THE Coal-Seam Gas Moratorium Bill before State Parliament this week is a push to call a halt to the sale of mining rights which are threatening our best agricultural land and water resources.
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If passed, it would place a 12-month moratorium on the coal-seam gas industry, whilst the industry’s impact on water resources, climate, agriculture and communities can be determined.
At the recent local government conference in Nowra councils from around NSW unanimously supported a moratorium on coal-seam gas (CSG) mining and exploration. In fact every motion at the conference to control CSG was passed without opposition, from all political viewpoints.
The bill applies the precautionary principle to a potentially dangerous industry. The evidence is clear that once aquifers and water supplies become contaminated there is no going back. Once a gas field is up and running, with the associated infrastructure, pollution and damage to aquifers there is no prospect of restoring the status quo.
The energy future we should be planning for is non-polluting and renewable instead of more gas and coal fields covering the farming land where strong rural communities used to be.
25 per cent of NSW is now under coal-seam gas exploration. We need to press pause on this industry and consider whether we, as a society, will grant it a social licence to operate.
THE agreement reached by APEC leaders in Hawaii shows that there is still an appetite internationally to take action on dangerous climate change and clean up our energy supply.
Along with Australia’s decision to introduce a price on carbon, the APEC agreement will provide much needed momentum going in to the international climate negotiations in Durban later this month.
These are good signals for the clean energy industry in Australia and internationally.
Asia is the new powerhouse of the global economy and it is great to see a major trading bloc outside Europe take such a strong line on clean energy while the rest of the world is going through a financial crisis.
Another strong signal is the commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which will act as a very large stimulus for renewable energy across the region. Fossil fuels currently attract large subsidies and the clean energy needs a more level playing field.