"Queensland is the biggest coal producing state in the biggest coal producing country in the world", John MacKenzie of Friends of the Earth told an August 6 Socialist Alliance forum.
MacKenzie compared the "green-washing efforts" with the state's coal emissions, painting a dire picture for some of Australia's high-profile efforts to date. He said that Planet Ark's planting of 1 million trees (which took 10 years) is negated by just seven hours of coal industry emissions. Even if every single one of us switched to energy efficient light bulbs, he said, the Queensland coal industry could undo that in just 32 hours.
While an understanding of the dire impact of climate change is spreading, the impact of the coal industry on greenhouse emissions is not being scrutinised by the establishment media, he said. "We can't address climate change without addressing coal."
Answering those who argue that "peak coal" will ensure coal is phased out, MacKenzie pointed out that with about 142 years of coal left at current extraction rates "there is no shortage".
University of Queensland's environment officer Kristy Walters gave an uplifting report on last month's Climate Camp in Newcastle: "One of our aims was to use direct action to stop coal emissions for one day, and the police took care of that for us when they blockaded the railway!"
She said that stopping emissions for one day at the Newcastle coal port, Australia's largest, is the equivalent of taking every car in Australia off the roads for eight hours.
Resistance and Socialist Alliance member Dom Hale spoke about what the community can do to pressure the government to transit away from coal to renewable energies. "The government's response to the climate emergency has been that of an addict", said Hale, adding, "Premier Anna Bligh has plans to triple Queensland's coal output by 2030" with tens of billions of dollars in state subsidies.
Some 71% of Queenslanders believe coal exports should be capped or reduced, Hale said, and 74% believe the government should begin phasing out coal power stations and replacing them with renewable energy generation by 2010.
Hale concluded with a quote from Fredrich Engels: "We by no means rule over nature ... but ... we, with flesh, blood, and brain belong to nature and exist in its midst."