CPA - The Guardian

NSW farmers and city-dwellers opposed to mining of coal seam gas (CSG) are launching major challenges to CSG mining companies. On October 16, 3,000 protesters held a march along the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge between Stanwell Park and Clifton on the NSW Illawarra coast.

The community group Stop CSG Illawarra is opposing coal seam gas extraction by mining corporation Apex within the beautiful Darkes Forest bushland. The NSW Planning Assessment Commission is considering an application by Apex to drill an extra gas extraction well there, in addition to the fifteen already approved by the state government.

Stop CSG Illawarra wants an end to the practice of fracking (under which subterranean matter is fractured in order to release the gas), an immediate moratorium on all approved CSG mining projects and an inquiry into CSG impacts.

Jess Moore, a member of Stop CSG Illawarra, said, “It’s increasingly clear, based on these types of events that the level of opposition to CSG, both nationally and in the Illawarra, is growing”.

On October 27, as part of the “lock the gate” campaign, farmers mounted a round-the–clock blockade at the gates of a farm 60 kilometres from Gunnedah on the rich north-west NSW Liverpool Plains.

Mining company Santos wants to commence pilot production there immediately. However, the community is concerned that drilling will affect surface water and aquifers, and wants to block any activity until a study of the Namoi area’s water resources is completed in March next year. A local resident commented: “… drilling is bringing saline water to the surface only hundreds of metres from our flood plains and our aquifer structures”.

Some earth-moving equipment has already been moved onto the site, but the protest team has prevented the entry of company trucks – by having a picnic at the gates! Rosemary Nankivel, chairwoman of the Caroona Coal Action Group, declared: “Two years ago we blockaded for 638 days, so we are used to blockading and will stay for as long as it takes; that’s how passionate we are about it.” Tim Duddy, another member of the group, said that they had written to both the state and federal governments but received no reply.

On November 2 hundreds of people rallied outside a club in Taree, where hearings are being held as part of the O’Farrell government’s inquiry into CSG mining. They were responding to calls from the anti-CSG group the Barrington-Gloucester-Stroud Preservation Alliance to secure the future of their districts, where mining companies have gained access for extensive CSG exploration.

The gas whitewash

A report by the coal seam gas industry into the relative advantages of coal seam gas over coal in energy production, has just been released. The report, which has been kept under wraps for months as “commercial in confidence”, investigated claims by the CSG industry that the gas produces 70 percent fewer emissions of carbon dioxide than coal when used to fire electric power generators. It focused particularly on proposals to export gas to China for power production.

The report certainly confirmed that gas produces fewer emissions than coal during power generation. However, it also showed that significant advantages could only be achieved under ideal conditions. Most of the advantages are lost during gas extraction and processing. Coal produces only 2.7 percent of its total emissions during processing, whereas gas produces 22 percent.

Moreover, the report’s terms of reference did not include consideration of serious methane leaks from the gas wells, a constant problem in CSG operations.

The environmental group Beyond Zero Emissions claims the report is based on figures derived from outdated coal-fired power stations, exaggerating the advantages of gas.

It is not clear whether the report also took into account extra emissions involved in transporting the gas to China. What is absolutely clear is that claims about the environmental advantages of coal seam gas are “trumped up rubbish”, an expression the CSG industry has previously used in dismissing criticism of its operations.

Time to call a halt

CSG mining corporations are now using “front” companies to buy farms in areas of CSG potential, in order to bypass local opposition.

The industry’s tactics have aroused fierce criticism from many quarters. Independent federal MP Tony Windsor has demanded a curb on gas operations, and an allocation of $200 million to $400 million from proceeds of the proposed mining resource rent tax (MRRT), to fund research programs into CSG mining’s environmental impact.

If Windsor doesn’t get his way he’ll vote against the MRRT legislation. He’s backed by his fellow-independent, Rob Oakeshott. The Gillard government has the numbers to get the bill through the Senate. However, in the nearly evenly-divided lower house it needs the vote of the two rebellious independents, neither of whom is actually opposed to the tax, but each of whom is prepared to put it at risk in order to pressure the government to check the reckless activities of the CSG industry.

The farmers’ campaigns to safeguard water and food production deserve the highest praise. However, the NSW government’s CSG inquiry is unlikely to deal with the fundamental questions, i.e. given that the emission of greenhouse gases is causing climate change, why should we be taking the risk of using a terribly powerful greenhouse gas like methane to produce our energy? Why not use renewable energy sources which involve no greenhouse gases at all?

Averaged over 100 years, the effect of methane as a greenhouse gas is at least 23 times as damaging as carbon dioxide. However, its impact is much greater within the first fifteen years after emission – and emissions must decrease over the next 15 years if we’re to avoid catastrophic climate change tipping points.

That is the major reason why the campaigns being mounted by farmers and community groups in opposing coal seam gas mining are so important. They’re taking on the dominant sector of big capital, and in the long run they look certain to win. It is just a question of time - but then, that’s the biggest question of all.

Next article – Edit – The socialist new world

Back to index page