Influenced by commerce, past governments have favoured some decidedly unfriendly environmental policies, although the recently elected Labour coalition is now trying to redress the balance. Despite a record of admirable moral stands, such as banning ships and submarines carrying nuclear warheads from its shores
, governments have usually managed to disregard environmental initiatives related to
air pollution
and
industrial emissions
. New Zealand has the second worst record for CO2 emissions in the OECD. Although it's perceived abroad as a country with enviably clean air, the quality of air in many cities, if measured, is shocking (check out Christchurch in the winter), and there have been massive increases in asthma and other respiratory problems amongst the young. Greenpeace rates the pollution from the Tasman pulp and paper mill in Kawerau as one of the country's worst problems. The mill is apparently responsible for the largest discharge of toxic organochlorine chemicals in the country and the nearby Tawera River has been contaminated by some of the most harmful chemicals known to man. New Zealand also scores badly on waste disposal and the monitoring of chemical usage and contaminated sites - with 700 potentially contaminated sites, it is on a par with the USA. Every day more than a billion litres of
sewage
and
industrial waste
is discharged into rivers and the sea.
Further short-sightedness is sadly evident in the use of intensive
farming
techniques and the massive amounts of
phosphates
piled onto soil that has been heavily exploited this century. Some rivers and lakes, in regions such as the Waikato, are either polluted by high nitrate levels or have few natural features left. Thankfully there is a strong groundswell of informed opinion leaning towards organic smallholdings that become increasingly profitable with the rising consumer demand for natural, untreated food. Recently the food industry has introduced a carefully monitored "eco-label", where rigorous standards provide an independent endorsement of the quality of food production. However more recently the Americans have been bullying New Zealand, with threats of trade sanctions, into accepting genetically modified crops and products.
