Lock the Gate responds to Santos withdrawal from Spring Ridge

Santos blockade over: :Lock the Gate strategy vindicated The blockade of the Santos coal seam gas project at Spring Ridge on the New South Wales Liverpool Plains has been called off. Santos has agreed to suspend drilling activities until the completion of the Namoi Catchment Water Study due March 2012. This study will determine the vulnerability of underground and surface water systems. The blockade was imposed by the Caroona Coal Catchment Group which is part of the Lock the Gate Alliance. President of the Lock the Gate Alliance Drew Hutton said this result was a vindication of the whole lock the gate strategy. "What began as a desperate attempt by Queensland landowners in October 2010 to slow down the rapid expansion of coal and coal seam gas mining across productive farm land has turned into a social movement that has forced governments and resource companies to re-evaulate their activities. "We have said from day one that the coal seam gas industry should not be given approvals until all social and environmental issues have been properly addressed and, even if governments gave their formal approval, we would withdraw the industry's social licence until the science was in. "Now all communities need to do the same. I am calling on all community groups associated with the Lock the Gate Alliance to withdraw their cooperation completely from this industry.

Marine life falls victim to Queensland's floods

Nine months after floods and cyclones battered Queensland, dugongs and turtles are dying in record numbers around the coast. Just as many homes across the state were damaged, so too were seagrass beds under the water from the tip of the state to the New South Wales border. Many of the creatures have starved to death, with those weakened also falling victim to boat strikes and fishing nets. Despite nearly 1,000 turtles and 170 dugongs dying so far, the Queensland Government believes the animal populations will recover. But some experts are concerned about their long-term survival. "We've had all this silt plume go out and cover the seagrass. And as you know, it needs to photosynthesise. It can't do that," said Trevor Long, Seaworld's marine sciences director. "The seagrass has died right back. In many areas, it's actually been lost completely." Dugongs are a vulnerable species. An expedition into Brisbane's Moreton Bay earlier this year was just one of the scientific expeditions happening to monitor dugongs' health and long-term survival. "I am worried. I think that as we're seeing changes with climate change, these type of events may become more common," Mr Long said. "And that's why I think we need to act now. I think that we need to be trialling pilot programs, we need to be looking at ways - especially with dugong - is there a way that we can supplementary feed many of these animals."

EU resolution to nudge higher goal for carbon cuts

European politicians are expected to vote through a resolution on Wednesday that nudges higher the bloc's ambitions to deepen its carbon reduction, ahead of climate change talks this month in Durban, a European Parliament source said. The European Union laid out its negotiating stance ahead of the Durban conference at a meeting of its Environment Council in October. Ministers said then the bloc would commit to a new phase of the Kyoto climate change pact on condition the big emitters gave a firm pledge to join in. Tuesday's parliamentary debate, to be followed by a vote on Wednesday, aired the political mood but the resolution will not be binding. The European Parliament source, who asked not to be identified, said voting indications implied it was almost certain to pass. "I can't guarantee it, but it's pretty clear the resolution will get through," the source said. The parliamentary motion welcomed the European Commission's analysis of how a 30 percent cut in carbon emissions, or "climate protection target", could be achieved. It added it was "in the EU's own interest to aim for a climate protection target of over 20 percent, since this would have the simultaneous effect of creating green jobs, growth and security".