[Greens-Media] Canning Basin announcement continues a tired reliance on fossil fuels and pollution-causing extraction methods: WA Greens

[Richards, Kirsten]

The Government's announcement of gas development in the Canning Basin in the form of a State Agreement with Buru Energy needs to be carefully scrutinised to separate the hype from the reality, according to the WA Greens.

"Yesterday's announcement that the Government has signed a gas exploration agreement for more than 530,000sqkm between Port Hedland and Broome has several concerning implications," said WA Greens MLC Alison Xamon.

"Most of the gas the Government hopes to find in this area will only be able to be extracted using unconventional gas extraction techniques - that is, fracking," she said.

"The Barnett Government's continued insistence on promoting the extraction of unconventional gas via fracking techniques is disturbing - and perplexing.

"Fracking is environmentally damaging, despite what industry apologists allege, and uses toxic chemical slurries that have the real risk of polluting valuable groundwater supplies.

"At the very least, the Government should have undertaken a cumulative risk assessment study on unconventional gas prior to signing this agreement.

"The failure to do so is yet another example of the Premier's cowboy attitude to all mining proposals.

"Failing to appropriately and adequately assess exactly what pursuing unconventional gas will mean to Western Australia is failing the people of WA.

"A similar risk assessment in the European Union found that the cumulative effects of fracking were highly likely to cause serious damage to the environment and to human health (1).

"I contrast this with Colin Barnett's response in Parliament yesterday - when asked about the environmental risks of fracking in the Canning Basin Mr Barnett said "One would expect there would be few environmental issues."

"This answer was far from reassuring.

"Finally, apart from fracking's inherent risks, this decision shows the Premier is yet again betting the State's future on climate damaging fossil fuels and ignoring opportunities to develop renewable energy technologies that are being taken up by more forward-thinking countries around the world.

"The Greens focus on promoting renewable energy is not just a pipe-dream, as fossil-fuel industry advocates would have us believe.

"Andalucia in Spain is powered by the world's first commercial baseload solar power plant which delivers power 24/7.

"And Scotland has only recently pledged to be 100 per cent renewable by 2020, reaching 35 per cent last year (2).

"So while Barnett continues to champion fossil fuels technology that provably damages our environment, other countries around the world are taking the lead in renewable energy."I know I would rather live in a State where renewable energy investment and technology was the Government's focus - and I'm not the only one."

Notes:
1.        EU's study on shale gas risks "Support to the identification of potential risks for the environment and human health arising from hydrocarbons operations involving hydraulic fracturing in Europe" - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/energy/pdf/fracking%20study.pdf

 1.  "Scotland aims for 100% renewable energy by 2020"  http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/scotland-aims-for-100-renewable-energy-by-2020-20121031-28jbv.html