This morning Greenpeace activists barricaded shut Statoil\u2019s new Wellington office before the Norwegian oil giant has fully opened for business.
\nAnd the reason: to send a very clear message to Norway that New Zealanders don\u2019t want Statoil here drilling for deep sea oil, putting our environment and economy at risk.
\nActivists blocked the entry by adding extra locks to the front door and boarding it up with planks and a sign reading \u2018Go Home Statoil\u2019. The sign, featuring Maori motifs, was designed by members of Northland iwi that are opposed to deep sea oil exploration off their coast.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s action comes a day after Energy and Resources minister Simon Bridges opened up vast new areas of our ocean (including maui\u2019s dolphin habitat) and forest parks to oil drilling. Statoil has picked up 4 new permits: 1 more off the coast of Northland and 3 more in the Pegasus Basin, just off the capital\u2019s shores.<\/p>\n
The Wellington permits are to be shared with notorious oil giant Chevron, who have a disastrous environmental record. Even the government has conceded it\u2019s \u201cnot perfect\u201d, which is putting it mildly. Chevron’s environmental impact in Ecuador rivals Shells impact in Nigeria.
\nChevron is fighting charges for a huge oil spill off the coast of Brazil in 2011 and is currently locked in a legal battle with the Ecuadorian government after refusing to clean up 70 billion litres of toxic liquids they dumped in Amazon rainforest.
\nChevron has sued Ecuador to overturn a decision of the domestic courts after 18 years of legal action, to award $18 billion in damages to clean up its toxic contamination of the Amazon basin \u2026 Chevron didn’t like what the local courts decided, so went to an international tribunal instead, as is allowed under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (This is the sort of thing New Zealand could be exposed to if we sign the TPPA but that\u2019s whole other blog).<\/p>\n
Simon Bridges claims that he won\u2019t allow cowboys to operate in our waters. But if it walks like a cowboy, talks like a cowboy, acts like a cowboy and plays fast and loose like a cowboy: It is a cowboy.
\nAnd what would be so laughable, if it wasn\u2019t so tragic, is that this announcement came the same day an independent report, released at the global climate talks in Peru, shamed New Zealand for having a \u201cpoor\u201d record on climate action – and typoon Hagupit still raged across the Phillipines.<\/p>\n
When is this government going to draw the dots between burning oil and gas, and climate change?
\nBut the madness doesn\u2019t stop there.
\nExploring for oil may also affect whales and dolphins. Two weeks ago, Statoil started seismic testing in the deep waters off Northland\u2019s coast looking for signs of oil.<\/p>\n
To better understand the impacts that seismic testing has on marine mammals, a Greenpeace-sponsored yacht – SV Vega \u2013 has set sail to take an independent scientific crew to the zone where Statoil are searching for oil. It is research that the government failed to do before it started issuing permits to big oil companies like Statoil to come here.<\/p>\n
Oil exploration takes place because oil companies want to drill, which comes with the risk of an oil spill, which would be catastrophic for our coastlines and our local communities. It is a risk we do not need to take.
\nNew Zealand has a rich history of developing clean energy. We could create many tens of thousands of jobs, give the economy a multi-billion dollar boost and reduce our dependence on oil. The oil industry can\u2019t even come close to matching these figures.<\/p>\n
And the win-win would be that we play a leading role in delivering the climate solutions that the world needs and at home we will build a cleaner, smarter future for all New Zealanders.<\/p>\n
So Statoil, please take a hint and go home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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