New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern | Via Facebook
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s green energy street cred is being put to the test after an open letter was published urging her government to end oil and gas exploration in the country.
Last month, Prime Minister Ardern delivered a speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, during which she stated:
“We live in the Pacific, and with that comes a huge duty to both act, and speak on, the threat that climate change poses to our region.”
However, in December last year, the newly-minted Prime Minister announced she would allow new permits for coal mining, offshore oil drilling and fracking on a case-by-case basis.
Oil and gas reserves in existing NZ fields are dwindling, with around 15% of recoverable oil and 24% of recoverable gas remaining in existing fields according to 2016 figures. The pressure is on to find more – particularly oil – or be faced with the prospect of importing more oil.
The Sustainable Electricity Association New Zealand doesn’t believe finding more oil and gas or bumping up imports is the way to go, and has added its name to the list of signatories to an open letter calling on Jacinda Arden to accelerate movement1 towards a smarter, cleaner energy future.
“In May 2016, the Government set a target to increase New Zealand’s electric vehicle fleet to 64,000 by the end of 2021, to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” states SEANZ. “Today we are approaching 7000 registered plug-in electric vehicles in New Zealand – simply put, we think we need to be more ambitious.”
SEANZ says solar power, home battery storage and related technologies will need to play an important role in the transition to electric vehicles to alleviate strain on already overtaxed electricity networks, and consequently help to wean the nation from oil.
There’s no doubt PM Ardern is a fan of solar power. Recently, she announced another NZ $5 million for more solar energy in the island nation of Niue. But when it comes to solar energy at home, there doesn’t appear to be a lot going on as yet in terms of new government policy to support it.
The open letter mentions the stance New Zealand took back in 1984, when then-Prime Minister David Lange banned nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports – or even entering New Zealand waters
“If our small nation can again inspire the world, as we did in our stand against nuclear weapons, then we would earn our place on the right side of history. Ending the development of new oil, gas and coal now, is vital to that success,” it states.
SEANZ is encouraging other Kiwis to also sign the letter.
According to author, educator, environmentalist, and co-founder of 350.org Bill McKibben, 80 percent of the fossil-fuel reserves that are known to exist globally must be kept underground and not be burned in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Footnotes
- Jacinda Ardern has previously committed to 100% renewable energy by 2035 (the Kiwis don’t have far to go) and net zero carbon emissions in New Zealand by 2050 ↩
About Michael Bloch
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Good evening, the reasons put forward by the Minister are fully valid because there are already many types of energy that are supplying the oil, but we must not hide is that the oil is still the first option and leaving large profits to these millions countries but unfortunately devastating our ecosystem.