Right I’m about to get on my soapbox again. I went to the No Coal Rally in Margaret River on the weekend to offer support to saving our amazing region from smelly coal polluters. I don’t know anyone who wants a coal mine in Margaret River but there aren’t enough people taking this thing seriously. Here are some facts courtesy of the Conservation Council of WA
The Problem with Coal
Global warming and climate change is happening. As effects of our emissions lag decades behind the actual time we pumped the air with pollutants, we are already in worse danger than most people may realise.
According to climate scientists, the level of greenhouse gases has already passed the danger level of 350 parts per million. Unless fossil fuel emissions are drastically reduced, humanity faces a growing risk of dangerous global warming, as human sources are amplified by natural feedback loops.
There is a straightforward way to address the problem: phase out coal, which is the worst source of global warming pollution. The world’s leading climate scientist James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Institute, has said that ending emissions from coal “is80% of the solution to the global warming crisis.”
In 2010 the Barnett Liberal Government approved a massive expansion in highly polluting coal power in WA which will contribute to a staggering 75% increase in WA carbon pollution.
Announcing this appalling decision, the WA Minister for the Environment said that the issue of climate change and carbon pollution had to be dealt with by the Federal Government.
The WA Barnett Government has shown they have no intention of responding to climate change or reducing carbon pollution. As a result, the WA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has advised that Western Australia’s carbon pollution will soar by nearly 75% in the next few years.
Western Australia already has the highest per-capita emissions in the world, with a total output of over 76 Million tonnes of pollution per year.
Now the Barnett Government want to build three new coal fired power stations and re-open two old ones from the 1960s with no effective controls on carbon pollution. If allowed to proceed, this massive coal expansion will lock us into a high pollution future with spiralling energy bills, and lock us out of the clean energy economy that could provide thousands of clean energy jobs. We cannot allow these new big polluters to go ahead.
The world’s top climate scientists have advised that carbon pollution from developed countries, including Australia, must be reduced by at least 40% by 2020. If this is not achieved, we will see devastating changes to the lifestyle that we know and love in WA.
So, how do you feel about?
- A future without Ningaloo Reef
- Our Southwest forests reduced to very small patches
- 80% less water in the Southwest, on top of the 30% reduced rainfall we have already experienced
- Rising seas that will wipe out most of our coastal settlements, surf beaches and river systems
- Collapsed fisheries and farmers driven off the land by drought
As well as allowing three new polluting coal power stations without any pollution controls, the 2010 State Budget allocates 99% of capital expenditure by the government energy utility (Verve) to be spent on polluting fossil-fuel energy sources.
As part of this, Verve plans to recommission 2 old inefficient Muja coal fired power stations dating back to the 1960′s. These old dinosaurs were shut down years ago, and should stay that way!
This is simply not good enough, especially when Western Australia is blessed with some of the best renewable energy resources in the world.
Recently the WA Auditor General released a report saying that the State Government had wasted $50 million on energy that was not needed. If we improved energy efficiency in Western Australia we would save money and there would be no need to build new polluting power stations.
Proposed Coal Mines in WA
Margaret River
Margaret River is well known for its surfing, vineyards, forests, great food and as a global tourist destination. Margaret River is now under threat from a proposed coal mine just 15km from the town centre and 1000m from the river bed from which the town gets its name.
Behind this proposed coal mine are South West Coal Pty. Ltd.(70%) a wholly owned subsidiary of the AMCI Group which was bought in Feb 2007 by Brazil CVRD, and Vasse Coal Pty. Ltd. (30%).
Victorian based LD Operations Pty. Ltd. has been hired by these companies to facilitate the mine approvals, feasibility and mine development of the project.
The Vasse Coal Mining Project is located on the Vasse Coal Shelf, a Permian Coal Seam, spanning from Vasse Newtown (next to Busselton) down through Margaret River Region and ending in Augusta. The project currently consists of 7 mining leases, over approximately 6000 ha of land with an estimated 60 million tonnes of coal through the shelf.
Water pollution risks
The Vasse Coal Shelf runs beneath and through the South West two main aquifers the Leederville and the Yarragadee posing the threat of water pollution and disruption of the aquifer itself.
The proposed mine site is situated on one of the Margaret River tributaries and is directly up stream from the towns water supply catchments at 10 Mile Brook Dam. Water contamination from this coal mine would have disastrous affects on the water security of the Margaret River township and surrounding communities.
Coal mining requires that the site of the mine be dewatered, this may partially dewater the Leederville aquifer on which this proposed mine sits, and have run on affects to the Yarragadee aquifer below.
Due to lack of information on the aquifers of WA this coal mine could seriously damage the surrounding water supply for the area.
To find out more about what residents of Margaret River, and the NoCoal!tion are doing to stop the mine click here.
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