Queensland Claims Shady Agents Behind Move to Kill State’s Coal Industry
A day after the Climate Commission released a report urging a slowdown to extraction of fossil fuels due to the negative impact of the use of oil and coal on the environment and climate, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman accused shady agents of killing the state's coal industry.
He described the people behind the campaign as belonging to a well-funded and well-organised clandestine group on the other side of the political fence. Mr Newman named them on Wednesday at the Infrastructure Partnerships Australia luncheon in Brisbane as the Greens political party and several NGOs that are politically aligned.
"They have connections in government, government agencies unfortunately, and they are not going away," The Australian quoted the premier.
He disagreed with the recommendation of the commission for Australia to leave 80 per cent of fossil fuels in the ground, reiterating the same position taken by the mining industry that the country's economy is heavily reliant on coal and iron ore mining.
"Well maybe that's the case, but I don't think we should go on a carbon, a crash carbon diet here, while China is still digging the stuff up elsewhere in the world, like Mozambique and burning it," he pointed out.
He urged businesses to be part of the debate on climate change and to fight back for its right to survive.
The commission admits its recommendations have the potential to disrupt Australia's economy that is heavily dependent on the resources sector for growth and expansion.
Due to its dependence on mining, scientists estimate that Australia's 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases or one-twelfth of the global carbon budget of 600 billion tonnes. If all of these fuel resources are burned by 2050, the world would be unable to stop the rise of global temperature by over two degrees.
The report warned that exceeding the carbon budget would increase temperature by four or five degrees this century. The study estimates that global emissions continue to go up at 3 per cent annually.