Our Associate Minister for Climate Change, Simon Bridges, doesn’t know what ’emissions reduction targets’ are. That was his shocking response to a question from opposition MP Dr Megan Woods last month.
And it’s scary because this is basically what the government is going to do to reduce pollution. Not only is it Bridges’ job to know about it, but it’s also pretty straightforward.
To be fair, not everyone will be as cosy with the term as us policy wonks who lie awake worrying about these things, but come on – the guy is paid 250 grand a year of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash to know this stuff.
So, when in response to a parliamentary question, Bridges feigned naivety and asked what “she means by ‘emissions reduction targets’” and requested for Woods to be more specific, my head fell crashing into the palms of my hands.
Because even if he was just being “mischievous” in order to be obstructive, I think you could argue that it’s actually even more serious than being clueless… As Upton Sinclair once said: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it”.
This casual disregard for accountability and lack of willingness to discuss what we’re doing about taking the pollution out of the economy means that we’re missing out on some exciting opportunities to build a cleaner, healthier, smarter future.
Being so flippant about creating tens of thousands of jobs and a multi-billion dollar boost to the economy is anything but smart – he’s just thumbing his nose at the public.