Alternative Facts are Not Helpful.

The following is a response to the misinformation reported here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/107177207/government-urged-to-hold-hearings-on-oil-and-gas-changes-in-taranaki

The oil industry is known for seeding ‘alternative facts’ like fracking is safe and stopping oil and gas exploration in NZ will do between 5,000 and 11,000 kiwis out of their jobs.

Actually, there is no evidence to support either of the above ‘alternative facts’. With regard to employment numbers, in fact, Statistics NZ* collect and record official information and show us just 1,200 people were employed in the oil and gas exploration sector in 2015 at the height of its boom. They also record the numbers dropped in 2017 to less than 1,000.

Stopping further exploration as the Government intend would in fact, necessitate the retraining and support of some 900 people around the country into sustainable energy employment or similar fields. All the indirect employment generated from these ex oil and gas employees would continue as usual. The change created would be a change of employer, not the collapse of Taranaki.

Moving on to sustainable energy and employment will only be positive for Taranaki, NZ, the environment and climate we all share.

While some news outlets may prefer to allow big oil to report their own opinions as fact, in the interest of responsible news reporting we hope you will publish this legitimate and sourced information.

Jean Kahui
Frack Free Kapiti and Beyond
*https://figure.nz/chart/tAQeOoJ0aDCZo3ER-0lQ9qb11z8owuTQb

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