The government of New Zealand has just kicked off the country’s transition to a “carbon-neutral future” by banning all future off-shore oil exploration.
Since all of the country’s currently existing exploration permits in the Taranaki region will be allowed to finish the terms of their contracts, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that she hopes that this will allow sufficient time for communities, businesses, and work forces to adjust so that “jobs that are there today will remain tomorrow”.
“Unless we make decisions today that will essentially take effect in 30 or more years’ time, we run the risk of acting too late and causing abrupt shocks to communities and our country,” said Ardern at a press conference in Wellington.
“I have seen that happen once in the 1980s and I don’t want to see…
