In Queensland , from Gladstone to Townsville and beyond, there is growing deep concern about environmental damage caused by the frenzied activity to expand mining activities, handling facilities and massively increase coal exports. At Townsville there has been a demonstration at a mining conference -Future Visions and a Snapshot of Today- expressing alarm at proposed developments. North Queensland Conservation Council coordinator, Wendy Tubman, said the coal industry was a dinosaur with the potential to cause massive damage to communities, land and waters .Tubman spoke of the rush to massively expand coal mining, increase coal export facilities by six times, and drill tens of thousands of coal seam gas wells .
"Australians are giving up so much , but it comes at a price", she said."We know that UNESCO is already extremely concerned about proposals for vast coal exporting facilities on the coast adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area."Add to this the loss of farming land and habitat, the massive demands for water, the toxic waste output, the negative impact on families and communities associated with fly-in-fly-out workforces, the costs of a two-speed economy to manufacturing, the loss of tourism appeal, the risks to health and the contribution to climate change – all partly caused by coal – and it is obvious that the future could look very grim indeed. Coal is a dinosaur fuel and we have the resources and technology now to replace these dinosaur fossil fuels. It's time for Australians to stand up and tell the dinosaur fuel lobby to stop blocking our clean energy future." Cartoon by George Hirst.
