Sending NSW down the mine

Apparently NSW Government has approved the Anvil Hill coal mine, a hotly contested proposal to establish a new mine in the Hunter and then double Newcaste's coal exports. I don't know the ins and outs of this proposal (housemate 3 weeks ago: 'If you want to go away for the weekend you could always go to Anvill Hill', me; 'Where's Anvill Hill?', housemate: 'you know, the proposed new coal mine. There's a giant protest there this weekend.' Me: 'oh, *that* Anvill HIll, right you are...')

It is interesting though that we are so wedded to economic growth (not just econmic security, not just well being, not wealth, but GROWTH, never ending spiralling growth - towards what final end exactly? How many fridges and shoes and spare cars does our hazily defined future shangrila have, that we should be so enamoured with chasing it? ) driven by mineral exploitation, that we (collectively) don't pause and think 'hmm, but what will we do when it runs out?' Or 'hmm, wont burning all that coal be bad for all our coastal dwelling folk?' or 'what exactly will be left in the ground for our children to dig out and sell?' or 'hang on wasn't there talk of trying to harnass some clean renewable energy like sun or tides or wind - aren't we all very resourceful and clever, can't we lead the world on funky new technology if we give it a modicum of funding somewhere in the ball park of what we give to subsidise coal related industries, and then share it with that rapidly growing China and India so that they don't disappear under a smog cloud?'.. or whatever...

The locals are not happy...

"It just goes to show what a sick joke the Planning laws of NSW are, when a mine like Anvil Hill can be approved and meaningful community consultation be dammed. Threatened species, water catchments and alternative industries in the Hunter be dammed. To hell with climate change, says the Iemma government, there's coal to be mined.

"The Iemma Government has conducted 10 months of consultation with the community about the Anvil Hill coal mine proposal, and then ignored it all. They have received thousands of public submissions demanding that the Anvil Hill mine be rejected due to the major amounts of greenhouse pollution it would create – the equivalent of the entire NSW transport sector. They were told by the horse breeding and wine making industries that the coal mine should not go ahead, because it would threaten other industries in the Hunter. They have ignored all these concerns, because they are too gutless to say 'no' to the coal lobby."

"This mine would have massive impacts on threatened species in the Hunter Valley, destroying one of the largest tracts of bushland remaining in the region. It would destroy a large area of water catchment for the already stressed Hunter River. The 10 million tonnes of coal from Anvil Hill will wreak irreparable damage on the global climate, tipping the planet further towards dangerous, runaway climate change. In the face of such massive impacts, the Iemma government still couldn't find the guts to say no to the coal lobby."

- From Rising Tide in Newcastle, a commmunity group against global warming: www.risingtide.org.au

(Ooh. Political. Just when you thought this blog was a never ending reflection on fascinating minutae and ever so slightly developmentally delayed teen angst...)