Matthew Henry John Bartlett

+64 27 211 3455
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Monday 06 July, 02009

2020 emissions target consultation meeting

by Matthew Bartlett @ 10:26 pm

First impressions report: Great meeting. Enthusiastic participation from heaps of speakers. There was a disconnect between the audience who appeared to overwhelmingly support a 40% emissions cut by 2020 (a la signon), and Nick Smith, who in response to a useful question from D (why can’t we have some shorter-term goals, say 2% per year?), said it will be hard enough to stop NZ emissions from further rising, let alone achieving the required substantial cuts. Smith wanted us to truthfully present to people what 40% would mean for our society. It’s not a tweak; it’s a shake-up. What’s needed now, I think, is some visioning (ick — for want of a better word): some sketching out of pathways to a low-carbon future. What do agriculture, transport and electricity generation look like in a 40%-reduced-CO2e NZ? Also needed is of course leadership at all levels, from John Key down. On the way home Eliza talked about Key’s needing to give some World War II-esq speeches — this is a massive challenge, we will need to pull together, sacrifice our comforts for a noble cause, etc. I admit that is hard to imagine. Here is what was on John Key’s mind this past week (the weather, sporting events, a feel-good trip around the Pacific):

More on this from Tim Jones.

Saturday 23 May, 02009

One thing you can do about climate change

by Matthew Bartlett @ 3:46 pm

is add you name to signon.org.nz, which aims to get John Key to agree to 40% emissions cuts by 2020 at Copenhagen.

Thursday 21 May, 02009

Updated Happy Revolution

by Matthew Bartlett @ 1:00 pm
  • happy + healthy families
  • dignified, useful and honourable work
  • flourishing and productive ecosystems
  • time for celebration, relaxation, reflection
  • lots of interpersonal interactions
  • intergenerational mingling
  • low-carbon
  • low-energy
  • low-waste

Am I missing anything big?

(first posted 28/04/09)

Sunday 17 May, 02009

Scattery notes from Shane Claiborne’s Thursday night talk

by Matthew Bartlett @ 10:24 am

Reckless love of neighbour. We (church) have forgotten who we are. Contrast society. cf Amish & the shooting. Embezzlement – the sin of the contemporary church. Alternative to insurance: communities of redistribution. Bear each others burdens. Not ‘how can we accumulate more?’ but ‘how can we live off less?’. Reconciliation must start in our homes. Whole-heartedness. Creation care. Personalism. Living on US$150/month. All having just part-time jobs so that there’s time for non-economic work.

Wednesday 01 April, 02009

New tax cuts / give it up

by Matthew Bartlett @ 11:28 am

hi team

A new round of little tax cuts came into force today. If you feel so moved, it would be great if you’d do something interesting with the extra cash and write about it on giveitup.org.nz.

thanks

Monday 09 February, 02009

Sweet justice

by Matthew Bartlett @ 4:45 pm

TradeAid are now selling sugar. That’s good.

Friday 30 January, 02009

I vote Milbank

by Matthew Bartlett @ 9:37 am

A helpful discussion of Christian Socialism on BBC4’s Beyond Belief programme. It’s relevant to Ben’s earlier comments.

Tuesday 06 January, 02009

Palestine protest and march

by Matthew Bartlett @ 5:25 pm

My facebook photo album of today’s protest, feat. comments controversy

Saturday 03 January, 02009

End of the world as we know it and I feel queasy

by Matthew Bartlett @ 5:32 pm

Bruce Sterling on the fiscal crisis:

If the straights were not “prone to hostility” before that experience, they might well be so after it, because they’ve got a new host of excellent reasons. The sheer galling come-down of watching the Bottom Line, the Almighty Dollar, revealed as a papier-mache pinata. It’s like somebody burned their church. (more…)

Wednesday 26 November, 02008

Pushing at least two of my buttons

by Matthew Bartlett @ 1:50 pm

Tuesday 11 November, 02008

He sounds like our Green Party

by Matthew Bartlett @ 2:40 pm

Obama! Obama! said:

There is no better potential driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy economy. I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it’s creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they’re contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That’s just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.

[via TreeHugger]

Wednesday 27 August, 02008

This logo makes me happy

by Matthew Bartlett @ 8:14 am

Chocolate block foil paper wrapping, A4 x4 (r), gladwrap, snack bar wrapper, 3 envelopes (r), anti-terrorist milk seal, damp tea bag, banana peel, apple core, apple sticker, toilet roll, toilet roll wrapping paper.

Tuesday 19 August, 02008

I believe in travelling light

by Matthew Bartlett @ 8:00 pm

Paraguay now has a former bishop who is keen on liberation theology for a president. More on Democracy Now!

Banana peel. Guillotined paper offcuts. Some rice (~100 grains, cooked & reheated). Chopsticks. A4 x7 (recycled). Pear core. Floss.

Friday 18 July, 02008

Jurassic

by Matthew Bartlett @ 8:40 am

From 42collective: you can now recycle number 5 plastics (like yoghurt containers). Wash them, remove the labels and take them to Common Sense Organics, Wellington. Cyclops (the yoghurt-making outfit) will take them to Auckland to be recycled.

You don’t need to read Steven Johnson’s one-idea book Emergence, you just need to visit Jesse Pangburn’s Simulation of Ant’s Emergent Behavior Using StarLogo.

Tuesday 17 June, 02008

To Betsy

by Matthew Bartlett @ 2:06 pm

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to foldschool.com [via KEB]