November 2021 Newsletter
President’s Message
Dr Victor Luca
The Grey Power Zone 3 was held at the Matamata Club on Friday 12th of November. The associations that belong to this zone include Matamata, Papamoa, Waihi, Kawerau, Whangamata, Te Aroha, Moronsville, Rotorua, South Waikato and Opotiki. The chairman of the zone is Gerald Hanson.
David Marshall, the zone representative, provided an interesting report on the National Grey Power Board Report. He reported on the important issue of New Zealand superannuation and the problems that many members are experiencing getting by day-to-day, especially those that pay rent and that have mortgages to pay.
Marshall also spoke about the objectives of Grey Power and he emphasized that we do not simply exist to provide members with good power deals. He emphasized that we are a group that advocates for members on issues of importance. There is apparently lots of discussion swirling around the federation regarding strategic purpose and goals. That is, what do we stand for and what is it that we will fight for? Given that persons of any age can join GP while only the above 50s can be voting members, it is clearly a fallacy that we exist solely to advocate for older folk. Older folk have children and grandchildren and in this regard have a duty of care to those generations that follow.
Given that the international climate change conference known as COP 26 has just concluded and appears to have been a ‘cop out’ by many nations, it is pertinent that serious thought is given to what we are leaving behind. With the planet clearly on track to exceed 1.5 oC of warming we need to take this issue extremely seriously.
Below is an image that speaks a thousand words. It shows that since 1960 the concentration of CO2 in the lower atmosphere has increased logarithmic fashion. Many conferences have been held during that time and many warnings have been given. Yet the rate of CO2 continues unabated.
None of the many international talk fests seem to have slowed the increase in CO2 concentration. Not even a bit.
Time is clearly running out.
Below you will find the text of the Copout 26 conference.
