Friends of the Earth (FoE) have called on the Victorian Liberal government to “immediately ban any coal seam gas or new coal developments in the state”.
The environmental group says Victoria “faces a wave of exploration licenses for coal seam gas (CSG), coal, and shale gas” and has urged people to write to Premier Ted Baillieu to demand “a thorough investigation into the likely impacts of [the coal and coal seam gas] industry on water resources, farmland and food security, local communities and natural biodiversity."
In an August 16 statement, FoE said: “In Queensland, the Liberal-National Party has vowed to provide farmers the protection they need against the burgeoning coal seam gas industry in that state and pledged to ban open-cut coal mining in prime agricultural land”.
“Here in Victoria, the Coalition has walked away from the 20% target it previously supported for reducing Victoria’s greenhouse pollution and abandoned negotiations to shut down the Hazelwood power station”.
“At the same time, they are working to close off large sections of the state to future wind energy development.”
“They are clearly out of step with community sentiment when it comes to climate change. And they must be keenly aware of the massive community opposition to new coal and the threat of CSG operations in Victoria.”