Ocean, defend, confidence, cost are all Latin, Greek or French in origin.

There must be some sort of law of the internet that people who make sweeping pronouncements about language always screw it up.

I think that depends on how seriously you pursue the goal. If the plan is big enough, you actually go ahead with it, and it doesn't fail spectacularly in the early?

there is only one loan word in that speech, all the other words are original, solid, old English words. The loan word? Its from French, and its "surrender."

?

you are kidding right? "surrender" [takes out oxford concise dictionary]... is a... middle "english" word taken from the french during the?

the vast majority of our man-made atmospheric carbon emissions are due to energy use

Um, no. if you go to the effort of checking the latest inventory report, you'll see that the vast majority of man-made atmospheric carbon emissions are due to farmers. For those who don't want to wade?

...No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,
Making the green one red.

Anarchy the only answer.
I don't mind that, but we could look into nuclear power as well.

Nuclear Anarchy sounds like so much fun.
Wait, I've played that before.
So where do we keep the power armour in NZ?

Um, no. if you go to the effort of checking the latest, you'll see that the vast majority of man-made atmospheric carbon emissions are due to farmers.

It would be tempting to reply: "Um, no, if you go to the effort to read it properly you'll notice?

It is true that the classic Churchill speeches draw far more on words with Anglosaxon roots. This is a consequence,?

I am sure that the Government will be vilified over time for failing to met targets, empty rhetoric etc. etc. but what we are seeing now is aligned with stuff happening in Europe,?

Um, no. if you go to the effort of checking the latest inventory report, you'll see that the vast majority of man-made atmospheric carbon emissions are due to farmers.

I'm no expert, but I suspect, unless the farmers have really bad personal habits, that when you say 'farmers' you mean?

the vast majority of man-made atmospheric carbon emissions are due to farmers

My rough calculations from the report that Idiot Savant cites (Table 2.2.1) would put carbon dioxide at around 96 per cent of NZ's atmospheric carbon emissions. The?

We need more people using less energy. Having only 4 million people on a big chunk of land like NZ wastes energy – not least because those people want to visit each other and have?

...it's net CO2-equivalent emissions which matter, not carbon content... [CO2] is not the be all and end all, and focusing solely on it will not solve our emissions problem.

Couldn't agree more — but I should point out that I was writing a critique of Helen Clark's?

Ocean, defend, confidence, cost are all Latin, Greek or French in origin.

There must be some sort of law of the internet that people who make sweeping pronouncements about language always screw it up..."

Right I went back and checked my source, Robert Claiborne's "The life and?

If Kyoto is fully implemented?

Bypassing the detail of this argument. you can?t talk?

Bypassing the detail of this argument. you can?t talk about the price of action purely in terms of how much it will cost to implement Kyoto you should also include the cost of failing to implement plans to reduce GW.

Woops my bad this bit should have read:

Its difficult?

Food miles has had quite a bit of coverage in the UK lately. People are being told that they must buy local food to reduce their carbon contribution. NZ?

Seriously, Claiborne is absolutely wrong. Your point, or his point, rests on a factual assertion that every word in the passage quoted (and i'm being generous here) is "pure English", except for surrender. And that premise is not true.

Therefore the?

Every word of this is pure English, save only for the final French trumpet peel of [cheese-eating] surrender [monkey]

[consults concise oxford dictionary...] even 'beach' has a dubious origin. the concise oxford says it's origin is?

Language Log
Language Hat

Both those blogs are by professional scholars, really interesting, and fairly accessible to an amateur like me.

So my point remains valid. Horseshit? I'm gonna send Whaleoil around to shoot you in the head and steal your cigars, which I shall smoke whilst snogging your widow at your funeral. Unless you are gay, in which case I'll quietly give the cigars back and wash my hands.

Sorry,?

We need more people using less energy. Having only 4 million people on a big chunk of land like NZ wastes energy – not least because those people want to visit each other and have stuff trucked to them. 8 million people could live much more sustainably than 4

?

Great links BTW.

Please understand that NZ cannot, should not start using bio fuels. While the idea is beautiful – lazy patches of wheat being magically transformed so it powers our transport system – the reality is different. Basically, the land needed for bio fuels is intensive. Changing to bio fuels would?

Please understand that NZ cannot, should not start using bio fuels... [they] are ethically, environmentally and economically a disaster

Thanks for your concerned message, Anna. I didn't have time to go into the details of biofuels in the post — but I'll quickly do so here...

Yes,?

but what about countries that already grow foods that are bought up at higher prices by developed nations wanting ethanol for their cars?

mexico for example?

(he says, playing devil's advocate)

i read my linked article more closely, and saw the issue is the US limiting corn imports because of domestic demand for ethanol. but you get the picture all the same.

PS. matt, when does my gravatar start showing up?

Deforestation Diesel.

yeah, but if it ain't diesel, they'll deforest for the hardwoods or other trees for pulp.

i remember examining case studies of the malay cutting down forests in borneo to make chopsticks when i was a wee first year student, 1990.

one way or another, those forests are?

...what about countries that already grow foods that are bought up at higher prices by developed nations wanting ethanol for their cars?

As I said, the situation in other countries is problematic. That's why I was initially sceptical about biofuels in this country... but having seen some?

if so, that's the kind of smart+exportable stuff they like hearing about here in the capital.

So we might as well cut the lot down? Vandal! Won't someone think of the children and carbo-neutrality!

I guess we could dry sheep dung though and use that for bio-fuel. Wouldn't want to be in ChCh though when the inversion strikes...

... would you also consider it likely that new zealand could lead in the 'biofuels as a by-product of 'normal' agriculture' sciences?

I think that's already happening now (in a very small way), see:
Biodiesel from sewage
Bioethanol from waste wood

And I certainly think that New Zealand?

Won't someone think of the children and carbo-neutrality!

most children these days are sequestering large, voluminous asses of carbo-neutrality.

"fat kids: good for the planet"

PS. matt, when does my gravatar start showing up?

Hmm, yeah, I can't really say. Theoretically, immediately; demonstrably, not. Russell's showed up today after uploading a day or two ago, but I changed mine over the weekend and it's still showing my old one. Tom at Gravatars seems to be?

thanks.

You said:

I think we should keep an open mind on the nuclear energy option. That said, it has a lot of problems associated with it (I could write a?

I'd also like to know more about the arguments for and against thorium reactors, which, from what I've read, counter most of the arguments made against traditional nuclear power generation.

Thanks for your comments, Judi — a very good point.

I'm not an expert on nuclear?

If we're going to ban incandescent light bulbs in favour of fluorescent ones containing mercury, why worry about something like nuclear power that won't be anywhere near?

If we're going to ban incandescent light bulbs in favour of fluorescent ones containing mercury, why worry about something like nuclear power that won't be anywhere near as hard on the environment?

The issue about mercury in fluorescent light bulbs isn't as clear-cut as you might think.?

Non-volatile?

Renewable energy sources – I presume you mean wind and wave generators for instance – are somewhat dubious environmentally.

Dude, did you read my post?

Every human-made object has an impact on the environment. But I would strongly argue that renewables have less impact than other alternatives.?

Anyway, I won't Bellamy away here, but?

Odious?
The nuclear issue would require a quantum shift in enzuds philosophy to infrastructure, the cheapest is best ethos currently apparent would have to go or we'd?

Good point. Imagine if they built reactors here like they built the Harbour Bridge... the clipons will apparently fall off in a decade or less.

OK, I'm cool with that.