Israel-Iran attack: AA says petrol price panic pointless, severity of strikes will dictate impact on consumers

Israel's attack on Iran today has sent oil prices up.
But any impact on New Zealand motorists and flyers should at least be delayed, the Automobile Association said.
'I saw the pre-attack indicators,' AA principal policy adviser Terry Collins told the Herald.
'The price of oil jumped about US$5

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Global Survey Finds 8 Out Of 10 People Support Taxing Oil And Gas Corporations To Pay For Climate Damages

A majority of people believe governments must tax oil, gas and coal corporations for climate-related loss and damage, and that their government is not doing enough to counter the influence on politics of the super-rich and polluting industries. These are the key findings of a global survey, which reflects broad consensus across political affiliations, income levels and age groups. Today's study, which was jointly commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International, was launched at the Bonn UN climate meetings (SB62 16-26 June), where governments are discussing key climate policy priorities, including ways to mobilize at least US $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035. The poll was conducted across 13 countries, including most G7 countries. The study, run by Dynata, comes with additional research by Oxfam showing that a polluter profits tax on 590 oil, gas and coal companies could raise up to US $400 billion in its first year. This is equivalent to the estimated annual costs of climate damage in the Global South. Loss and damage costs from climate change to the Global South are estimated to reach between $290bn to $580bn annually by 2030. Key findings of the survey include: 81% of people surveyed support new taxes on the oil, coal and gas industry to pay for damages caused by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires. 86% of people in surveyed countries support channelling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities who are most impacted by the climate crisis. Climate change is disproportionately hitting people in Global South countries, who are historically least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. When asked who should be taxed to pay for helping survivors of fossil-fuel driven climate disasters, 66% of people across countries surveyed think it should be oil and gas companies compared to than 5% who support taxes on working people, 9% on goods people buy, and 20% in favour of business taxes. 68% felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in their country. 77% say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry. Oxfam's research finds that 585 of the world's largest and most polluting fossil fuel companies made $583 billion in profits in 2024, a 68% increase since 2019. The annual emissions of 340 of these corporations (for whom data was available) accounted for over half of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. Their emissions in just one year are enough to cause 2.7 million heat-related deaths over the next century. A polluter profits tax on these companies would ensure that renewable energy is more profitable than fossil fuels, encouraging companies to invest in renewables, as well as avoid more deaths driven by fossil fuelled climate change. This new tax must be accompanied by higher taxes on the super-rich and other polluting companies. Governments should impose such taxes nationally and engage positively at the UN to ensure a fair global tax agreement. Nick Henry, Climate Justice Lead for Oxfam Aotearoa, said: "This new poll shows that people support Oxfam's call for our leaders to make polluting corporations pay for the damage they cause to our climate." "People understand that storms, floods, drought, wildfires, and other extreme weather events are being fuelled by oil and gas corporations. Instead of leaving communities exposed to deal with these devastating costs alone, governments can unlock huge sums of money to invest in climate solutions through making dirty energy companies pay," said Rebecca Newsom, Global Political Lead for Greenpeace's Stop Drilling, Start Paying campaign. "The Polluters Pay Pact unites communities on the frontlines of climate disasters, concerned citizens, first responders like firefighters and humanitarian groups around the world to call on politicians to act now through making polluters, not people, pay for climate damages." Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: "Mega-rich coal, oil and gas companies have known for decades about the damage their polluting products wreak on humanity. 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Together, these countries represent close to half the world's population. Results available here. Oxfam's polluter profits tax model is explained in this blog and methodology note attached. The methodology note also explains the basis for the emissions of fossil fuel companies and their impacts on heat-related deaths. These deaths were calculated on the basis of emissions in 2023.

NZ Autocar

2 days ago

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Petrol is unlikely to spike despite increased Middle East tension

