Global Courant 2023-05-12 12:15:00
SYDNEY – Australia’s centre-left Labor government said on Friday it will approve a new coal mine for the first time since taking power a year ago, sparking angry backlash from environmental groups.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government said it would approve Bowen Coking Coal’s Isaac River mining project in Queensland to extract metallurgical coal for steel making.
Although relatively small-scale, it is the first new coal mine to get the go-ahead from the government, which has swayed many voters by pledging to reduce the planet’s carbon emissions after a decade of Australian feet fighting climate action.
“The Albanian government must make decisions in accordance with the facts and national environmental law – that’s what happens with every project, and that’s what happened here,” said a spokesman for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
“Since the election, we’ve doubled renewable energy approvals to an all-time high,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The government will continue to review each project on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with the law.”
A public consultation on the coal project had yielded no submissions, the government said.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the project’s green light ignored climate science.
“The world’s climate scientists have been crystal clear for years that we need to stop digging and burning coal immediately if we want a safe climate,” said Mr Gavan McFadzean, a climate expert at the foundation.
“Wherever in the world our coal and gas is burned, it is making the climate damage in Australia worse. More flooding, longer heat waves, worse wildfires.”
Bowen Coking Coal welcomed the decision. “We are here to meet the growing demand for energy and coal for steel production,” executive chairman Nick Jorss said in a statement.
The Australian economy is fueled by mining and coal exports – and it is one of the world’s largest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide. Severe storms in 2022 caused catastrophic flooding on Australia’s east coast, killing more than 20 people.
The 2019-2020 “Black Summer” bushfires burned more than eight million acres of native vegetation, while marine heat waves in 2016, 2017 and 2020 caused massive coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. REUTERS
