NSW Considering Laws To Stop Government From Blocking Coal Mines, Plants On Basis Of Climate
Community group members and public health professionals have fought back tears while calling on the New South Wales government to drop “anti-climate” legislation that would limit planning authorities’ ability to block fossil fuel developments. Several witnesses became emotional while giving evidence to a parliamentary hearing into the proposed laws, which are designed to stop planning authorities from rejecting or imposing conditions on projects based on their impacts overseas, including overseas emissions.
It is in part focused on scope 3 emissions, which are emissions that occur after coal or gas is sold into the market and burned. Because Australia exports much of these resources, many of these emissions occur overseas. The NSW Minerals Council lobbied the state government in 2019 to change laws that require the Independent Planning Commission to consider these emissions when assessing a project. It followed the NSW land and environment court’s rejection of the Rocky Hill coalmine in February, which cited the impact the mine would have on climate change, including through the burning of coal in other countries, at a time when “a rapid and deep decrease” in global emissions was urgently needed.
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But the amendments now before the NSW parliament were drafted before the unprecedented fires that have affected much of the country. On Thursday, multiple speakers choked back tears as they spoke of the impact the bill would have at a time when Australians were living the reality of the climate crisis.
“What I find so insulting, so wilfully ignorant that it leaves me white hot with anger, is that this government and some within its departments are so easily bullied by the fossil fuel lobby to even think of introducing an anti-climate bill while Australia is burning,” Julie Lyford told the hearing. Lyford is the president of Groundswell Gloucester, which argued in the Rocky Hill case that the mine would have a detrimental impact on climate change and the social fabric of the town.
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/07/witnesses-fight-back-tears-at-nsw-inquiry-into-anti-climate-scope-3-emissions-law
