Government Oil Announcement Tomorrow: Greenpeace Comment

Tuesday, 1 April 2014, 4:12 pm
Press Release: Greenpeace

1 April 2014

Government Oil Announcement Tomorrow: Greenpeace Comment

Commenting ahead of tomorrow’s government announcement about new oil drilling exploration areas in New Zealand, Nathan Argent, Greenpeace’s chief policy advisor, said:

“We’re threatened with a future of increasing droughts and forest fires right here in New Zealand. That’s what the world’s top climate scientists warned us just this week. But by opening up whole new areas to drill and mine for oil, Simon Bridges and the rest of the government have shown that they’re going to ignore the science. That’s pretty arrogant.

“And it’s not just the science that the government is ignoring. They’re also turning their backs on the huge economic benefits that our own, New Zealand-grown innovative clean energy industry could give our country. This cutting-edge sector could provide tens of thousands of jobs, and give our economy a multi-billion dollar boost. The oil industry cannot come close to matching these figures.

“This money could be invested in our children’s schools, and in our hospitals. The government’s obsession with a failing deep sea oil drilling programme is holding back our economy, our innovation, and our future prosperity.”

Associate Climate Change Minister Simon Bridges is going to announce new oil exploration areas tomorrow morning at an industry conference in Wellington.

ENDS

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