By Dan Satherley
Ex-Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos says climate change is the "greatest threat we have possibly ever faced".
Speaking at the Festival for the Planet on the weekend, Mr Tanczos told a packed Auckland Town Hall mining lignite coal was an "absurd idea".
Solid Energy last week claimed mining low-grade lignite in the South Island would make the country $5 billion – half of that in direct profit, the other half in savings from not having to import coal.
"That's the equivalent of about 10,000 policemen," Don Elder told TVNZ.
"It's a couple of thousand hip operations a week. It's paying for our entire rural broadband in two or three months."
Mr Tanczos however says it's time for "ordinary New Zealanders to seize back the debate, and take control, take power" and reject coal mining.
"Right now, the human species faces the greatest threat we have possibly ever faced," he told the crowd.
"But at the same time we face our greatest opportunity, because there is the chance now for us to make a real transformation in our lives and in our consciousness."
Mr Tanczos' view was backed up by New Zealand climate scientist Jim Salinger, who called on the Government to stop investing in non-renewable energy.
Mr Salinger, who was fired from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research for speaking to the media without permission, said New Zealand is "lucky" that we have so many other sources of energy.
"We have the solutions," said Mr Salinger.
"Already our electricity is two-thirds renewable – solar electric, solar thermal, tidal, wind power, geothermal and bi-energy, so I'm with you all that we keep the coal in the ground.
He pointed to recent temperatures in Auckland being the highest ever recorded for the month of May.
"It is time for us all to take action, to make change."
Mr Tanczos said politicians could not be trusted to do anything about it.
"We're not going to leave it to politicians to do something about it, because they won't... well, with a few exceptions," he said, acknowledging the presence of the Greens and the Mana Party at the conference.
"We're not going to leave it to big business to do something about it," he continued. "We are going to take control of our own lives and our own communities, and we're gonna make the change, and we're gonna demand the change."
Mr Tanczos then read out Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee's cellphone number, urging everyone in the crowd to send him a message, right there and then. Someone in the crowd asked if he had Prime Minister John Key's number.
"I did try to get it, but he wasn't sharing," said Mr Tanczos.
NASA scientist Dr James Hansen, who was instrumental in bringing attention to the threat of climate change in the 1980s, says New Zealand is "blessed with enormous potential in renewable energies", and digging up lignite "just doesn't make any sense".
"We're going to have to move on to other kinds of energy anyhow, so why not do it sooner?
"Leave the rest of that stuff in the ground, and let's have a cleaner, healthier planet."
To further this message, the Green Party today launched its Keep Coal in the Hole computer game, which is essentially Tetris, but with pieces of coal instead of bricks.
The game is accompanied by a member's bill, which MP Gareth Hughes says is to "incentivise clean, green and low-carbon economic development".
“Large scale lignite mining in Southland could see New Zealand’s carbon emissions increase by as much as 10 million tonnes a year, when we already need to decrease them by more than 20 million tonnes a year.
“That is bad for our environment and our economy. We should be pursuing modern renewable energy solutions, not 19th century coal."
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