says (a) carbon charge, ETS will sort it; (b) cutting petrol carbon charge from $450/t to $50/t -> negligible effect. They can't both be true, I don't think either of them are true. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Completely stoked that this miracle of a snail found Giselle Clarkson, a person who a) would never squish it and b) knew all about left-spirals and c) deeply deserved a Ned in her life.

Well played, my eternal frenemy @marcdaalder.bsky.social The climate reading public is in good hands.

The climate advice they didn't want you to see. [finally, six days before I finish up, I get to use that headline formula 😅] www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

years ago, an outlet used this image (or something very close to it) on an article I wrote on steel decarbonisation, and someone replied "THE FORBIDDEN HALOUMI" and weirdly my brain hasn't let me ever forget it

Nawwww! These kids ❤️❤️💕

Some news... I am happy and also sad to let you know I have a new job outside journalism. I finish at RNZ on August 28. It's been an incredible 18 years in journalism - it really can be the best job in the world. The BEST is talking to incredible scientists and researchers, national treasures.

And now the attribution analysis results: climate change strengthened #Erin ’s peak intensity by about 9 mph 📈, resulting in it becoming a Category 5️⃣ storm. If not for human-caused climate change, Erin would have been a Category 4 storm at its peak. www.climatecentral.org/tropical-cyc...

@kirstyjohnston.bsky.social patiently going through the list of climate policies repealed, and what's still standing. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Mary Argue doing the good mahi for RNZ on science funding cuts....

Data on the cuts to the Marsden Fund reported by RNZ this morning

A NYT comment: “Humans ate organic, whole foods for millennia. They got plenty of exercise, lived without plastics. Until the mid-1800s, life expectancy at birth was 39. Food may be good medicine, but it’s not a panacea. Medical advances—like vaccines—have doubled the human lifespan, not superfoods”

Paywall now lifted: My special report this morning is about how we spent generations strangling our rivers to make room for our homes and farms, only to find we've ended up supercharging their flows. What do we do when we realise we've built a society in a riverbed? newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/13/l...

Agricultural companies never had to pay for their methane emissions in NZ, but they used to be required to report the totals to the EPA. No longer. For some companies, it was the only way to get even a crude estimate. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

"My message to conservatives both in Australia and abroad is when it comes to taking action on climate change, if you do it in an economically rational way there is also a political dividend to be gained." - Australia's Matt Kean,noting NZ's target is "largely static" www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

"Without significantly investing in alternative modes, and then investing the revenue in frequent buses, protected bike lanes, or better train services, this isn't a congestion charge, it's just a tax on those who can't afford it” - Tim Welch www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Why congestion charging might not lower Auckland's air pollution

Just got a 🧪pitch from a PR claiming to work with Colossal (de-extinction chancers). It was a pre-written article claiming the science sector is carrying out "coordinated attacks" on the co. Spy the headline. They asked if I'd publish it on my Forbes column. Not enough eye rolls on Earth for this 🙄

I feel like there was a book about this kind of thing.

"The most relevant take home for New Zealand is that the amount of extreme rainfall coming out of these storms will increase in the future and this increase will be dependent on future temperature increases" www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

"The most relevant take home for New Zealand is that the amount of extreme rainfall coming out of these storms will increase in the future and this increase will be dependent on future temperature increases" www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

There are many ways of destroying the integrity of #science. But one of the most critical is deleting data or failing to collect data or firing the people or destroying the instruments that collect the data that contradicts your preconceived notions. www.npr.org/2025/08/04/n...

Seems like a good time to reshare this 2022 piece. Every New Zealander who’s ever had dengue caught it overseas. We have all the ingredients to start our own outbreak – bar one. www.stuff.co.nz/environment/...

What if the low-carbon commuters of the future are bus passengers? These researchers reckon buses have a lot going for them - they don't worsen congestion or motor accidents like EVs, and they can go places quickly and easily that rail can't But they need bus lanes www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

What if the low-carbon commuters of the future are bus passengers? These researchers reckon buses have a lot going for them - they don't worsen congestion or motor accidents like EVs, and they can go places quickly and easily that rail can't But they need bus lanes www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

NZ’s gas supply is collapsing — and the govt’s big fix? More drilling. But experts (including Shane Jones’ advisors) say it likely won’t work, and there’s no backup plan if it fails. My story here www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Vatican to become the world's first carbon-neutral state.

"Even as fact-checking surged in the past decade, so had the wave of false claims and narratives swamping the world." Washington Post fact checker takes the buyout. Reflects on what he saw, what he did. Difficult to read without rage formation of some kind. Gift link: wapo.st/41kFq2G

"It's really beautiful to imagine relying on a power source that you can't hoard." If you feel yourself slipping into climate doomerism like I have lately, I implore you to read/listen to this convo with @billmckibben.bsky.social. It genuinely helped me see a path forward

a troubling sign for international Norms

Five years after the taxpayers got left with a $300m clean-up bill for an oil field, Shane Jones is weakening the rules put in place to prevent a repeat.

"And in terms of providing a Māori dimension, I interviewed myself." www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Disgusted to see this beautiful landscape ruined by wind turbines.

Checkpoint received exactly one, gushing text about this segment, specifically asking for more like this, more Eloise. Am now seriously considering that it might be my mum, but if I ask her it could shatter my hopes of having a mysterious and dedicated fan. www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

Significant court decision 1 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A first take on today's emissions monitoring report. More to come. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

'A ray of sunshine': NZ litigants spurred on by international climate ruling

Huge. UN's highest court finds countries can be held legally responsible for emissions www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...

"People have been really devastated off the back of summer, and a lot of people are talking about how they were crying in the water, coming out of the ocean just really upset" www.bbc.com/news/article...

Philip Morris allegedly pitched draft legislation to NZ First as part of a lobbying campaign for its Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs), according to documents released in litigation against a US vaping company. www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept... #NZPol

To whoever was on the socials for the New Zealand Climate Change Commission two weeks ago, I am here for this.

Aucklanders, we're back! And we didn't even have to do anything since a report said the opposite four days ago! www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

"How climate change could force FIFA to rethink the World Cup calendar" | Article by @borenbears.bsky.social and @gdunbarap.bsky.social for @apnews.com: apnews.com/article/socc...

NEW: I visited Octopus Energy's heat pump factory here in Northern Ireland for BBC News, to find out how heat pumps are made. (And why factories like this could be churning out a lot more of them...) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There are really sensible comments from several of my colleagues in here. Can’t help but think that years of a ministry trying to avoid ‘capture’ of science funding by scientists (yes that is really a thing) now means they… think they can do the science they want to without us? lolsob

One final post mortem on NZ's involvement in MethaneSAT, and the question of whether we should have been told more. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Should be fine.

One final post mortem on NZ's involvement in MethaneSAT, and the question of whether we should have been told more. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...