John MacDonald: Hysterical statements won't keep the lights on

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Sometimes, no matter how much of a greenie you might think you are, you just have to get real.

Tell that to the likes of the Labour Party, though, which is saying the moves announced by the Government to try and make sure we have enough electricity to keep the heaters and lights on, and the factories operating, show that it is “giving up on climate change”. Which is nonsense.

Greenpeace New Zealand is taking it a step further and accusing the Government of “outright climate denial”. Again, nonsense.

And, whether I like it or not, I’m looking at what the Government has announced to deal with, what it’s now calling the energy crisis and, I’ll be honest with you, I’m finding it hard to argue with.

I feel like I should be arguing against it. But I can’t. Because I think, in the face of reality, the Government is doing what it has to do.

And, instead of giving up on climate change —like Labour is saying— the Government is giving up on a pipedream. A pipedream that New Zealand would only be using renewable energy by 2030, in six years' time.

That was the target we had - up until yesterday.

But, as you might have heard the Prime Minister say, that was nothing more than a slogan on a bumper sticker, and so it’s gone. Oil and gas exploration are back. The Government also wants to see more gas imported to help generate more power.

But before we get too excited, neither of those are going to fix things overnight.

In relation to the importation of liquified natural gas - the first thing the Government has to do is remove the barriers which stop gas being imported. So that’s the paperwork side of it and they will take some time.

Then there's all the logistics of getting the gas here.

So the power bills aren’t going to suddenly start coming down. Not this year, anyway.

As for the other piece in the puzzle —getting oil and gas exploration up and running again off the New Zealand coast— that’s a slow burner too.

In fact, it’s such a slow burner that I don’t think we will ever see it happening. Because governments change and, if Labour is true to its word, it will put the ban back in place whenever it ends up in government again.

Not that that will be a problem for National. Because, even if it goes nowhere, it will still be able to crow that it tried to do something.

Even the Prime Minister acknowledges that we’ve got a bit of making-up to do when it comes to giving foreign oil and gas companies confidence that New Zealand is somewhere they should think about coming back to, after Labour pulled the plug on exploration.

So what the Government is doing is a mix of practicalities and politics. It’s being practical in terms of paving the way for liquified natural gas to be imported so we can generate the electricity we need, for the time being.

And it’s being political with the removal of the oil and gas exploration ban because, as I say, even with the ban lifted - I don’t think we’ll see it happening again.

But —as any politician will tell you— sometimes, being seen to do something, is just as important as whether it works or not.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.