The Nature Conservation Council of NSW released the statement below on November 4.
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The Nature Conservation Council of NSW is calling on the federal government to commission its own modelling of the carbon pollution from coal seam gas exploration and production rather than relying on claims made by industry.
“We in Australia have vitally important decisions to make over coming months about our own transition to a clean energy economy and the part we play in global carbon emissions,” Chief Executive Officer Pepe Clarke said today.
“The Australian petroleum industry has commissioned a report that, not surprisingly, claims that coal seam gas is a low-emissions power source, but what kind of confidence can we have in those claims?
“There are a lot of assumptions underpinning the figures and conclusions drawn by industry from this life cycle emission study. In fact, a lot of the data from the report comes from environmental impact statements from the industry itself, hardly an authoritative source of impartial information.
“The Federal government must not rely on a self‐serving report prepared for the gas industry by a consulting company with deep ties to the petrochemical industry.
“Worley Parsons, the consulting firm commissioned to write the report, has strong ties to the Australian gas industry and is directly involved in the construction of gas powered power plants worldwide.
“In fact, this consulting firm is involved in some of the world's most destructive and carbon intensive fossil fuel projects in the world, including the highly controversial Canadian oil sands projects.
“Government decisions on coal and coal seam gas activities must be made on truly independent, scientific evidence based on our unique local conditions, not on second‐guesses from self-interested consultants and industry.”