Govt Must Rectify Cuts To Energy Efficiency Budget
Monday, 30 July 2001, 11:23 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party
National's Tony Ryall and Pansy Wong today called on the
Government to boost funding for the Energy Efficiency and
Conservation Authority (EECA), as the Energy Minister urges
New Zealanders to conserve electricity.
"On Friday, the
Minister put out a 'switch off - or else' warning, saying
everyone should cut their power use by 10 percent during the
next 10 weeks or face blackouts," Mrs Wong said.
"He said
that educating New Zealanders on how to conserve energy was
one of the first ways to address the current problem," she
said.
"This is the Government's chance to rectify its 8.2
percent cut in funding for the EECA for the 2001-02
financial year in this year's Budget, a decrease of $869,000
to $9.665 million," Mr Ryall said.
"This cut to energy
efficiency funding was an extraordinary move at a time power
prices were going through the roof. Now that we are verging
on a power shortage crisis the Government must show
leadership by putting its hands in its pockets to help
energy efficiency," he said.
Ends
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