Public don't want dangerous deep sea drilling

The government has got the economics and politics of dangerous deep sea oil drilling wrong, said Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes today.

Gareth Hughes is today tabling a Greenpeace petition with 142,000 signatures calling for the Government to halt all dangerous offshore oil drilling and stop expansion of coal mining in New Zealand.

"That the Government is so aggressively advocating for dangerous deep water drilling shows that the government is on the defensive and losing the public debate," said Mr Hughes.

"Two of the permits for tender require the permit holder to drill an exploratory well at depths of greater than 1,000 metres similar to the depth of the Deep Water Horizon's catastrophe, and considerably deeper than existing wells.

"There is limited popular support for dangerous deep sea drilling in the wake of the Rena and Deepwater Horizon spill in the gulf.

"The risks to the environment and our valuable clean, green brand are so high all deep sea drilling plans need to be stopped.

"The exploration permits, which require drilling a risky exploration well, are reckless.

"Instead of pushing dangerous deep water drilling we should be investing in smart green solutions.

"There is greater economic development potential in renewable energy.

"The public don't want to risk our coastlines, oceans and brand for few jobs, hardly any royalties, especially when the profits go offshore.

"The government is spinning the benefits of deep sea drilling.

"It will not create heaps of jobs, most of the profits go offshore to foreign companies and our royalty levels are very low," said Mr Hughes.