Greenpeace Shuts Down Extraction at Hazelwood

Just before 7am in the morning of May 21st, 14 Greenpeace activists shut down a coal digger at Hazelwood, the developed world’s most polluting power station, carrying the message "Coal - Powering Climate Change".

The action was part of a national wide climate campaign, demanding that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd take real action on climate change by transitioning away from coal. Greenpeace campaigner Simon Roz said of the action: 

Kevin Rudd promised to deliver on climate change. All he has served up is hot air.  His Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme won’t cut Australia’s greenhouse emission for decades to come. It is a smokescreen for inaction.

For every hour our activists block this digger, 2500 tonnes of brown coal stays in the ground where it belongs.

Australia is digging itself into a hole.

By phasing out coal and investing in renewable energy, we can protect our environment and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

When Kevin Rudd quits his coal addiction, Australians will know he is serious about tackling climate change.

Hazelwood power station is a monument to the policy failure of Australian governments to take meaningful action on climate change. The power station produces 19 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution every year - the same amount as caused by all 1.4 million households in Melbourne.

Majority owned by the UK-based company International Power, the station was due to be decommissioned this year until the state Labor government intervened to extend its license to pollute until 2031. 

John Hepburn's article on the Crikey Blog illustrates the significance of the Hazelwood power station, and the growing momentum of the direct action movement: 

Hazelwood is a brown coal polluting dinosaur, built in the 60’s with 1950’s technology, it was due to be closed this year before being granted a new lease of life. Under the CPRS, International Power, the owners of Hazelwood, will be given millions of dollars in public handouts so that they can keep the plant operating for longer.

With an emissions trading scheme designed to protect the big polluters it is no wonder that more and more people are getting frustrated with Government inaction and are taking matters into their own hands.

Civil disobedience has played an important part in democracies the world over, and as Government failure on climate change becomes more accute, it is destined to play an increasing role in forcing change once more.

United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Australian climate scientist, Dr Barrie Pittock, addressed the media later in the day, supporting Greenpeace’s actions. Earlier this month, In May 2009, Dr Pittock and six other leading climate scientists sent an open letter to Australian coal-fired power stations, making it clear that the coal industry is directly responsible for causing climate change impacts around the world.

The letter states: 

We need an urgent program to replace existing coal plants with zero-carbon energy sources and energy efficiency programs as soon as possible.

We understand that this will require a significant social and economic transition that will need to be managed carefully to care for coal sector workers and coal-dependent communities and to meet Australia's energy needs both through the transition and in the longer term. However, given the climate change imperative, this transition needs to proceed with the utmost urgency.

The unfortunate reality is that genuine action on climate change will require that existing coal-fired power stations cease to operate in the near future.

Members of Six Degrees wrote a number of letters of solidarity and support to newspaper editors and online forums in Queensland.  Two of these are reproduced below.

My best wishes go out to the Greenpeace activists who risked arrest this morning by halting coal excavation in the Hazelwood power station in Victoria's La Trobe valley. I also commend the bravery of one of Australia's leading climate scientists, Barry Pittock, who has risked his credibility by coming out in support of these activists in order to bring the urgent message home that coal fuels climate change. Here in quarry Queensland we must realise that in order to enjoy a strong economy in the 21st century we must transition to a clean energy economy, or be left behind the rest of the world. With thousands of coal workers being laid off, now is the time to set the foundations for new clean energy jobs that can help us to break our addiction to our most dirty fuel.

At dawn this morning, 14 inspiring people were helping Australia's leaders connect coal with climate change when they put their bodies on the line at the Hazelwood power station in the La Trobe Valley, Victoria. I personally see these people as Australia's leaders. They have risked arrest this morning in order to fight for a safe future for all of us. In Queensland, the coal show goes on - digging us even deeper into an unstable climate and economy. Into climate chaos. We are the coal capitial of the world, there is no doubt about that, but this means we need to quickly transition Queensland to a renewable, clean and just economy. Everyday I read about economies around the world beginning a transition to a 21st century, clean economy. I haven't yet seen the Qld gov't connect coal with climate change and the need for a revolution in our energy sources.

For more information

Download the scientist's open letter to the coal industry

See the action report on the Greenpeace website

Read the news media on the action on ABC Online