Light shone on clean coal bogey
Climate activists have climbed to the top of street lights to unfurl a large banner across a road in Newcastle this morning, outside a business symposium on dubious “clean” coal technology. The banner reads 'Clean' coal is a dirty lie.
Coal industry wags are attending the event to “learn more about clean coal and the status of clean coal technology,” according to the organisers of the symposium, Newcastle University. But climate activist group Rising Tide Newcastle, who have unfurled the 20 square meter banner above the road outside the conference, have dismissed the status of the technology as imaginary.
“'Clean' coal is a fantasy”, said Annika Dean, spokesperson for Rising Tide Newcastle. “It does not exist. There is not a single power station in the world that can capture, transport, and bury the massive amount of greenhouse pollution that coal plants produce.
“Climate change, on the other hand, is happening now, and happening fast. We need urgent action to cut greenhouse pollution. We call on governments to stop wasting the resources of public institutions, like universities and the CSIRO, on bogus technologies like 'clean' coal, and start investing seriously in the renewable energy technologies that are available to roll out today.”
“While State and Federal Governments waste time and money on dead-end research and endless talk about 'clean' coal, the old-fashioned dirty coal industry is going gangbusters. Australia's number one contribution to climate change – coal exports – is exploding. Coal ports in NSW and Queensland are planning to double their exports, fed by a proliferation of new open-cut mines in those states.”
“If our political leaders really believe that 'clean' coal is just around the corner, they will put a moratorium on the expansion of the coal industry until this technology exists,” concluded Ms Dean.
