Letters to Editor: Frenzied era of greed fed by oil

Frenzied era of greed fed by oil
What a strange world we are now in, far from those times following World War II, when societies around the world had to dig deep to repair their shattered cities and damaged lives.
When life moved at a fairly even pace, when little pressure was put upon us to buy this and buy that in an attempt to bring contentment to our lives.
Now the name of the game is growth, economic growth. Our GDP must grow a set amount or we shall slip into the abyss. No matter how much you are in debt, you must spend for all it is worth to feed this growth because only then will happiness be assured.
It is our society's driving force irrespective of the environmental damage that we do along the way.
But what is it that helps and assists us in this incessant demand for growth?
Oil. For without it, our way of life would be totally different from what it is today. It is the driving force of industry, from motor cars to the clothes we wear, to our food and everything in between for 99 per cent of the things that we possess are glued to oil.
We are now engulfed in greed as witnessed by the global credit crisis. This greed is turning to a greater frenzy for fossil fuels to feed this desire for our throwaway society. This mindset is having major consequences on our environment, our health and the very fabric of wildlife and their habitats.
For example our Government's desire to drill for oil not only off the East Cape of the North Island but murmurings of drilling in the vicinity of the shallow waters of Farewell Spit, a large bird sanctuary at the top of the South Island.
The consequences of any oil leak, large or small, would be very damaging to the environment and wildlife.
The East Cape oil prospecting would be especially environmentally catastrophic being that we are so far away from any meaningful support in the event of a major blow-out like that on the "Deepwater Horizon oil rig" which occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.
What is even more terrifying is that the drilling depth will be double the depth of the BP's blow-out well, at more than 3500m. The chances of plugging any mishap would be zero.
If our nation insists on going down this path then we must expect to reap the consequences if a mishap does occur. We are now really engrossed in the age of insanity.
Yet sometime soon the world is going to change dramatically with the onset of the peaking of oil where supply will be outstripped by demand.
The next 20 years will be infinitely different from the last 20 years. (Abridged)
Bernie Bowden, Hastings
Avoiding truth
Good on authorities and our Members of Parliament for their good work of distracting us from the truth over the years.
Just recently I saw on TV our Minister of Social Development making all sorts of funny noises about one of our most horrible symptoms of our root illness (child abuse).
Keep up the good work Minister, I don't want to be bothered with the truth and root causes of our woes.
Roger Reid, Otane
Risk necessary
Thanks to D. Carter for his/her reply, it's nice to be noticed. Due to space my letter lacked detailed analysis. Each bullet point raised an issue to make people analyse, to think, which D. Carter didn't seem to do. Tongue in cheek, I suggested inflation adjustment and being able to claim capital losses as tax deductible.
That will happen? Yeah right.
Has D. Carter bought a farm? I have bought three and the bank needed profit from production to service every loan I applied for.
Time and time again it has been proven that the best use of capital has been by the family business. Don't take that hard-earned savings and put it in the hands of a stupid government to waste on buying votes.
People can't be forced to start business and create jobs for those less able. Anything that puts people off investing their savings in risky ventures will make New Zealand a poorer country.
Ralph Harrison, Te Awanga

Flip-flop from MP
Less than a year ago National MP Chris Tremain said he would be pushing for amalgamation. Even this month in a local business magazine he stated his support for amalgamation.
Yet, when it comes to Hawke's Bay Today he seems to have flip-flopped on his position saying that amalgamation is at the extreme end of the possibilities for regional governance.
Either he does not know what he supports from one day to the next, or he is trying to delude the public and be all things to all men, pro-amalgamation to his business cronies and anti-amalgamation to the voters of his electorate.
Perhaps the true colours of Mr Tremain are coming out, willing to say whatever to get a vote, no conviction in his beliefs, essentially a cynical politician. (Abridged)
William Johnson, Hospital Hill