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https://reneweconomy.com.au/outrageous-greenwashing-premier-blasted-for-claim-that-coal-is-environmentally-sustainable/>
"The Queensland Conservation Council has accused Premier David Crisafulli of
putting the interests of fossil fuel producers before constituents with his
pledge to fast-track approvals for new mines and a defence of coal as
“environmentally sustainable”.
Crisafulli made the comments in a speech to the
Townsville Bulletin’s Future
Townsville event, held at the Ville Resort Casino on Wednesday, saying
government should get out of the way of the coal industry.
“You’re not going to wake up one day and the government wanting to whack you
again,” he said. “We can offer you the ability to get approvals in a timely
fashion, to not have the government breathing down your neck every minute of
the day.”
The Premier also said his government would fast-track approvals for new coal
mines – a trade for maintaining increased coal royalties introduced by the
previous Labor government – saying he wanted to “continue to extract coal from
this part of the world.”
“It’s the cleanest, the workers who go there get paid the most, it is the most
environmentally sustainable,” he said.
“To shut down our coal industry would be doing nothing other than driving
competitors into the arms of people who won’t do the same thing.”
Charlie Cox, coal and gas campaigner with the Queensland Conservation Council
said the Premier’s comments were “dangerous and ill-informed” and suggested a
disturbing direction for the new government that previously pledged to reduce
the state’s emissions.
“It’s outrageous and entirely greenwashing,” Cox said. “There’s no such thing
as environmentally sustainable coal. Coal projects kill koala’s twice, first
when they clear their habitat to mine and then when they burn it and it causes
climate change.”
Queensland Premier’s have regularly sought to promote variations of “clean
coal”. In 2007, Labor Premier Peter Beattie announced a $900m fund to be
managed by the Clean Coal Council to “research and identify technologies that
will ensure coal can continue to be used as a clean and environmentally
friendly source of energy production”.
More recently, corporate regulator ASIC took action in Federal Court against
coal producer TerraCom over allegations the company lied over the quality of
coal it was selling by falsifying documents and targeted a whistleblower for
retaliation.
“The Premier is putting out all these messages to green industry that we’re
closed for business, right as they’re really prioritising the needs of the
fossil fuel industry over the needs of Queenslanders,” Cox said.
“It’s really disappointing. The Premier should be really supporting regional
Queenslanders with future industries rather than the industries of the past.”
“If we can’t trust these corporations to tell us what their coal is, how do we
trust them to take care of the environment?”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
