Save Our Wild Rivers

We, the undersigned:

1. Are unhappy that New Zealands remaining wild rivers are still being threatened with destruction by hydro-electric development;

2. Do not believe that damming those rivers is a wise or sustainable use of natural resources. These rivers are a precious and wonderful heritage, and when one is destroyed some vital part of New Zealand dies. If we sacrifice them to the demands of industry and frantic consumerism then we lose far more than we gain;

3. Understand how hard it is to change attitudes and a whole culture of energy use. But we need to start treating our energy as a precious resource.

Therefore we ask you to do everything in your power:

1. To educate all New Zealanders about the social and environmental costs of their electricity use, promote the efficient use of power, and discourage unnecessary power consumption all the year round, and not just when shortages loom;

2. To provide incentives to consumers to reduce their power use;

3. Urgently to study and develop alternative means of electricity generation;

4. Emphasise the generation and administration of electricity as a public good rather than a means of generating profits for state-owned or privately-owned corporations;

5. In short, to help our nation to become one which lives happily together in harmony with the earth, and not sacrificing our natural heritage for short-sighted gains.