OUR Government is foolishly ignoring warnings from trusted sources on climate action and risking our precious ecosystems, by allowing foreign exploitation of New Zealand’s land and ocean resources.

Last February at a medals ceremony in Auckland, our Prime Minister’s science adviser Sir Peter Gluckman stated:

“Climate science is not an experimental science . . . the IPCC and others conclude with remarkable unanimity of probability that action is justified . . . . There is unanimity that risks of inaction are far greater than those of action.”

An earlier plea, in May 2010 in this paper, a full page article by Sir Peter was headlined: Climate action needed . . . otherwise everyone will suffer.

He stated: “This is a global challenge and a country like ours that aspires to be respected as a leading, innovative nation cannot afford to appear not to be fully involved. Indeed such a perception would compromise our reputation and potential markets.”

Why then is there so little urgency and meaningful action from the Government?

• It is opting out by delaying action on agriculture greenhouse gasses — half of our emissions;

• Promotes trucking and highway expenditure over urban rail links, when rail is many times more fuel efficient and is environmentally-friendly in every way;

• Allows oil, gas and coal exploration as well as fracking (fossil fuel use is the No. 1 source of all greenhouse emissions);

• Last but not least, its folly of pushing economic growth at the expense of our environment.

These actions are a slap in the face for those of us who try hard to enlighten the world on environmental fragility.

Self-interested groups and puppets seem bent on keeping this fossil fuel-consuming age going until it peters out in chaotic collapse of all supporting systems.

In newspapers we so often see articles by non-scientists denying human impact on our ecosystems. For example, John Roughan’s NZ Herald column on Saturday, July 7: Science burst back into life.

Roughan says the environmental focus of science has removed its real power to excite us. He sees photos from space and notes: “Mother Earth didn’t look vulnerable to me, she looked large, fertile and magnificent.” He believes humans are too puny to have an impact larger than the plantet’s natural eruptions.

What hogwash! Does it now take an atomic, news-captivating event to stimulate our zonked-out imaginations?

I go the opposite way and commend the painstaking work specialists do in the field of climate science. Above the howl of the doubters, science is alive and well — tirelessly researching and sifting through gathered data to get the correct answers; persisting with the messages and rebuttal as climate science messengers experience vitriolic attacks and hate mail.

It is difficult to convey information to those not wishing to receive it, with minds already made up; maybe including many members of our Government?

Mark Twain is reported to have said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just aint so.”

I support Professor Gluckman’s plea for the environment. I commend the climate scientists’ painstaking work achieved through the many decades.

Please hear the plea. The future of our planet depends on action.

There will be costs either way but the costs of inaction would be by far the greatest.