Media release Wednesday 2nd April 2014

Climate Crime Scene declared as Simon Bridges announces Block Offer to oil industry

Te Papa was cordoned off as a climate crime scene this morning as the fossil fuel industry gathered to hear Energy Minister and Associate Climate Change Minister Simon Bridges announce the latest Block Offer. The 2014 offer doubles the area available for oil and gas exploration to 405 000 square kilometres.

Bridges was speaking at the Advantage Geotechnical Petroleum Forum, the government’s showcase for the petroleum sector.

Outside, a coalition of groups opposing fossil fuels warned visitors of the scale of the crime taking place in Te Papa and what they can do about it.

“This week’s IPCC report has confirmed that climate change is the greatest threat facing the planet and burning fossil fuels is by far the greatest contributor to global warming” said spokesperson Fi Gibson. “The science says we can’t afford to burn even a quarter of the oil and coal we already know about.”

“Yet here we have a government hell bent on offering all the help it can to the fossil fuel industry. Actively seeking out more fossil fuels to burn, when all credible science tells us we can’t, is as act of ecocide and these criminals need to be held to account.”

“The government and oil industry say it’s a choice between our environment and our economy. They say we need to burn oil to create jobs,” said Ms Gibson. “The real choice is between action now, or environmental and economic disaster in the imminent future. We need to urgently reduce our emissions and work together to create the kind of economy that supports people and the environment. There are no jobs on a dead planet.”

“Communities all over the Aotearoa are saying no to fracking, no to deep sea oil. This struggle is happening all over the world. It’s time to hold these criminals to account.”

Media Release ends

Notes:

1) Advantage NZ: Geotechnical Petroleum Forum 2014 – The New Zealand Government’s Technical Showcase for the Petroleum Sector

http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/conference/welcome-to-advantage-nz-2014

2) Contribution of fossil fuels to greenhouse gas emissions 56.6% (2007) p5 http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf

3) Subsidies to fossil fuel industry

http://www.wwf.org.nz/?10762/New-report-exposes-Government-hypocrisy-on-fossil-fuel-subsidies

4) The Ecocide Project http://www.sas.ac.uk/hrc/projects/ecocide-project

5) We can only afford to burn up to a quarter of known fossil fuel reserves.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/limits-on-greenhouse-gas-emissions/

6) For other groups resisting fossil fuel exploitation outside of Aotearoa - http://ejatlas.org/type/oil-and-gas-exploration-and-extraction

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