Eric Crampton • Jul 02, 2015 •
The Environmental Defence Society wants a shift to taxing pollution. It sounds fine in principle, but there may be a few problems in practice.For some things, like GHG emissions, where the negative effect is global rather than localised, it's both simp... Read More
Eric Crampton • Feb 27, 2014 •
Here's Alcohol Healthwatch in the New Zealand Herald.Rising economic confidence and "aggressive" marketing techniques are the driving factors behind an 8.9 million litre rise in alcohol availability last year, says one concerned health organisation.Lat... Read More
Eric Crampton • Feb 20, 2014 •
I'd expected that the Taxicab Federation wouldn't like Uber.In last week's Herald, they protested that Uber would need to become an Approved Taxi Organisation. [HT: EdBlog]NZTA [NZ Transport Agency] spokesman Andy Knackstedt said there were many r... Read More
Darcy Cowan • Jun 14, 2011 •
This is probably a very ill considered post. I do feel compelled to write something on this subject however. Today in the NZ Herald Kepa Morgan has a piece relating why we should listen when Maori raise concerns regarding respect for the traditional dwelling places of Taniwha. I think he raises a very good point [...] … Read More
Peter Griffin • May 03, 2010 •
I wasn’t in the sharpest frame of mind on Saturday morning after a big night on the town in Auckland with some journalist friends the previous night. However I couldn’t help but notice the headline screaming out from the front page of the New Zealand Herald frontpage as I passed an inner-city dairy. The headline was in … Read More
Peter Griffin • Apr 22, 2010 •
Aardvark’s Bruce Simpson and tech reporter Juha Saarinen have this morning raised some pretty valid concerns about a story the New Zealand Herald is carrying about a New Zealand-made fuel combustion technology known as “Fuel Star”. The story, which has no byline and comes with a “supplied” photo, begins with the optimistic intro: Fuelstar … Read More
Peter Griffin • Apr 02, 2010 •
Just when the country is confronted with vexing environmental questions – whether to mine on conservation land, how to manage water assets in Canterbury, what should be done about the Japanese and their cravings for whale meat – the New Zealand Herald drops its dedicated environment page. The Herald‘s timing is impeccable. Impeccably bad. The rise of environment sections in … Read More
Peter Griffin • Nov 21, 2009 •
Between the Weekend Herald and the latest issue of the New Zealand Listener which just arrived in my mailbox, there’s enough coverage to suggest there’s a dedicated group of journalists operating in the New Zealand media committed to decent reporting on the big science-related issues facing society. First, take Chris Barton’s piece on the issue of mobile phones … Read More
Peter Griffin • Jan 14, 2008 •
When I started blogging every day for the Herald technology website back in May, I thought I'd still have enough time to blog here too on a regular basis. But with all of my other media commitments and with a number of plays and a documentary project o... Read More