Letters: I’m nearly 80 and ready to change for the future of our planet; MPs using scare tactics to push oil and gas agenda

"There were young folks, old folks and many in between [at Saturday's March for Nature]." Photo / Sylvie Whinray

I’m nearly 80 – and prepared to change

Your correspondent S. Hansen (NZ Herald, June 11) is the one who does not fully understand. Our present Government is intent on doing what we as a country have always done.

And why keep on doing the same as we have always done? Because it suits those who influence the Government – the farmers (but not all), the oil interests, the mining interests, the fishing interests and many of the public who don’t want to have their lives affected by change.

I have to say I don’t want to change my lifestyle either, but for the survival of our environment, I accept that I will have to change. Neither major party – National nor, to a lesser extent, Labour – has given sufficient thought to the future of our country and our planet, but sooner or later they will need to.

People on Saturday’s March for Nature realise this. That’s why they were there. There were young folks, old folks and many in between.

I was among those who were closer to 80 than 70. For now, this is the only way we can get a message to the Government, and I’m sure there will be more opposition in the next year or two.

How is S. Hansen going to explain to a future generation that this current generation was responsible for the extinction of Māui and Hector’s dolphins, the extinction of Archey’s and Hochstetter’s frogs (who have been here for over 70 million years) and other creatures uniquely ours – not to mention the wonderful land cover given to protect us by Papatūānuku?

Neal Taylor, Ōkura.

Scare tactics

Shane Jones’s attempt to terrify people with his misleading tales of woe about our power supply is irresponsible.

We already have over 80 per cent renewable energy in our hydro systems, thanks to the far-sighted efforts of our forebears. We must honour their legacy by adding our own long-term sustainable methods of renewable energy generation.

Fossil fuels are not the answer – they do serious harm to our climate and we must reduce their use, not increase it. It’s time for the Government to subsidise the installation of solar power, which is unaffordable for most people. Countries like Australia that financially encourage their people to install solar have found it works well. We could then have the energy security we all want; all that is required is political will.

Vivien Fergusson, Mt Eden.

Gaslighting?

I read in astonishment the announcements by ministers Shane Jones and Simeon Brown about the need to open up new oil and gas fields, mainly to produce electricity. This is to supposedly aid our transition away from fossil fuels.

If successful, we would not be getting electricity from this source until the early 2030s, by which time we have committed to a large reduction in fossil fuel usage. In addition, there is talk of relaxing the current requirement to leave a bond with Government to cover the cost of plugging the wells at the end of their lives, which exposes the taxpayer to cover that cost and appears to give tacit approval to the oil companies to potentially walk away from this responsibility.

The taxpayer has just spent $440 million to plug deep sea wells after the last lot of oil companies walked away.

There must be some very effective lobbying going on here to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Jeremy West, Remuera.

Mandate for change

Kudos to the 20,000 people who recently marched in the March for Nature in Tāmaki Makaurau, which many view as part of a broader “war on nature”. Expression of opinion is the bedrock of a democratic society.

It’s disingenuous to claim the march was not political, especially given the various elements, including “Free Palestine” banners. Sadly, double that number of citizens have left Aotearoa-New Zealand in record numbers in the last year, driven by a rising sense of a lack of future in our country. We risk drifting towards being a retirement backwater.

Whether you agree with our Government or not, they were democratically elected on a mandate for change. This ideological shift needs time to take effect. What’s surprising is the unrelenting opposition to this change and those leading it. Opposition to an elected government per se is opposition to the democratic principles that elected them.

Russell Hoban, Ponsonby.

Health boon

I would like to thank Shirley Ross (NZ Herald, June 11) for her informative and objective view of nurse practitioners.

I have been a nurse practitioner in primary healthcare for over eight years. Patients and my current employer have been very welcoming and accepting of my role. Time and time again, New Zealand and international studies have proven nurse practitioners provide at least equal service to general practitioners and score very highly in patient satisfaction surveys.

Jo Eustace, Waiuku.