Rising Tide Australia

The global climate change impacts of the NSW coal industry must be assessed, according to an historic judgment handed down today in the NSW Land and Environment Court, in relation to the proposed Anvil Hill coal mine in the Hunter Valley.

Newcastle activist and Rising Tide member Peter Gray took the Minister and Director General of the NSW Planning Department to court, seeking to overturn their acceptance of the Environmental Assessment for the proposed Anvil Hill coal mine in the Hunter Valley. Gray claimed that the Assessment was inadequate, because it did not assess the climate change impacts resulting from the combustion of the coal proposed to be mined at Anvil Hill. Justice Nicola Pain agreed, and put aside the Director General's decision to place the Assessment on public exhibition.

The proponent, Centennial Coal, should have to rewrite their Environmental Assessment, although amendments to the planning act passed last week could undermine the judgment and allow the mine to be approved regardless.

Rising Tide Newcastle issued the following statements to the media.

“The Government has been put on notice – the global impacts of the NSW coal industry can no longer be ignored.”

“Premier Iemma has been at pains to convince the people of NSW that his government is acting against climate change, while attempting to ignore our state's biggest contribution – coal exports. This court judgment sends a clear message to the Iemma Government – coal exports fuel climate change, and you cannot ignore it.”

“While the NSW Government postures with talk of emissions trading and weak renewable energy targets, they are trying to approve a massive expansion of Newcastle coal exports without even assessing the impacts of it through climate change.”

“Any solution to climate change must include an exit plan from coal for NSW, into sustainable alternatives. Until Morris Iemma has such a plan, his climate credentials are zero.”