Kalistan

[Doc]

Empress Carolina II Ananto makes Call for Conservation
New Englian Oil Field represents "historic opportunity" says Empress
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
February 25, 5712


Her Imperial Majesty remains committed to Kalistan's Conservationist Legacy

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto's weekly radio address, which is listened to by more than 3.5 million Kalistani nationals at home and abroad ever Sunday morning, focused on the bid Kalistan, via KALNAPECO placed in New Englia, Dovani for concessions in its Rossfadda Oil Field. Her Imperial Majesty tried to head off rising concerns among Nationalists who call the bid a "boondoggle" and a waste of public and private investment funds, while others suggest Kalistan's participation in the process might raise tensions with Egelian and Lodamese allies. Here is the text of her address.

We wish you all a good First Day from Kaliburg.

Today, we focus our thoughts and words on the promotion of the concept of environmental stewardship. As a member of the Brethrenist Faith, one of our Testimonies encourages us to think of this world as something that it is a moral obligation to take care of. We do not own the planet, we do not own the resources of the planet. We are merely blessed with the opportunity to use this planet for our own sustenance for a short time. But this fact also incurs upon us a moral obligation to protect this planet for those who will come after us, as those before us did for us.

Our ancestor, Empress Mary Ananto helped our nation rebuild much of its forests--Many of those first trees that Kalistanis planted under her direction are nearing 100 feet tall now, and in another 80 years, will appear as if they had always been there. These trees will outlive us all as they did the generations that planted them. This was a gift she and her people gave to us, which provides us a sustainable source of not only building material and paper, but also recreation, rejuvenation and refreshment. They also turn the northern tier of our nation into a giant carbon sink to pull carbon out of the atmosphere and to slow global warming. We have a moral duty to pass this gift down to our descendants. Previous generations worked to rebuild our reef environment and reintroduce aquatic species, both of fish and mammals who now visit us annually, providing us with a much healthier sea surrounding our nation, endless educational and recreational opportunities, and sustainable fish stocks to feed our people. This was hard work that generations did to repair the damage of overcutting our forests, of overfishing our waters, and of centuries of petroleum production in the Strait and in the Anantonese Ocean.

Only by ending that production could we begin to even think about repairing the damage to our seas, to help our natural areas heal, and to ensure ourselves a sustainable, if slightly less productive, economy that focuses on need, rather than profit. In doing so, we preserve our environment and shepherd our resources for future generations, so they also enjoy the benefits of a patrimony that they inherited, as we have. Kalistan will never adopt polluting technology like nuclear power, and we have successfully weaned ourselves off petroleum and carbon-based energy supplies. Today, we rely on solar, wind, geothermal, tidal and other sorts of technologies to power our cities, to create our fuels and plastics, and to ensure our nation enjoys clean air, water and land.

Which is why we have directed our Chancellor to bid for control of the Rossfadda Oil fields in New Englia. Currently, according to Englian reports, there are 1.9 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground in that one deposit., and they are currently removing the oil at a rate of 250,000 barrels a day. At current prices, that makes the oil on the retail market worth between $145 and $180 Billion Imperial Pesos. We have directed our Chancellor to offer to buy the entire lake of oil in the form of a concession over the next 100 years, up to $1.5 billion Imperial Pesos a year due annually, to the Government of New Englia. This would be a regular transfer from a permanent Englian Oil Trust set up between our two capitals, specifically to manage the petroleum reserve for a century. The purpose of this fund would be to cap and close the reserve permanently to exploitation and take those 1.9 billion barrels off the open market forever, preventing their usage, combustion and eventual pollution of our atmosphere. This represents a significantly profitable offer for the Petroenglia Corporation who will realize its largest gains up front and will avoid its losses later as refining and ongoing maintenance costs dramatically increase the cost of production and significantly cut into later realized profits.

With the money provided by this Trust, Kalistan gains reduction in global petrocarbon emissions, cleaner water, cleaner air, and more sustainable dwelling on this planet. Should we win this bid, we intend to close this oil off to the rest of the world, to not exploit it or sell it, and to not allow anyone else to either. Our profits are not counted in pesos and cents, but in clean streams, healthy lungs, and human lives saved. We would encourage New Englia to utilize this money to develop new, alternative energy supplies, and we would certainly be willing to work with them to provide our own technology, as it is appropriate, across their entire energy sector to give them an alternative to destroying our environment and hurting people in nations on the other side of the globe. That would be up to them. But this would be a gift we could give to our people, and it is worth it to us to protect the lives and the health of our own people by taking even just this oil field completely offline forever.

It is a rare opportunity for an oil state to not develop oil dependency, but to wean itself completely off petroleum once and for all. We put money into our priorities: Those who wish to create a concession in New Englia for the purpose of exploiting the oil which will be refined and sold on the open market to be burned in factories and in automobiles have their priorities, but our priorities rise from our Brethrenist conviction. We are all stewards of a planet we merely inhabit for a short time only. We have a responsibility not to hand our children and grandchildren a filthy planet. We encourage the New Englian Government to take our offer seriously. This is an historic opportunity to take something that pollutes and starts wars and turn it into something that can provide New Englia a sustainable and more importantly clean environment for the lives of those who will make the decision today and their great grandchildren who will inherit their nation. We can help. We want to help.

Finally, we would like to say a word and offer a moment of silence for our dear friend Lady Urszula Pawlik, the late President of the Republic of Valruzia. We did not always see eye to eye on esoteric political topics-- she was a staunch republican until the moment of her death. But she was a beautiful person, she was very kind and very generous to our Family and to ourselves. She hosted us when we were in Valruzia and encouraged us, and yes even mentored us when we were but a young student studying abroad for our first time. We were fortunate to spend time with her one last time when we visited Valruzia recently for the Olympic games, and in fact, we were lucky to get to live on the same planet as Lady Pawlik. Our thoughts go to her family and her People, who lost a great leader and a wonderful, brilliant and caring human being. She will be greatly missed in Kalistan and in our Household. A moment of silence is requested for her memory.

...

Thank you Friends, Citizens and those listening in foreign lands. We wish you peace.

@TheRepublic