A crisis that won't go away

The threat of cold showers may have receded, but the Green Party is warning that savings must be maintained.

"I would like to congratulate New Zealanders on making such a mighty effort to conserve power this winter," Green Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said today. "Achieving the ten per cent target shows what people can do with the right motivation.

"We've achieved a new level of energy awareness - why would we go back to wasting it?

"This is a 'crisis' that will stay with us as long as we're forced to burn coal and destroy our rivers in order to meet energy demands.

"The only way we can meet our energy needs without destroying our environment is by investing now in renewables such as wind and solar power and by all continuing to be sensible in our power use.

"Putting the electricity industry in charge of a savings campaign was never going to promote any measures that interfered with sales. Patrick Strange tells us we now have enough fuel to get through the winter. He isn't telling us that much of that is coal, which contributes to climate change and air pollution.

"Instead of going from 10 per cent savings to zero, it would be a lot more responsible to ask people to keep savings at the five per cent level, which doesn't require any sacrifice.

"If we value our wild rivers, a stable climate and breathable air we need to stay energy smart."

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