We should not rush to embrace oil drilling off the Otago coast. The prospect of easy money seems to make people blind to the environmental risks.
Our marine ecosystems should be protected. We know relatively little about the web of life under the sea and must not blunder into wrecking things.
Port Otago's plans to dump 7 million cubic metres of dredging spoil a few kilometres off the harbour entrance is another example of the way environmental damage can occur when supposed economic gain causes people to abandon caution.
Dumping the spoil at sea will definitely cause damage - the only and very big unknown is how much.
As for the oil industry, even when the rigs are working properly they damage our oceans because the burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, increasing ocean acidity, and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows what can happen when we accept assurances of safety from those whose only interest is profit.
Vivienne Kerr
Waikouaiti
This week's winner is Vivienne Kerr, of Waikouaiti for her letter urging a cautious approach to oil drilling, published today.
She receives a copy of the Rural Women New Zealand recipe book A Good Spread, Random House, $34.99.
