1.Our ocean is too precious to destroy
The tragic Rena spill off the coast of Tauranga was just a drop in a bucket of what could happen to our coastlines.With our Maui’s dolphins at the brink of extinction and the thousands of marine animals that call New Zealand home, our pristine ocean is too beautiful and delicate to risk an oil spill.
2.New Zealanders don’t want it to happen
In a poll by stuff.co.nz, over 60% of people surveyed stated that they did not support oil drilling off the Taranaki Coast. Oil drilling affects each and every New Zealander, no matter where you are in New Zealand, you’re not far away from the coast. Our public understands that our precious coastlines are worth more than short term financial gain.
3.It will cost the Earth
If the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change, the oil that is being prospected off our shores cannot be burnt.
4.We can’t power the 21st century on an ancient old fuel source
Huge improvements in renewable energy technology are starting to pave the way and in a country like New Zealand – where we have an overabundance of renewable energy sources- there really is an opportunity to get our electricity consumption to come from 100 per cent renewables.
5.We don’t really need to
With electric vehicles becoming easier to manufacture, cheap to run with minimal cost to the environment. Most major car manufacturers have at least one electric car on their line up. At the start of 2015, there were more than 740,000 electric vehicles worldwide. As the global demand grows, this number will continue to rise.