For the past ten years the government has been working on an Oceans Policy, aimed at protecting our marine environment. Yesterday, the government announced it was finally moving forward on a core component of this policy: environmental regulation for the exclusive economic zone, which would allow (e.g.) deep-sea drilling to be subject to better environmental controls than at present. In response, the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association trotted out the usual response: it would raise prices:
An organisation representing oil and gas exploration says proposed environmental controls in New Zealand waters will help push up the price of petroleum products.Oh bullshit. Like milk, oil is a global commodity, whose New Zealand retail price is set by the global market. New Zealand is not a core production or exploration area, and tougher environmental regulation here will not change that price one iota. what it might do is reduce exploration, by discouraging those with a "cheap but dirty" approach from drilling here. But that's the intended effect, not a bug.[...]
[PEPA executive officer John Pfahlert] says tighter controls mean more costs for companies and a higher end price for oil and gas at the pump.
Meanwhile, it speaks volumes about the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association that their response to environmental regulation is threats. But I guess if you're a dirty industry committed to destroying the environment and the global climate, you've got nothing else.
