Oil Dependency

As the number of oil deposits wane, our dependence on the tarry substance becomes more apparent. Time and time again small pressure groups have sought alternatives. It is now time to really start looking into them, and quickly.

The Pacific island-nation of Kiribati has started to buy land off Fiji to slowly migrate all residents from the coral reefs to safer shores. Authorities in the nation and scholars of Fiji's University of the South Pacific, where many young i-Kiribati study, are scared the move to Fiji could lead to a loss of culture.

Luckily the well-planned transfer of population isn't expected to result in conflict. Many other nations affected by climate change may not have the same fate. The change to alternative resources, and a conscious realisation of the effects of climate change may just as well start here, before our coasts are severely plundered for oil.

By 2050 it is predicted the population will reach 9 billion people. As well as that, it is calculated there will be circa 200 million climate refugees. The rise in global temperatures will hit poor nations more severely. The Center for American Progress (CAP) states 1 billion people in Asia could be affected by shrinking freshwater resources, while in Africa agricultural yields could fall by as much as 50%.

Migrants will be hitting our shores much more often, and CAP states it will be more permanent: “Refugees from natural disasters usually can return home over time but future climate migrants could be permanently forced to leave”.

Climate change has drastic consequences. Albeit, in New Zealand we will soon see oil wells off our shores. The early warning signs have been ignored by the big businesses that profit from oil extraction. Moreover, their tactics have become much more brutal; fracking shoots liquids into the ground to expel or break open new oil deposits, this method has been linked to contaminated aquifers and earthquakes in non-earthquake prone Ohio, or Lancaster. Imagine what the effects would be here!

The RENA disaster should have been a forewarning: New Zealand is uncapable of capping an environmental catastrophe even of a small scale. Alternatives to oil have to be found immediately.

Plans for a windfarm in Otago were recently filed after the nouveau-riche of the area decided it would be aesthetically unpleasing. This sort of mentality should be frowned upon, we are currently facing the baby footsteps of a problem that will affect the whole world. We will soon witness mass starvation, genocides and war due to the crises.

Let's face it, soon our sweet New Zealand renowned for its beauty will lose its characteristic green.

The National government is both blind and masochist. They tried to open up protected national parks to mining last term but public pressure from protests and petitioning stopped the government at its tracks. With the new plans to fuck our shores, local councils have no power. We will need another concerted effort to bring the environment back to local hands, for local interests. In Otago the demonstrations to keep Neurosurgery in Dunedin scared the government proposal away. We need a similar campaign if we want to protect our shores.

The issue is not just a leftie side-project, it is a moral issue. If you care about the future of the planet, would like to see less wars and want more of a say on issues that affect you personally: we will have to bring the issue back to the streets and to the community, where we can choose what our back garden will look like while others will also have the choice.