Four Greenpeace activists have climbed aboard the oil rig West Hercules, located near Rypefjord village in the north of Norway. The four have now been on board for 12 hours.
The rig operated by Equinor, formerly known as Statoil, is on its way to drill for oil in the Arctic – one of the most pristine places on Earth.
The activists are part of a growing movement of people across the planet demanding that governments step up their game on climate change, and follow the recent school strikes which have seen millions of students around the world leaving class to march in the streets.
Greenpeace New Zealand climate campaigner Amanda Larsson says New Zealand has been at the forefront of protests against the oil industry.
“An almost decade long campaign here in New Zealand culminated in the Jacinda Ardern Government announcing a ban on new oil and gas exploration permits last year, making us one of the first countries in the world to do so,” she says.
“Despite the looming climate catastrophe and clear signals from scientists that we cannot afford to burn even known oil reserves, oil companies like Equinor in the Arctic and OMV here in New Zealand are still intent on going to the ends of the Earth in search of more oil to burn.”
“While a growing movement calling for real action on climate change is building momentum all over the world, these companies continue to threaten our survival with their greedy plunder of the natural world. But what’s also clear is that, wherever they go, they face increasing resistance.”
In New Zealand, Greenpeace has promised to meet Austrian oil major OMV with stiff opposition, conducting peaceful civil disobedience training for anyone who wants to join the fight to ‘make oil history’ and ratcheting up its call on the Government to do much more than just ban new oil exploration permits.
Larsson says a series of sweeping changes are required to tackle the scale of the climate emergency the world faces.
“Greenpeace is calling on the New Zealand Government to honour Jacinda Ardern’s pledge to make climate change our nuclear free moment by declaring a climate emergency and committing to three key actions: Ending new oil and gas infrastructure, phasing out oil powered vehicles, and putting solar panels and batteries on 500,000 kiwi homes.”
If Labour are the party of the people and the environment why do we even need to call on them? They should be doing this as a matter of course, surely?
As I keep saying there’s not just a need for urgent action on the environment we need new political parties too. One’s that listen and move quickly to address important issues even if this means facing down elements of the MSM and interest groups who want to maintain the status quo.
Business as usual is not going to survive much longer in the face of the onslaught of increasing climate-related catastrophes and increasing protest from those who want a future for the young.
‘Extinction Rebellion and Momentum join forces on climate crisis
Activists to rally at parliament urging government to declare environmental emergency’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/extinction-rebellion-and-momentum-join-forces-on-climate-crisis
I was emailed by Greenpeace this morning and i have signed the petition asking for the following
We’re calling on the New Zealand Government to honour Jacinda Ardern’s pledge to make climate change our nuclear free moment by committing to three key actions:
1. Ban new oil and gas development, permit extensions and infrastructure
2. Phase out imports and sale of oil powered vehicles
3. Lead a just transition towards people-centered, renewable energy and transport system.
Realistically i think we will have to wait until the Labour party and the Greens have a majority and don’t have to go to NZF and Winston for permission.
How do we build the panels without using power. There is not enough excess power to fuel the entire fleet of personal cars let alone all the commercial ones and run businesses . If Green peace had their way we would all go back to living in caves. If they find oil and gas in the volumes predicted off Otago the country could be like Norway in its standard of living. Polution is man made and should be combated but global warming is a normal event and we need to allow for it just as we do earthquakes. The money earnt from oil and gas of our own would go a long way to protect the country especially the coastal settlements
I haven’t reads anywhere that the Greens suggest living in caves but aspects of that shift should be assessed
We certainly cannot continue our present Western lifestyle with its energy intensive demands.
We don’t need more energy but we do need to use very much less.
Resettlement of coastal occupations is problematic but so is continuing to build in existing CBD’s such as Wellington which will be awash within decades.
In industrial societies current energy use per capita is more than one hundred times what can be sustained long term, i.e. it is unsustainable. That unsustainability will manifest as petroleum reserves become depleted and as the consequences of burning fossil fuels become increasingly dire.
Having to face the consequences of depletion of resources (declining availability) and burgeoning pollution levels is not what people want to hear. And no political party is prepared to tell the fundamental truth about energy and the environment. Politics amounts to continuous lying when it comes to energy and the environment. Politics amounts to promoting policies that makes everything that matters worse long term, whilst juggling with resources short term.
Nothing is more certain than that the combination of environmental degradation and energy depletion will eventually terminate the living arrangements most people take for granted. And that termination of living arrangements could come quite soon, I.e. within a decade.
In industrial societies current energy use per capita is more than one hundred times what can be sustained long term, i.e. it is unsustainable. That unsustainability will manifest as petroleum reserves become depleted and as the consequences of burning fossil fuels become increasingly dire.
Having to face the consequences of depletion of resources (declining availability) and burgeoning pollution levels is not what people want to hear. And no political party is prepared to tell the fundamental truth about energy and the environment. Politics amounts to continuous lying when it comes to energy and the environment. Politics amounts to promoting policies that makes everything that matters worse long term, whilst juggling with resources short term.
Nothing is more certain than that the combination of environmental degradation and energy depletion will eventually terminate the living arrangements most people take for granted. And that termination of living arrangements could come quite soon, I.e. within a decade.
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