The national movement against coal and coal seam gas mining, farmers and environmental groups around the country are backing a three-day event, including displays, workshops and direct action, at Tara on the western Darling Downs in Queensland.

UPDATE APRIL 3, 2011: It's been a big few days at the CSG blockade - congratulations to all involved!

"Police have left the site, telling protesters the dispute is now a civil matter"

Protesters claim win at pipeline blockade     UPDATE: March 30, 2011: It's been a huge week, with protesters forming a human barricade at the Tara Estate, south of Chinchilla, on Monday to stop the Queensland Gas Company (QGC) building a 16km pipeline to take coal seam gas from five wells already in the estate to the nearby Kenya gas processing plant.

Friends of the Earth Brisbane sends our heartfelt sympathy to the people of Japan after the sorrow and disaster that has befallen them with earthquake, tsunami and nuclear state of emergency causing so many causalities.

We hope that the spirit of the people will stay strong as they face the challenges of the coming months reparing their lives and homes.

DONATE: Friends of the Earth International Appeal [here]

We hope that the many emergency workers and survivors will be safe in the light of the ongoing danger posed by the damage to Fukushima Daiichi, Tokai and Onagawa nuclear reactors and that the danger is swiftly brought to an end without further human injury or death.

We strongly support our colleagues of Friends of the Earth Japan and the Citizens Nuclear Information Service and reinforce the commitment of our collective to stand alongside them in their campaign to end the nuclear industry in Japan and globally.

We ask FoE supporters to donate to FoE Japan in this, their hour of need.

Civil society organisations in Colombia have reported the disappearance of Sandra Viviana Cuellar Gallego, in Cali on February 17. Friends of the Earth International and Censat Agua Viva / Friends of the Earth Colombia need your help to pressure the Colombian authorities to step up the search for her.

Send an online letter to Colombian authorities today

Sandra is a 26 year-old environmental engineer who works on water, basin protection and wetland issues. Her work involves advocating for the equal participation of local communities in the environmental decisions that affect them. She used to work with Censat Agua Viva / Friends of the Earth Colombia on forestry issues.

Her identity card and cell phone were found on February 19, near the place where she was supposed to take a public bus to the National University of Colombia in Palmira.

According to her family's report, the activist might have been approached by criminals in the Belalcazar neighbourhood, close to her parents home. However, political motivations for her disappearance have not been ruled out.

In Cali, Colombian environmental activist Hildebrando Velez, is leading the local efforts in the search for Sandra. He spoke to us about the need for the international community to know about her case in order to put pressure on the authorities to speed up their search.

Too many environmentalists have been murdered or "disappeared" in Colombia. We need to send a message to the Colombian authorities to show them that we are monitoring their response.

Please add your name to the letter which will be sent to the Director of the Presidential Program for Human Rights, the Ombudsman and the Attorney General. 

On Friday 25th February, 2011, Friends of the Earth lodged an objection against a massive open cut coal mine proposed by Xstrata Coal for west of Wandoan in South West Queensland.

Friends of the Earth Brisbane spokesperson Dr John Mackenzie said today:

“The mining and burning of this coal, whether used domestically or overseas, will create absolutely massive greenhouse gas emissions of 1.3 billion carbon dioxide equivalents over its life. This is not up for dispute – it’s clearly stated in the Environmental Impact Assessment statement.”

Flooded mine sites will be releasing huge amounts of heavy metals into the flood waters and much of this will be stored in sediment and pile up behind weirs in catchments and be a pollution problem for many years. Pollutants include dangerous levels of copper, uranium, zinc, aluminium, lead, arsenic, cobalt and nickel.

Queensland’s environmental regulator the Department of Resource Management (DERM) is powerless to stop flood waters creating massive pollution from mine sites across the state.

Minister Jones and Robertson will undoubtedly work with state agencies, the military, communities and companies to fast track rebuilding the state economy, but at what cost the environment?

Friends of the Earth Brisbane have released our response on the AECOM Public Environment Report for Excercise Talisman Sabre 2011, the US-Australian joint war games. TS11 is the biggest military operation outside of war and takes place in several places in Australia, including the Shoalwater Bay area in QLD, the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. The PER has no legal standing and is not an EIS. It is an elaborate greenwashing excercise for a toxic, dangerous and murderous industry: militarism.  Read our report here:

http://brisbane.foe.org.au/content/foeb-release-response-ts11-us-aust-joint-war-games

Friends of the Earth and ACT NOW PNG! were unable to deliver copies of more than 500 protest letters from Papua New Guinea villagers to mining company Highlands Pacific office in Brisbane Australia today because the company had closed its office. The protest letters request Highlands Pacific to halt dumping toxic waste into the sea.

Friends of the Earth is working with ACT NOW PNG to bring the voices of Papua New Guinea villages and customary land owners to Australia is the lead up to Michael Somare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, visit to Australia in the coming weeks.

“We are really disappointed,” said spokesperson Iona Reto, “members of the public are rightly concerned that Highlands Pacific wants to dump millions of tons of toxic waste into the sea, but the company doesn’t even have the decency to accept our protest letters.”

Hundreds of farmers in southeast Queensland have vowed to lock their gates to keep coal and gas explorers at bay. Representatives of eight farmers' and residents' organisations joined Friends of the Earth outside the Queensland parliament on Monday to launch the Lock the Gate campaign. They are opposed to miners' plans for up to 40,000 coal seam gas (CSG) wells and massive new coal mines on the rich agricultural lands of the Darling Downs.

Hundreds of farmers in southeast Queensland have vowed to lock their gates to keep coal and gas explorers at bay. Representatives of eight farmers' and residents' organisations joined Friends of the Earth outside the Queensland parliament on Monday to launch the Lock the Gate campaign. They are opposed to miners' plans for up to 40,000 coal seam gas (CSG) wells and massive new coal mines on the rich agricultural lands of the Darling Downs. The farmers say that in the short term, mining companies, protected by state legislation, have extraordinary rights to enter land for exploration and mining, disrupting farm operations. In the longer term, the mining could irreparably harm underground aquifers and degrade land forever.

This morning over 25 concerned citizens have recreated a nature refuge at the entrance of Clive Palmer's office at 380 Queen St, Brisbane, recreating a nature refuge to let him know just what his China First coal project is costing Queensland.

The office building was shut down by police and security in anticipation of the protest. There was no response from Waratah Coal, which is owned by Clive Palmer.

The protest was held to support the owners of the Bimblebox Nature Refuge, near Alpha that is set to be destroyed if Clive Palmer's “China First” coal project goes ahead.

Spokesperson for the group, Eleanor Smith from Friend of the Earth said “It's crazy in this time of rapid biodiversity loss and climate change that we would put our natural heritage at risk for dirty coal mines”

“We're here to tell Clive Palmer and all the other coal bosses that mining Nature Refuges is unacceptable and the people of Queensland won't allow it”.

The Bligh government is locking Queensland into an economy dominated by high dependence on fossil fuels, high greenhouse gas emissions and high payments on carbon credits. Figures released by Friends of the Earth today reveal Queensland currently produces 190 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and is set to increase that by 25 per cent over the next four years from new coal and coal seam gas developments alone.

Friends of the Earth spokesperson Drew Hutton said, with the current makeup of the Parliament, the possibility of the federal government putting a price on carbon is very strong.