Oil and gas shut public out again

"Climate Justice Taranaki received an email yesterday from an ENEX oil and gas conference organiser, Gloria Yehia, to inform us that the 'open session' on the second day "is in fact a closed session open only to industry guests and not the public as you have quoted." However, when our group downloaded the program for the conference a few weeks ago, the session was clearly labelled as being open to the general public" said Climate Justice Taranaki member Urs Signer.

"The oil and gas industry is again hiding from being accountable to the community. We find it extremely disturbing that the industry is shutting out the public from the conference after initially inviting everybody to come and listen to their presentations. This goes hand in hand with the Taranaki Regional Council's tick'n'flick granting of non-notified consents for many of the oil and gas activities."

"When we accessed the ENEX website on 31st May in the morning, the schedule had indeed been changed to say that the time-slot from 1.30pm to 3.30pm is now open for 'industry guests' only. However, at the bottom of the page it still states clearly: 'NB: there are no Expo Only passes, however ENEX will be open for general access to public on Friday 10th June from 1.30pm - 3.30pm'.""

"The oil and gas industry has faced opposition from the community in all parts of the country in recent months - from Whangarei to the East Coast, and from Taranaki to Otago. Companies are currently fracking in Taranaki, a dangerous extraction practice that involves pumping toxic chemicals into the ground to fracture rock to release gas. We have also had several oil spills in recent years. Given the industry's contribution to climate change, what we really need is to leave fossil fuels in the ground and focus on transitioning to renewable energy."

"Our group is still going ahead with our renewable energy forum on 7th June and also our protest at the oil and gas conference on 10th June in New Plymouth, even if we're locked out" concludes Urs Signer.

ENDS

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