NZ- friend or foe?

In a surprise speech to a Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles US President-Elect Barack Obama has thrown down the gauntlet to global leaders over climate change.

"Now’s the time to confront this challenge once and for all," he says. "Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response. Too often, Washington has failed to show leadership…...that will change when I take office. My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change."

He says all nations willing to fight climate change have an ally in the US.

Which begs the question: what is New Zealand to America, now we have a government that’s not even sure it believes in manmade climate change and has pledged to dismantle every single piece of New Zealand climate policy in its first two weeks in power?