Dunedin has joined some other councils in calling moratorium on fracking – hydraulic fracturing.
National MP Michael Woodhouse, has responded by challenging the city to say yes.
He’s calling on Dunedin’s city leaders to publicly state their support for oil and gas exploration as long as environmental risks can be managed.
Speaking in yesterday’s General Debate he compared the national GDP per capita of $46,000 with that of Taranaki where the GDP per capita is $88,000.
In that province agriculture, tourism and oil and gas exploration co-exist. The latter adds significantly to the economic and social benefits without environmental problems.
Homepaddock 
I won’t comment on the DCC decision on fracking but it does indirectly point out a few problems in the situation.
As usual the Greens are riding this decision to the nth degree. Gareth Hughes has been fast and furious with innuendo and fear mongering in the whole process.
The Greens still seem to get an easy passage from the main stream media, little real investigative journalism to their claims.
On the whole we kiwis are an easy going mob not particularly clued up on matters of scientific import – witness the ETS scheme and now fracking. One thing our politicians are good at, is arousing fear for political purposes.
Now it is the Greens but Labour is equally good at it. When National was in opposition they used fear and ignorance as well. In many cases the population followed lemming like after their statements.
Listening to Minister Wilkinson talking about so called pollution from fracking in Taranaki made me realise to be cautious in determining what dangers the process has. The pollution of puddles in Taranaki wasn’t from fracking, rather animal stools had got into the surface water.
As well, there was a stinging attack by the chair of the Taranaki Regional Council on the Greens for their scaremongering.
The Greens are the masters of distorting issues, grandstanding and being hopelessly irresponsible on financial matters.
Hopefully, one day someone with enough time will catalogue the nonsense of that party.
That will show that one of their co-leaders is still a secret McGillicuddy Serious party member!! Gareth Hughes looks a jolly fellow, so much so that his actions remind me of a past occupation of his in the past.
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The first paragraph in the National Governments’s Ministry for the Environment’s 2009 report ‘New Zealand’s Fifth National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’ states “The New Zealand Government is committed to doing its fair share in combating climate change and reducing New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. Tackling climate change is the Government’s number one environmental priority.” How on earth can the Government say this to the United Nations and then all their MPs say lets drill for more oil & gas?
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“How on earth can the Government say this to the United Nations and then all their MPs say lets drill for more oil & gas?”
NZ’s emissions have been tracking down since 2005
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate/greenhouse-gas-inventory-2012-snapshot/index.html
As the Ministry says, we are on track to meet our Kyoto targets.
Actually, this measure will be very valuable in the future. When it starts climbing again we will be much better off with more plant food (CO2), rising GDP, more jobs, better pay and the environment will be much *better* off because only rich countries can afford to improve it.
It’d be too much to hope for another couple of degrees warmth.. but you can’t have everything 😦
JC
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JC, are you seriously suggesting that we should mine more fossil fuels because the CO2 is needed to grow plants ? Are you thinking that being 2 degrees warmer on a winters day is nice, so therefore it’s OK for the entire planet’s overall average temperature to warm that much?
How do the National party reconcile Nick Smith’s statement in that report “Tackling climate change is the Government’s number one environmental priority” with wanting to triple petroleum exports?
Let me guess- it all goes in the ‘too hard’ basket.
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“JC, are you seriously suggesting that we should mine more fossil fuels because the CO2 is needed to grow plants ? ”
Um, yes. CO2 is quite useful for plants.
“Are you thinking that being 2 degrees warmer on a winters day is nice, so therefore it’s OK for the entire planet’s overall average temperature to warm that much?”
Yes. It would be Paradise Regained with happy Greens everywhere.. you *have* noticed that the vast majority of Greens live in the colder gloomy climates?
JC
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