Drawing a line in the sand
After Waverley Council passed a motion of no support for the proposed new open-cut mine at Anvil Hill near Muswellbrook, Dr Nikki Williams, CEO of the Minerals Council responded with an opinion piece in the Sydney paper the Wentworth Courier.
Scone residents, Phil and Helen Burrell, were moved to pen their own letter in response which they sent to the Wentworth Courier.
I've reproduced it here in full.
Dear Dr Williams,
We are Upper Hunter residents who live in the middle of the coal mining industry, and, whilst we have no current vested interest, we used to work in this industry also. There is no way in the world we support additional coal mines in our area!!!
One could point out that many issues in this planet we populate are also being proposed by dedicated scientists for problem solving agendas, but the important issues cannot wait for research grants, Dr Williams, they need action NOW !
Of course there is no silver bullet for climate change, and the silver bullet is what governments and industry are not willing to bite because it’s $$$$$ and it supposedly provides us all with high living standards, but what about the denigrated agricultural land, the respiratory problems we are continually being confronted with, the higher acidic environment we have to live in ????
Dr Williams, what about the proposals to use thorium nuclear power stations, and the facts that Australia has the world's largest amounts of thorium, followed by India and then China. India is already proposing thorium power stations in a country of high population. One of the great benefits of thorium is the short half-life of isotopes and the great advantage of NO enriched uranium at the end of the process. Is it because there doesn’t appear to be thorium in NSW, that the NSW Minerals Council supports coal instead of funding research into alternatives to CO2 producing industries that now exist and which the current government is keen to expand ?
The research about pricing of electricity and its effects on communities, does not address the issue of how we, who live in the Hunter, look at this issue. If we felt we were saving our children and grandchildren from the more rapid onset of climate change that seems to now be quite apparent to many of us "ordinary" people, we would be willing to pay twice the price for our electricity. Anyway, there is already in place a pricing system used by the main providers, which allows reductions for use of "green" energy in our electricity bills!
The issue, Dr Williams, is not about shutting down the coal industry, it is about drawing a line in the sand and stating that we do not want any more coal mines in our area. The existing mines and their mine-life could be for some years yet, and those who work in them are also part of our community. But even some the mine workers themselves have become disillusioned with the issues of corporate dishonesty, greed and job insecurity, because the newer mine proposals talk of "contract labour" so this is not permanent work and labour could be outsourced from another area where a mine is closing, so no local jobs would be available.
Dr Williams, if you feel China's CO2 Output would still outpace the total output of Australia's capability, well why are we still exporting coal then?? Climate change is not just about this little edge of the South Pacific is it? It Is about the GLOBAL output of CO2 and our contribution is just a part of all this. Does it matter that coal exported to Thailand, assists in the global climate change scenario in South-east Asia and eventually affects monsoonal change that means poorer seasonal conditions for Australian agriculture ? Climate change, globally, Dr Williams, affects us all, which I am sure someone of your standing can see quite clearly, and, whilst I commend your stance to protect the interests of the NSW Minerals Council, this does not address the concerns of people living in these areas.
If coal mining was the big money spinner for local communities, how come the streets of, say, Singleton, are not paved with gold ? Would the same scenario be Muswellbrook's in a few years time, if more mining of coal was approved for this area??
Yours sincerely
Phil and Helen Burrell
for and on behalf of Scone residents
and, particularly, Scone LandCare Inc
