Will these irresponsible thoughtless vandals be held accountable for the expenses they have made others incur ?




"POLICE arrested 37 activists who chained themselves to a train and rail tracks at Newcastle Port yesterday, shutting down the world's largest coal port for seven hours.

Protest organisers said up to 1000 people marched to the Carrington coal terminal to demonstrate against government inaction on climate change.

About 100 people scaled or cut through fences to enter the rail corridor and tie themselves to a fully loaded coal train.

More than 150 police officers attended the protest - including riot police, the dog squad, mounted officers and a water cannon bought for use at last year's APEC summit in Sydney.

Protest organiser Georgina Wood said police told activists that tough laws introduced after the 2005 Cronulla riots were being used.

A police spokeswoman said protesters had been arrested for trespassing, hindering police and resisting arrest. She said all those charged would appear in Newcastle Local Court.

Friends of the Earth spokesman Cam Walker said the protests were "fantastically successful".

"This marks a significant point in building a grassroots climate change (campaign) here in Australia," he said. "People standing up and having their say in a democracy is a beautiful thing to do."

Organisers estimate the action would have cost mining companies $1.3 million, but Mr Walker said the protesters were not economic vandals.

"If we look at what the climate scientists are saying, then what happened today is nowhere close to what has to be done.

"We're only doing this because we need to."

Friends of the Earth wants the federal Government to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by 2050.

The Rudd Government is committed to cuts of 60 per cent of their 2000 levels by 2050.

NSW Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon, union representatives and several coalminers also took part in the protest.

Matthew Watson, spokesman for Port Waratah Coal Services, said yesterday was a relatively quiet day at Newcastle port, with the protests delaying three coal trains scheduled to deliver 20,000 tonnes of coal to the terminal.

He said ship loading operations were not affected.

Mr Watson said the protesters had put their lives at risk by trespassing on the site and praised police for their professional approach.

Newcastle Port plans to ship 95 million tonnes of coal over the next year and is currently building a third coal-loading terminal.

Among the companies that use the port are BHP Billiton, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Gloucester Coal and Centennial Coal Company."



http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24013839-2702,00.html

Can you link to an article about that Mantra?

Sigh. We're going to have to live with coal for at least another 25 years or more.

If we immediately stop using coal and oil, the whole world economy will go into a rapid downhill spiral. Any change has to be gradual and planned.

It's a catch 22 situation. If the world goes broke, the whole effort of reducing carbon emissions will suffer. I've seen how much significance the Environment has in the poorer parts of Africa.

Quote:


The article was only minute in regard to the mine in the Hunter Valley and is only mentioned as elsewhere in this article. 

UNRESTRICTED underground coal mining south of Sydney is cracking riverbeds, draining swamps and putting the city's water supply at risk, experts say.

Almost 10 years after the Cataract River drained away through cracks in the bedrock from longwall mining, the State Government continues to allow coal companies to tunnel underneath rivers and creeks.

In one of the most dramatic cases, longwall panels 500 metres beneath the Waratah Rivulet, to the west of Helensburgh, have cracked the sandstone bedrock, in some places 20 metres across, split rock ledges and tilted the riverbed. Water flows have disappeared down fractures along a 2 kilometre stretch of river, environmentalists say.

Within 20 years, 91 per cent of the Upper Nepean and Woronora catchments will have been undermined, the Sydney Catchment Authority has told a government inquiry. Dams in these areas are the sole source of water for the Illawarra, Camden, Campbelltown, and part of Wollondilly, and provide water to the Prospect water treatment plant.

The damage at Waratah Rivulet, on the Bargo, Cataract and Upper Nepean rivers and elsewhere, are the first indications of a much bigger problem, a former senior environmental scientist with the catchment authority, Martin Krogh, told the inquiry.

"The short-term gains in increased efficiency of coal extraction (and profit from sales) may come at the expense of the long-term sustainability of Sydney's metropolitan drinking water supply and environments," he wrote. "Demand already exceeds supply in this area and any loss as a result of longwall mining now or in the future will simply exacerbate this deficit."

Longwall mining removes a panel of coal by working a face of up to 300 metres wide and up to two kilometres long. The main problem is subsidence, most of which happens as soon as the mining begins.

continued....

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/mines-blamed-for-threat-to-water-supply/2...

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 10:56am:


headlines.....!!!

mantra wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 12:04pm:


 

I'm pretty angry I don't know more about this....

I will pass this around in time!