Following the Guardian article in November last year, once again New Zealand has been accused of greenwash by international media. Playing once again on our ‘connection’ with Middle Earth, this time it is the Economist questioning our commitment to the Clean and Green tag we use so freely to sell our wares overseas.

With plans still in the pipeline for cows in cubicles in the MacKenzie High Country, AgResearch winning a High Court appeal to continue with its transgenic livestock programme and a government expressing intent to mine conservation land, it seems like New Zealand needs to clarify exactly what our direction is, and how committed we really are to keeping our clean and green image.

The public outcry over the plan to mine Schedule 4 conservation land certainly indicates that New Zealanders themselves want to hold onto, or perhaps regain, our ’100% pure’ status. The question is, will this desire translate into policy?

Update: The mining issue has also been picked up by Treehugger.com