The Greenpeace activists charged for putting themselves in the water in front of the world\u2019s largest seismic oil ship have told the Government that they won\u2019t back down, and will now face trial.<\/p>\n
The trial, which will take place from 30 April 2018, was announced in the Napier District Court this morning, where Greenpeace Executive Director Dr Russel Norman, and volunteer Sara Howell, appeared after being charged for the first time in New Zealand under the \u2018Anadarko Amendment\u2019.<\/p>\n
The pair have pleaded Not Guilty.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo paraphrase the late, great Tom Petty: We won\u2019t back down, we will stand our ground. The future of humanity is at stake in this climate battle against the oil industry and their government,\u201d says Norman.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Norman and Howell went into the water in front of the Amazon Warrior to stop it from seismic blasting for oil. The ship, owned by oilfield surveyor Schlumberger, was collecting data for oil giants Statoil, OMV, and Chevron.<\/p>\n
Alongside Greenpeace, the activists were charged by the oil division of the Government under a 2013 Amendment to the Crown Minerals Act, known as the Anadarko Amendment. They are collectively facing fines of up to $300,000, and Norman and Howell also face a year in jail.<\/p>\n
Norman says it was necessary to stop the ship in order to protect people from climate change, which is being driven by the oil industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy stopping this ship blasting our seafloor in search of new deep sea oil, we were stopping a far greater wrong – the destruction of our climate, and the risk to our marine life and coastal communities from a catastrophic oil spill,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single person and living thing on this planet will be affected by climate change. If we don\u2019t take action now, one in six of the world\u2019s species faces extinction, with New Zealand being one of the most at-risk areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what\u2019s right. We\u2019ve got just one life. And we won\u2019t back down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe science says that if we are to have any chance of avoiding a climate catastrophe, we can\u2019t afford to burn most of the fossil fuel reserves we know about, let alone search for more. It\u2019s exactly this new oil that these companies are scouring our coasts for.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make matters worse, companies like OMV, Chevron and Statoil are almost single handedly responsible for what\u2019s happening to our climate. They’re named in the list of only 100 companies in the world that are causing 71% of global emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just last week, Schlumberger applied for a license to undertake a further search for oil across almost 19,000 square-kilometres of the Taranaki Basin, including in and around the critically endangered M\u0101ui dolphin and New Zealand Blue Whale habitat.<\/p>\n
As well as harming whales and dolphins, a recent study published by science journal Nature, shows seismic blasting for oil has devastating effects on the most critical ocean lifeform, zooplankton, with \u201cenormous implications for ocean ecosystem structure and health\u201d.<\/p>\n
OMV will one of the major recipients of any information that Schlumberger gathers from this survey.<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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