The con­flict between Israel and Iran shouldn't cause a significant rise in fuel prices locally, according to the AA. Pet­rol at the pumps had already been pur­chased at a lower price, said AA prin­cipal policy advisor Terry Collins. And so far the mar­kets had man­aged the risk. He continued: 'Iran pro­duces about five per cent of the world's oil. Even though it's under sanc­tions, it still sup­plies the mar­ket. The Israelis have hit only some of the oil and gas infra­struc­ture. More import­ant, though, was the loc­a­tion of Iran next to the Strait of Hor­muz, Collins said. 'About 21 per cent of the world's oil…flows through there. It's just a worry that the Ira­ni­ans will try to block that strait and there­fore restrict oil sup­plies to the inter­na­tional mar­ket. Collins said the price jumped almost imme­di­ately after the conflict began, to about US$75 a bar­rel but had since dropped back down to under US$73. 'There's plenty of oil around,' he said. 'That's one of the myths – that there's not. It's just how they sup­ply it.' Collins said that for every dol­lar the price of a bar­rel of oil changed, it's reflected by about a 1 cent change at the pump price here. He added: 'What we've got in our tanks today was pur­chased back at the begin­ning of May, when the prices were below US$60'. 'We know the sup­ply chain is going to take a little bit of a hit but we shouldn't be see­ing big jumps in prices domest­ic­ally. 'And it's only really gone up about 10 cents per litre. 'If it stays at that sus­tained level, we may see those prices come through in another month.

1News

2 days ago

• 1News

How to look after your car on these chilly mornings

Kiwi drivers are being asked to make sure their cars are winter-ready as temperatures drop across the country. Frozen windscreens, dead batteries and broken lights are all everyday experiences on frosty mornings and can lead to delayed commutes. 1News spoke with Automobile Association (AA) technical support lead Allister Wade, who offered some tips on how to make winter car care easy. He said winter was a great time to get your car serviced if it hadn't been recently. 'They'll look at things like your coolant and engine oil. All these things are going to be working a lot harder in these colder months. You want to make sure that they are all on top of their game.' ADVERTISEMENT Wade said keeping across the weather forecast was also important, as it meant you could plan for any curveballs the elements may throw. 'If you know it's going to be a frosty, cold morning, you can allow for more time to defrost your windscreen so you're not rushing out there in a vehicle that's not actually safe and ready to go on the road.' Keeping on top of ice (Source: One of the most common winter-related car issues Kiwis faced was a frozen windscreen. It's illegal to drive with an obscured windscreen in New Zealand. Last year, a Christchurch woman copped a $150 fine for driving with an ice-covered windscreen. Thawing out the windscreen can be a frustrating inconvenience, delaying your morning commute, but there are ways to get it done fast. ADVERTISEMENT Wade recommended parking your car closer to your house or the garage - if you have one. This stops the ice from actually forming. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including what will happen to food after supermarket blaze, Trump's dithering over the Middle East, and winter car care tips. (Source: 1News) For those who can't, he recommended allowing extra time to go outside and defrost the windscreen. This can be done by pouring cold water on the windscreen, or allowing the engine to warm the vehicle up and blasting the heater inside. You can also use a plastic scraper or debit card to scrape off the ice once it loosens. You should never use hot or boiling water, as the temperature difference could crack the windscreen. You can find a guide on how to de-ice your windscreen here. Wade said visibility was one of the most important things to be aware of in winter. 'I've seen so many people when I walk to the bus station, crouching down, looking through that little part of the front of the windscreen. They're not going to be aware of pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists.' ADVERTISEMENT This also extended to how visible you are to other drivers. Wade said winter was 'always a good time' to check that your lights worked. 'So even when the vehicles are defrosting, you can get one of the family members, if you've got the young kids or something around, to check all the lights. Make sure your headlights, your brake lights and your indicators are working.' Check on your battery A car battery with jump-leads attached. (Source: Car batteries don't last forever, and in the winter they're likely to be working hard to make sure all your vehicle's electronics are fully functional. To ensure your car starts every morning, Wade recommended getting your vehicle serviced so you're not using a battery that's about to die. 'They're going to be able to give you an idea of when it's getting there.' ADVERTISEMENT If your battery is nearing the end of its life and the car is becoming harder to start, Wade said you should turn all electronics (lights, heater, and radio) off when starting the engine, adding them on one by one. 'Almost like in a house. You don't have all the heaters on at once. It puts too much pressure on systems, and that's when the battery will get overloaded and go, you know, I'm not going to actually start today.' If you haven't driven your car for a while, Wade said you should take it for a drive the night before to make sure everything is working. Another thing to regularly check is your tyres. Wade said you should make sure all four tyres have equal pressure and treads in good condition. These chores could be done at home, petrol stations or local tyre shops. Drive to the conditions A car drives in a storm, Golden bay. (Source: When on the roads, it's important to be safe and drive according to the conditions. ADVERTISEMENT 'Like in the fog, just increase your distance between vehicles,' Wade said. 'Allow that little bit of extra time for people to have those delayed reactions. 'Treat everyone with respect. We're all in the same position. We all want to get to work and home.' He said alternatives, like public transport, could also be easier.