"This is potentially the next government of New Zealand, and its
energy policy completely fails to acknowledge the biggest
collective crisis we're ever faced," says Greenpeace Executive
Director Bunny McDiarmid. "Their policy reads like something from
the 1970s."
The National Party's policy does not rule out coal, does not
support renewables to any significant degree and places very little
emphasis on energy efficiency and conservation.
"We wouldn't have expected much more from "sexy coal" Brownlee
(1), but we're disappointed that John Key, who has widely
acknowledged that climate change is a huge problem, hasn't managed
to convince his caucus of the need for urgent action.
"More fossil fuel generation means more costs for the taxpayer,
because our Kyoto bill will just keep skyrocketing unless we switch
to low carbon energy options."
Greenpeace is rubbishing the party's security of supply claims.
"National argues we need fossil fuel electricity generation in
order to safeguard security of supply, which is totally untrue.
"Latest figures suggest that 1,520MW of new generation will be
commissioned over the next four years - more than twice what is
required to meet the increase in demand and most of which will be
renewables. This amount includes over 745MW of geothermal baseload
generation.
"Security of supply is a poorly-masked excuse for what is
clearly a major nod and wink to fossil fuel, big business
interests.
Ms McDiarmid said National was pushing gas like it was a clever
solution, but was neglecting to mention that gas is a
climate-polluting fossil fuel which need not and must not be part
of New Zealand's energy future.
She said there was clearly some dissent within National when it
came to climate change. "National's Environment Spokesman Nick
Smith came onboard Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior earlier this
year and categorically stated that 'coal is the worst form of
generating electricity' and that 'we need to provide for greater
renewable energy'. National's left hand needs to speak to its right
hand and the party as a whole needs to wake up and smell the
crisis."
Ms McDiarmid said National's support for carbon capture and
storage (CCS) was another nod to the fossil fuel industry. "CCS is
a risky, expensive and unproven technology (2). Relying on CCS in
order to keep burning fossil fuels is like wilfully contracting a
disease in the hope that medical science may one day provide a
cure. It's a dangerous justification for continuing with business
as usual."
"The reality is clear. Climate scientists say global emissions
must peak by 2015 and quickly reduce from that point. We're
currently increasing emissions at a rapid pace. National Party
policies are only going to make things worse."
Last year Greenpeace commissioned a major report into
sustainable energy which found that we can infact achieve 100 per
cent renewable electricity by 2025 whilst maintaining security of
supply (3).
Greenpeace is calling for a domestic emissions reduction target
of 30 per cent by 2020.
Other contacts: Bunny McDiarmid – Greenpeace Executive Director – 021 838 183
Kathy Cumming – Greenpeace Communications – 021 495 216
Notes: (1) http://brownlee.co.nz/index.php?/archives/41-Video-Newsletter-5.html_
(2) Greenpeace International released a report into CCS in May this year: “False Hope: why carbon capture and storage won’t save the climate”. It’s available at: www.greenpeace.org/ccs. Also available: the Executive Summary of the report, an information sheet on CCS, three graphics (as PDFs) showing: the process of carbon capture; an overview of geological storage options and leakage pathways and potential impacts of CO2 escape, plus the NGO statement on carbon capture and storage.
(3) The New Zealand Energy Revolution: How to prevent climate chaos - http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/press/reports/nz-energy-revolution-report
Exp. contact date: 2008-04-14 00:00:00