Oil prospects no substitute for action

green-party

Mon Jul 16 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Oil prospects no substitute for action

Monday, 16 July 2007, 8:07 am
Press Release: Green Party

Oil prospects no substitute for climate change action

The Green Party is urging caution about the gold rush expectations in the Deep South that have been sparked by licences awarded to overseas oil consortiums for oil and gas exploration in the Southern Ocean.

"New Zealand will not own any oil that is found - the bulk of the profits will go overseas. While a discovery would be a huge boost to the economies of Southland and Otago, we will still have to pay the world price if we want to use any of it here, and that price will continue to escalate," Greens Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.

"The fact these companies are willing to take the gamble of drilling for oil in some of the most dangerous conditions in the world, in the wild terrain of the Southern Ocean underlines the findings of the recent International Energy Agency report, which indicates that world demand for oil is outstripping the sources of supply. Even a very large find would not ease that situation for long.

"The Greens have concerns about the environmental effects of the mooted drilling programme - and about the wisdom of building massive oil platforms in the unique environment of the southern ocean, an area rich in fisheries resources and important to many endangered species. An oil spill there would be extremely hard to clean up and very damaging.

"The Government should impose a strict liability regime and require exploration companies to lodge a substantial bond to pay for any necessary clean up," Ms Fitzsimons says.

"The elation about exploration activity should not deflect the Government from the urgent need to prepare for a post-oil economy and create incentives to reduce our climate change emissions.

"The big risk is that a discovery could make us complacent and slow down efforts to prepare for a very different kind of future," Ms Fitzsimons says.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Green Party on InfoPages.