If you register as a "user" of this site, you can leave comments on its content. You cannot create content unless you are a member of the HCEC.
How this site worksUser loginThe HCECNavigationNews from the HCECReceive news, including upcoming events, things you can do and progress made, direct to your email inbox: create an account here, then subscribe here. Who's onlineThere are currently 0 users and 2 guests online.
|
Hunter Coal squeezing out other industries12th March 2007 Hunter coal squeezing out other industries Hunter Valley thoroughbred horse breeders have spoken out against the damage being wrought to their industry by coal mining. The move shows that the Hunter Valley is not economically dependent on coal, and in fact that the coal industry is driving out other industries in the region, according to the Hunter Community Environment Centre. The Hunter Valley Thoroughbred Breeders Association and Aushorse Ltd have now called for a moratorium on new coal mines in the Hunter, and for plans to double Newcastle coal exports to be scrapped. They have also called on the NSW Government to commission a study into the cumulative impacts of the Hunter Valley coal industry on the “environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the Hunter and other industries”, in a statement released last week. HCEC spokesperson Paul Winn said: “First it was Hunter Valley vineyards, and now it is Hunter Valley horse breeders who have joined the ranks of residents fed-up with the unstoppable expansion of the coal industry in our region. It is becoming clear that the NSW Government's unflinching support for coal industry expansion is isolating it from every other sector of the region's community.” “The statements by the thoroughbred breeders association reveal the lie in the Government and coal lobby's claim that our region's employment and economy are dependent on an ever-expanding export coal industry. On the contrary, the unstoppable growth of coal is squeezing out other, more sustainable industries in our region, and locking us deeper in the coal economy.” “The Hunter is at a crossroads. We can either continue down the coal path, locking ourselves into an unsustainable industry to the exclusion of all others, and condemning the world to climate chaos, or we can put a ban on new coal infrastructure in our region and start making plans for a sustainable future. An increasing number of voices in the Hunter are calling on leaders to take the alternative road, and help forge a new beginning for our region.” |
SearchRandom image Upcoming eventsPopular contentRandom Quote"Think of the climate as a small boat on a rather choppy ocean. Under normal circumstances the boat will rock to and fro, and there is a finite risk that the boat could be overturned by a rogue wave. But now one of the passengers has decided to stand up and is deliberately rocking the boat ever more violently. Someone suggests that this is likely to increase the chances of the boat capsizing. Another passenger then proposes that with his knowledge of chaotic dynamics he can counterbalance the first passenger and indeed, counter the natural rocking caused by the waves. But to do so he needs a huge array of sensors and enormous computational reasources to be ready to react efficiently but still wouldn't be able to guarantee absolute stability, and indeed, since the system is untested it might make things worse. So is the answer to a known and increasing human influence on climate an ever more elaborate system to control the climate? Or should the person rocking the boat just sit down?" |
