It is difficult to comprehend the Albanese government's reckless decision to extend the life of three coal mines to beyond 2050.
The mining, transportation and burning of coal all increase pollution, which directly harms our health. The fine particle pollution contributes to cardiovascular and respiratory disease increasing the risk of strokes, heart attacks and cancers. The larger particle pollution causes asthma, exacerbates asthma attacks as well as sinusitis. These are all significant diseases in the Hunter valley.
There is also the question of whether mining had anything to do with the recent earthquakes. According to Geoscience Australia, mining could have contributed.
The mines extension also has the potential to increase greenhouse gases by about 1.4 billion tons at a time when we are desperately trying to reduce emissions, which are worsening the impacts of climate change.
Last year was the warmest on record by a large margin, and 2024 has continued this record-breaking trend. We've seen the hottest northern hemisphere summer ever recorded and it's likely that this year is going to be the hottest yet.
We are regularly seeing abnormal climate events in Australia such as extensive flooding, extreme heat events and warming of the oceans. On a global scale the climate events also continue with droughts in South America, cyclones in Southeast Asia and extreme forest fires in Portugal and Canada.
If we don't dramatically reduce our emissions from burning fossil fuels these events will only worsen. It's hard to envisage what the world will be like at 2°C of warming, let alone 3°C.
Labor came into government with a mandate to improve our environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The decision to extend these coal mines would suggest that Labor is not interested in protecting the health of the population.
We are also seeing a delay in Labor creating new environmental laws. The existing laws date to 1999 and it is imperative they be updated if we are to protect our health against environmental degradation. Without a clean environment we cannot have good health.
That the Albanese government is extending the life of mines to export thermal coal does not alter the fact that we need to walk away from this toxic fuel. The physics is exactly the same if the coal is burned overseas rather than in Australia: it increases global heating. To achieve a safe climate Australia must reduce carbon exports which undermine our policies on domestic emissions.
Given the escalating risks to our health from coal, gas and oil - as a recent report on the health hazards of fossil fuels has clearly highlighted - the million dollar question is: why are we continuing to dig them up and to burn them?
The technology is available for reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and it is getting cheaper. The price of solar panels is rapidly declining. The price of new electric vehicles is dropping rapidly. The recent decline in the price of petrol has partially been attributed to the decrease in demand for petrol in China due to their uptake of EVs. The only thing holding us back is the political will to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The recent decision by Labor to expand coal mines only slows our transition away from coal.
The transition from fossil fuels to clean power is not going to be easy but we are well underway. Renewables now account for almost 40 per cent of Australia's total electricity supply.
The coal industry has for a long time been the economic bedrock for many communities in the Hunter and elsewhere. However, now that we know this industry's products are hazardous to our health, we need to stop using them, in the same way we have stopped using other dangerous substances, such as asbestos.
It is time for governments to take pollution and greenhouse gas emissions seriously, support coal workers to transition to cleaner jobs that will also protect worker's health, and start doing the things that will protect all our health, now and into the future.
Not extending the life of coal mines and stopping new fossil fuel projects would be a good start.
