Stop the expansion of Australia's coal mining industries: Say NO to Coal

The rapid and destructive expansion of huge coal seam gas (CSG) gasfields in Queensland demonstrates what happens when governments put big mining companies ahead of caring for local communities, the environment and our long term future.

Between them, the LNP and Labor have approved a total of 31,000 CSG wells while ignoring the long-term risks of this dangerous industry.

Only the Greens are prepared to stand up to the big mining companies. We have fought alongside rural communities and the Lock the Gate movement to halt the destruction across rural and regional Australia.
We have a plan to protect our land, water, climate and regional communities:

Prohibit new coal seam gas approvals, including expansions of existing projects.
Until CSG is banned, give farmers and landholders the right to say “no” to CSG on their land.
Promote a fast transition of our energy systems from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy.
Support an immediate moratorium on exploration and production under existing licences and launch a special Commission of Inquiry into this dangerous industry.
Support strict enforcement of development consent requirements and environmental conditions with tough penalties for breaches.
Support mandatory monitoring by independent assessors and force companies to release all relevant information.

PROTECTING VALUABLE FARMLAND AND REGIONAL COMMUNITIES

We should stand firmly on the side of Australian farmers. Currently, under Queensland law, most landholders have no right to refuse mining companies access to explore and, then later, mine their land. Until CSG is finally banned, we want farmers to have a right to refuse mining (like CSG) on their land.

The Greens are the only party to realise that supporting our farmers and protecting our prime agricultural land and water is vital for our future food security.
PROTECT FARMLAND AND WATER - NO MORE CSG

Campbell Newman’s LNP and the Labor Party both back coal seam gas for Queensland. Already, over 6,000 CSG wells threaten Queensland’s most fertile farmland, precious groundwater and the climate, with 25,000 more already approved. We should call for a ban on new CSG approvals and a transition to renewable energy. Until that occurs, the Greens will continue to work for laws to give landholders the right to say NO to CSG on their land.
CSG THREATENS OUR LAND AND WATER

There are many threats to our underground and surface water resources from CSG mining, and we risk doing long term damage to those precious water resources on which much of our farmland relies.

The National Water Commission has stated that CSG mining is a substantial risk to sustainable water management given the combination of material uncertainty about water impacts, the significance of potential impacts, and the long time period over which they may emerge and continue to have effect.

Drilling CSG wells through aquifers to access coal seams risks creating connections between the two, potentially lowering as well as contaminating the water table.

Extracting CSG regularly requires hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) - the high-pressure injection of millions of litres of chemically treated water deep underground, to force the release of gas. This can risk earth tremors and surface subsidence, alienation of good farming land and reduction in the quality or quantity of our groundwater. There is still no long term solution to dealing with the tonnes of salt that are produced from the billions of litres of hyper-salty water extracted from the coal seams so that the gas can flow.

The well pads, roads, pipelines, water treatment facilities and other infrastructure with comes with CSG extraction also threatens the viability of local agriculture and ecosystems. Fragmentation and degradation caused by CSG infrastructure can last for many decades, and is very difficult to reverse. Aerial view of CSG wells in Chinchilla, Queensland Gas wells reduce rural communities’ access to land and threaten water resources. CSG mining simply cannot coexist with farming.
CSG IS A CLIMATE RISK

It is environmentally disastrous and economically shortsighted to expand fossil fuel industries as the fossil-fuel age comes to a close. Rather than expanding our dirty industries, rich countries like Australia should be leading the global transition to renewable energy. The burning of coal for electricity generation is a significant driver of climate change. We cannot sustainably continue burning coal at current rates, let alone continue to expand the coal industry.

Industry claims that the greenhouse emissions from CSG use are around half that of coal. However, this does not count the fugitive emissions — methane that leaks into the atmosphere from wells and pipes. CSG methane has a global warming impact 25 times greater than carbon dioxide. After questioning and pressure from the Greens, the Australian government tasked CSIRO with studying the fugitive emissions from CSG, but sadly, the study had a very small sample size and didn’t look at fugitive emissions during the fracking process. CSG could in fact be just as bad for the climate as burning coal.
WHERE DO THE OTHER PARTIES STAND?

The LNP have enthusiastically rolled out the red carpet to CSG companies and have turned their back on landholders and local communities, approving Arrow Energy’s Surat Basin and Bowen Basin Gas Projects in 2014. Labor approved Queensland’s two mega-gas projects (Santos and QGC) in 2010 in a rushed approval process which ignored critical issues such as groundwater.

Between them LNP and Labor have approved a total of over 31,000 CSG wells. They have truly misjudged the community’s views on the rapid expansion of the CSG industry. Only the Greens are prepared to stand up to massive resource corporations and act to protect our precious farmlands and regional communities.
WE HAVE VIABLE CLEAN ENERGY ALTERNATIVES

Queensland does not need CSG for domestic use. Energy use is declining thanks to improving energy efficiency and rapid uptake of rooftop solar. The real driver of the unconventional gas expansion is the attraction of lucrative overseas markets. Profit for foreign-owned companies, not necessity, is driving the proliferation of the industry that threatens the long-term viability of our farmlands.

Numerous government and independent reports show large scale renewable energy could replace our reliance on coal fired power – and create more jobs.