Submitted by derec.davies on Fri 20 May 2011 12:00am Posted in

• Climate Change
• Coal

This week marks the next step in the epic court battle between local environmentalists and multinational coal mining giant Xstrata. Friends of the Earth were presented with 7 pages of questions from Xstrata's lawyers regarding the details of their objection. The environment group lists their concerns about the future of the Great Barrier Reef as a key reason for initiating legal proceedings against the mine.

“There is no doubt that the Great Barrier Reef is the canary in the coal mine and is at grave risk from climate change. The death of the reef will be a massive economic blow to Queensland,” said Friends of the Earth spokesperson Shani Tager.

“The Xstrata equation is simple: more coal mining means more carbon emissions that will increase climate risks to the Great Barrier Reef. The alternative is also simple: reject Xstrata’s proposed Wandoan mega coal mine and help keep our reef alive.”

One of Australia's leading environmental organisations has called for the federal government to go further than arguing merely for a carbon price. Friends of the Earth is calling for a range of measures that would significantly increase the development of renewable energy.

Drew Hutton, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth in Queensland and acting president of the national Lock the Gate Alliance, said that, on its own, all a low carbon price will deliver is a greater reliance on gas, and that this would be both an environmental disaster and an opportunity lost.

"The argument that gas is somehow 'clean and green' is a myth propagated by the coal seam gas industry and unfortunately accepted by some environmental NGOs," Mr Hutton said.