[Greens-Media] Desperate Iemma repackages old clean coal projects to duck heat on Anvil Hill

[Lee Rhiannon]

Media Release - 8 June 2007

Desperate Iemma repackages old clean coal projects to duck heat on Anvil Hill 

Premier Iemma has responded to the public backlash about Anvil Hill by repackaging an old announcement on clean coal, says Greens MP and mining spokesperson Lee Rhiannon.

"Premier Iemma has been forced into a corner by the public backlash against the Anvil Hill coal mine and in desperation has repackaged old clean coal announcements", said Ms Rhiannon. 

"The Labor government's climate change credentials are in tatters after giving the go-ahead to the massive Anvil Hill coal mine and this clean coal announcement is a desperate attempt to create a distraction. 

"The two so-called new clean coal projects announced today were originally announced by Premier Iemma on 2 March 2007. 

"Three months later Premier Iemma is trying to pull the wool over our eyes by repackaging the same tired old commitments to a bogus technology that will not work.

"Clean coal is a con job. The term was coined by the coal industry's PR machine to divert public understanding from the fact that coal is the worst of the fossil fuels causing climate change.  

"Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels, emitting 80 per cent more carbon per unit of energy than gas and 29 per cent more than oil. 

"Cost-effective clean coal technology doesn’t exist yet and is completely unproven. 

"Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is at least 50 years away from being economically and environmentally viable.  Former CSIRO Professor Tony Haymet, now at the University of California advises, 'When you look carefully at what people report, they’re talking about workable solutions in 20 to 30 years.'

"CCS could double the price of coal for electricity, making it much more expensive than renewable energy. Storage sites would have to be maintained and monitored for 100,000 years, plus unquantified liability issues of leaking C02. 

"The projects recycled by the Labor government today will do nothing to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions from the Anvil Hill coal mine. 

"Premier Iemma is desperately clutching at straws to extend the life of the coal industry rather than taking real action on climate change", said Ms Rhiannon.

Premier Iemma's original clean coal announcement is here: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/news/recent-news/minerals-and-petroleum/cleaning-up-coal 

More information:  Lee Rhiannon 9230 3551, 0427 861 568