Alpha: If you're in deep, stop digging
22nd of Sep, 2009
Alpha has been getting a lot of attention in The Australian recently, with another article today (Riches in the Brigalow) about the town's uneasy acceptance of the proposed coal developments.
Today's article prompted a flurry of letters to the editor with perspectives on the impacts on the Bimblebox nature refuge, the extra greenhouse gasses produced and the fallicy of the proposed Galilee 'clean-coal' power plant.
Three of the letters are copied below:
Alpha's proposed $5.3 billion 'clean coal' power station (Riches in the brigalow 22/09/09) is nothing but a brazen attempt to pacify an Australian public who are demanding real action on climate change. So-called 'clean coal' refers to the demonstration-stage technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide in specific geological features near coal-fired power plants. Unfortunately, while we need a peak in global greenhouse emissions in the next decade to avoid dangerous climatic change, 'clean coal' will not be commercially viable for at least another 30 years. With this in mind, I wonder how many solar panels and wind turbines $5.3 billion can buy?
I visited a stand of remnant vegetation near Alpha recently called the Bimblebox Nature Refuge, inconveniently sited above one of Clive Palmer's coal seams. The property harbors over 100 bird species and is a case study for sustainable grazing research. It's a pity that after all the coal and profits are shipped off to China the inhabitants of Alpha and birds of Bimblebox will be left with nothing but a big hole.
Andrew Fraser (Riches in the brigalow 22/09/09) highlights the uncertainty facing those in townships under the cloud of coal investment. However, it is the uncertainty that faces the world from continued coal mining and combustion that is the un-told story here. Almost 100Mt of coal is expected to come from Alpha's new mines, creating more than 200Mt/CO2 emissions. Currently, Australia's total emissions from electricity generation stand at 199Mt. Australians understand that we need real action on climate change, and this means supporting towns like Alpha to resist the 'crumbs' that the coal industry will scatter as pithy compensation for its destruction.”
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