The next National Government will cut red tape to drive a surge of investment in renewable electricity generation so New Zealand can double its supply of affordable, clean energy and become a lower emissions economy.

National wants a future where buses and trains are powered by clean electricity, where we go on holiday in cars powered by clean electricity, and where industrial processing plants are powered by clean electricity, not coal. But to do that, we need to double the amount of renewable electricity we produce from New Zealand’s abundant natural resources – particularly solar, wind and geothermal. National will make it happen.

To deliver on New Zealand’s climate goals, we need whole sectors of the New Zealand economy to switch to clean electricity. It makes no sense to encourage the shift to electric vehicles if the power comes from burning coal. New Zealand must have enough renewable electricity to meet the rising demand.

The current planning system puts barrier after barrier in the way. A new wind farm can take ten years to complete – eight years to obtain resource consent, and two years to build. Labour’s proposed RMA 2.0 laws will only make this worse.