In April, Australian Prime Minister John Howard committed his country to nuclear power, promising to remove all excessive restrictions on mining, processing and exporting uranium.
In recent years there have been sporadic calls for New Zealand to relax its staunch anti-nuclear stance and allow nuclear power generation. However, Dr Jan Wright - who was sworn in as Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in March - said she did not believe New Zealand would have to look towards nuclear power as energy demands rose.
"I think that the climate change debate has certainly changed the way we look at nuclear power globally, but I don't think we will need to consider nuclear power in New Zealand.
"We are a very well-endowed country, but I do think that we need to seriously look at using energy much more efficiently and much more cleverly. However, any energy source that you try to develop has environmental impacts. Just because something is renewable doesn't necessarily mean it isn't going to upset somebody."
Subscribe
Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.
Posted on 19th June 2007
Latest Posts
-
IEMA appoints two new Board Directors
- 28th March 2024 -
Impact Assessment Network Volunteers receive International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA) Regional Award
- 20th March 2024 -
IEMA launches digital campaign to share knowledge and inspire action in sustainability
- 6th March 2024 -
IEMA comments on 2023 being hottest year on record
- 9th January 2024 -
IEMA reacts to COP28 agreement to transition away from fossil fuels
- 13th December 2023 -
New IEMA social sustainability steering group – express your interest in joining
- 24th November 2023