Auckland, Monday 24 July, 2006: Greenpeace calls on the Government to heed the recommendations from the Parliamentary
Commissioner for the Environment and to intervene immediately and stop a proposal for a coal fired burning power station
– Marsden B.
In his report Electricity, energy and the environment: Environmental performance assessment 1 July 2004 - 30 June 2005,
tabled in Parliament today, Morgan Williams says "Proposals for new coal-fired power stations appear to undermine the
Government's attempts to stabilise New Zealand's carbon emissions and that by supporting the Marsden B proposal the
Government appears to place short-term economic benefit over the country's international commitments and considerations
of environmental sustainability. Global warming is an issue that must be taken seriously and meaningful actions must be
taken immediately."
Greenpeace welcomes this commonsense and clear advice from the Commissioner and hopes the Government listens.
"Immediate action required of the Government is to stop the madness that is Marsden B – the first major coal fired power
station in 25 years," says Greenpeace Campaigner, Vanessa Atkinson.
"We reiterate what the Commissioner says is needed from the Government - developing renewable sources, and promoting
local and distributed generation."
"We urgently need policies to lower our emissions, encourage renewable technology such as wind farms, stop
climate-polluting power sources such as Marsden B, phase out coal and increase energy efficiency to lead us to a 100%
renewable electricity sector," concluded Atkinson.
On Thursday 27 July, Greenpeace will be making a submission to the hearing of the Climate Protection Amendment Bill that
repeals the sections of the Resource Management (Energy and Climate Change) Amendment Act which prevent the
consideration of climate change in the granting of air discharge consents and the formulation of regional plans.
ENDS