Ryan Mearns

Why drilling for fossil fuels is not expected to fix our energy crisis The government is touting oil and gas exploration as the answer. But there are grave doubts it will work.

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...

The First Planned Migration of an Entire Country Is Underway The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu could be submerged in 25 years due to rising sea levels, so a plan is being implemented to relocate its population to Australia.

The first planned migration of an entire country due to climate change is happening! Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation, is at risk of being submerged under rising sea level, so it has signed an agreement with Australia to allow 280 Tuvaluans to settle in Australia as permanent residents each year.

Light rail on grass tracks

Light rail in Izmir Türkiye

New Zealand government sued over ‘dangerously inadequate’ emissions reduction plan Exclusive: In the first legal challenge to the plan, top climate lawyers claim the government relies too heavily on forestry and failed to consult the public

New Zealand government sued over ‘dangerously inadequate’ emissions reduction plan www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Chart from The Economist showing the contribution to California's energy supply of natural gas, wind, hydro, batteries, nuclear and solar. There's a huge jump in solar from around 8am to 6pm

We have a "never use yellow if you can help it" rule for our charts. We couldn't help it on this one
www.economist.com/united-state...

The great thing about a nish kumar show is that he speaks at my preferred podcast speed of 1.3x

Picketty: "Trump is...nothing more than a thwarted colonial leader. Like European powers of the past, he wants the « Pax Americana » to be rewarded by subsidies from a grateful world—the era no longer lends itself to this type of brutal and unrestrained colonialism."

www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty...

Please submit your 90-day investment plans to the central planning committee at the White House for review.

Reciprocal Tariffs Taritis Charged to the U.S.A. Including Country São Tomé and Principe Norfolk Island Gibraltar Tuvalu British Indian Ocean Territory Tokelau Guinea-Bissau Svalbard and Jan Mayen Heard and McDonald Islands Reunion Currency Munipelation and Trade Barriers 10% 58% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 73% U.S.A. Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs 10% 29% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 37%

I think I missed some. But here’s a fun fact: the Heard and Macdonald Islands are uninhabited.

The tariff is on penguins.

YouTube video by triple j beabadoobee covers Bic Runga’s ‘Sway’ for Like A Version

beabadoobee covers Bic Runga’s ‘Sway’ for Like A Version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii_H...

The strings attached to the four-year parliamentary term proposal, explained Giving the opposition more power on select committees is actually a pretty good idea. But is it enough of an extra accountability measure?

I put some thoughts together about the proposal to have a referendum on moving to a four year term (provided a given parliament agrees to adopt a specific procedural rule regarding the makeup of select committee membership, otherwise it will still have a three year term ... ).

Four-year parliamentary term legislation to be introduced, would go to referendum Any change will have to go to a referendum first, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.

I think I favour a 4-year term, but the question of whether NZ wants 4-years should be understood as moving from a 6-year term with a 3-year referendum based the political culture of minimum 2-term govts, rather than just saying 4-years is better than 3-years.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

the baltic states officially cut ties with russia’s electricity grid and plug into the eu
while looking like a eurovision entry

Opinion | DeepSeek Serves as a Warning About Big Tech The arrival of DeepSeek shows us the competitive weaknesses of America’s tech giants.

'Stop Worshiping the American Tech Giants' writes Khan, warning of the Boeing-ification of Big Tech. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...

The explicit chain of thought reasoning in the deepseek app ui is very cool, and the quality of the response is probably better than Claude’s sonnet model which I use for most queries.

True!!!

In an effort to connect with my fellow New Zealanders on here, we can all agree that Oriental Bay > Mission Bay for summer afterwork swims, right?

No, Trump didn’t make $50 billion from his memecoin Journalists’ flawed math and ignorance of crypto markets turn tokens into fake fortunes

Newsletter: No, Trump didn’t make $50 billion from his memecoin.

www.citationneeded.news/trump-memeco...

I don't know about a supporters club, but plenty of football fans in NZ.

Michael Burgess: Why the rise and rise of Chris Wood beggars belief OPINION: Chris Wood had to wait almost 10 years for a regular Premier League opportunity.

"Many years from now, NZ kids will ask their grandparents about Chris Wood ... was there really a Waikato-raised kid sparking the modern revival of Nottingham Forest ... The senior folk will just nod their heads: 'The crazy thing is, it’s true. All of it.'”

www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/footba...

Conclave review – Ralph Fiennes shines as papal election results in high-camp gripper Fiennes is broodingly compelling as a potential English pope caught up in murky Vatican intrigue around choosing the next pontiff

For a film effectively shot within 4-walls, Conclave is a gripping political drama that keeps you guessing until it ends with a bang. While some characters can become caricatures of themselves, Fiennes' performance elevates the film -- well worth a watch.

www.theguardian.com/film/2024/no...

Welcome my friend @landforward.bsky.social!

Up a mountain #nz

How did the Black Caps win that game.

Sightseeing dolphins in the Bay of Plenty #nz

Major New Zealand Bank will stop providing new loans to petrol stations due to energy transition move to electric www.interest.co.nz/banking/1312...

Climate graphic of the week: First ice-free day in the Arctic Ocean may come before 2030, study shows Latest findings bring forward possible date and follow dramatic sea ice loss around north pole recorded since 1980s

First ice-free day in the Arctic Ocean may come before 2030, study shows on.ft.com/4go8kEp

A $400 Billion Clean Energy Program Is Racing to Get Money Out the Door Some fear Donald Trump could freeze the Energy Department’s loan office, which supports electric vehicles, geothermal, nuclear and other novel technologies.

A $400 Billion Clean Energy Program Is Racing to Get Money Out the Door www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/c...

Breaking news on Bluesky works very well!

Solar 'barely profitable': Provider Solar power systems provider SolarZero pulled the plug because it realised solar in New Zealand is a tough, barely profitable business, a rival company says.In...

Solar 'barely profitable': "Harman said that the current structure of the NZ energy market was unfriendly to solar energy. There was no incentive for the generators to invest in more generation because if they produced more power, the price would decrease."

businessdesk.co.nz/article/ener...