Prime minister Helen Clark laid out a ambitious and amazing plan for the future of New Zealand. In her opening speech to parliament Clark laid out her plan for reduction in emissions, and increased use of renewable energy sources.

“I believe we can aspire to be carbon neutral in our economy and way of life,” she said. In her speech Clark said New Zealand could set an example for the world on climate change as it did in the 1980s with its nuclear-free policies. “We have to make a stand for our world, and for our own sake,” she said.(via)

This is no doubt an ambitious goal, powering an entire nation with enough renewables to become carbon neutral is going to take a radical shifting of how New Zealand gets power. The glut of fossil fuels in the worlds energy streams represents a dominate force in the economy and politics. Removing or even diverting that stream is going to be difficult, but not impossible. Clark plans on meeting these goals through a variety of methods.

They included replacing 3.4 per cent of its gasoline and diesel sales with biofuels by 2012. She promised that the government would lead by example, with six departments committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2012 by reducing their emissions and offsetting them by planting trees.(via)

With their struggle to meet Kyoto measures it is unclear if New Zealand can achieve these laudable goals, but even if they become less reliant on fossil fuels it will be a good step in the right direction. What really makes this an interesting announcement is the fact that an elected leader is, leading. Something we are lacking in America. Clark’s has a plan, a vision, and is working to implement it. What is George W.’s plan? Leaders set the stage for the debate, and in New Zealand the stage is not “should we go renewable”, but “how fast can we go renewable”.