Guest post by Silvia Purdie

On Monday 2 May a group of 30 protestors occupied the Takitimu Coal Mine, forcing the mine to stop operations for the day. This was a collaborative action by Extinction Rebellion groups around Te Waipounamu and supported by Greenpeace and the Coal Action Network. One of the activists is a psychotherapist in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Michael Apathy (pronounced Apayti).

Michael describes some memorable experiences from the action:

“It was a great moment at 5.00am on Monday morning. We had succeeding in getting in and we were all in place within the coal mine; the towers were set up at the entrance, the climbers were in place, we had a boat on the lake. “We made it! We have taken possession of this space.” Suddenly I felt a huge buzz and delight, that lasted through the whole day. Even though I’d had no sleep I had this peaceful, energetic, joyful feeling. It became a meditation on being in the heart of the beast.

As the sun rose, the first thing for me was how great it was to actually be there and to see it. There I was, inside the mine, surrounded by all the giant piles of coal, literally inside the machinery that extracts it. Coal is such an abstract thing to so many of us. I talk to people and they are surprised: “We still mine coal in New Zealand?!” It is out of sight, out of mind. Being there made the climate crisis very real, rather than just numbers on a spreadsheet.

It was so stark: here I am on this big piece of machinery among the coal next to a poisoned lake, and on the silhouette of the hill there are cows grazing. Industrial dairying is killing off our waterways and contributing significantly to global warming. This is a key reason why New Zealand is actually really terrible in terms of climate change. This coal goes to Fonterra to be burned to dry milk powder to be shipped overseas. The whole system was so vivid to me in that moment: “It’s all here, the cows and the coal together.”

For most of the day I locked myself onto the conveyor, and I had several police negotiating with me. Late in the afternoon our group made the collective decision to leave. So I said, “So if I unlock, you will not arrest me?” – “Yep” – so I said, “Alright”, and we walked out. It ended with no one being arrested which was nice.

As we walked to the gate we were greeted by a big crescendo of drumming and singing, a celebration of what we had done. It was so beautiful. It made you feel you are part of this thing which is a work of art as well as a political action.

We are taking very serious action about the existential threat of climate change. Direct action like this is intense and serious. But admidst that there was music and dancing. We hung beautiful colourful flags. People wore silly cow onesies. It is important to us that direct action becomes light and playful and a celebration all at the same time.”

There’s more information, photos and video of the action here.

To download  Silvia Purdie’s full interview with Michael Apathi, click here.

The post Takitumu Mine Occupation, May 2022 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Instead, Coal Action Murihiku will be focusing on organising a networking event in Southland early in 2022, and developing further ideas at that.

Many thanks to everyone who put time and effort into Summerfest 2022 – watch out for more news on CANA local and regional events in 2022!

The post CANA Summerfest Postponed appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Changing hearts and minds takes a long time but continuing the conversations with different audiences can bring surprises.

I live in Mossburn township in Northern Southland, and I went to the new monthly Mossburn Sunday Market recently to gather signatures for the petition against the proposed Te Kuha coal mine near Westport.

Because I was not sure what kind of reception I might receive, I softened my approach by taking organic vegetables and organic plums from my garden to sell for a good cause. The two tables sat alongside each other with the produce being the reason for people to stop and engage in conversations – usually initiated by me, even though I am quite well known in the area.

I took the large signs I usually have attached to my front fence such as ‘Fonterra Quit Coal’, the Forest & Bird sign ‘Our Oceans need a bold climate target’ as well as a genuine ‘Lock the Gate’ sign from Australia. I live on the main highway to Te Anau and Milford Sound so lots of people see my signs, know about why they are there and what I stand for.

The signs are always conversation starters as they were at the Market Day. In fact I had some very interesting and even surprising conversations.

Two local sheep and deer farmers, one retired and the other a young man, were fully in support of Fonterra! That intrigued me as I had thought, mistakenly obviously, that they would have been quite upset by the huge irrigators on their neighbour’s property, the removal of trees, the smell of cow manure, the big tankers on the roads, our rivers being polluted by the nitrates and run- off. Not so from these two. After some strong discussion we agreed to differ.

I tried for signatures to stop the Te Kuha proposal on the Buller Plateau. I had to tell the story of that issue to everyone. It resulted in some of them confessing they still use coal…. but some of them realise it is not good practice! There seemed to be no realisation about resulting health issues, let alone its impact on climate change.

Some wouldn’t sign as ‘the Coast has been doing coal for a long time and they need to keep doing it’! Several said they couldn’t sign because their relatives live on the Coast.

It seems that very basic education still needs to be done!

The best thing was a lovely young guy with a partner and three boys who told me they have moved to Lumsden from the rat race in Queenstown. They have bought a house as opposed to having to pay exorbitant rent and he continues with his IT business from Lumsden! His partner is into permaculture so they are loving the possibilities of extending their knowledge across the community.

He tried to help me explain to farmers about what Fonterra is doing to rivers and the effect of fossil fuels, but he realised it was all in vain with the farmers having closed minds about the capacity of the environment and very open minds to making money at any cost, or so it seemed.

My learning from this is that I need to be at this kind of activity in my local community to have these conversations so I hear what people whom I don’t meet often are thinking. I can plant seeds, have discussions, start them thinking and maybe even ‘Change some hearts and minds’. I might even find some allies / like-minded people so I realise I am not alone.

Also, there are people who will listen and sign up once the situation is explained to them. I did get 15 to sign – mainly from the stall holders – so that was a mini success.  What seems to make the difference is the personal touch,  and taking time to get alongside people.

I realise I need to go back to the next Sunday Market and keep interacting. Being an activist takes many forms – and to get active on coal takes many different actions, no matter how small, and happens in many places!

The post Changing Hearts And Minds At Mossburn Sunday Market appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

A great weekend with my old and dear friend Debs with whom I worked on the campaign to stop Project Aqua, the diversion of most of the low flow of the Waitaki river. We won that one, and we will win this one too! One of the precious things about this roadshow is reconnecting with friends I’ve worked with – like Mike and Joe and Robina from Mataura in the days of the lignite scare, who drove through to Invercargill.

Debs drove me over the hill to Blenheim (we talked Denniston all weekend) where I presented at the opening of the art exhibition “Oil on Canvas”, a fund raiser for the active campaign aginst deep sea oil drilling, organised by the amazing Verena Maeder.  A ready made audience and companion speakers Rod Morris, whose photos have built love and awe for the Denniston Plateau nation-wide, and entrepreneur Nick Gerritsen, about his latest project to make liqiod fuels from wood waste.

I foresee waste wood from forestry operations becoming the next scarce resource as people realise it  is our lifeline to an economy without fossil fuels. Boiler fuel, home heating,  transport fuel, even coke for steel making, and of course the ultimate finite resource is land, on which it all depends. Even with renewables we can’t keep growing forever.

Beautiful art works, all local, including one of Rod’s images of Denniston which I coveted, but wasn’t feeling rich. One that particularly took my eye was a disturbing painting called 2L8. I know in my head it probably is, but I refuse to believe it and the only way to live is to try to still make a difference.

You learn something every time you stand up to talk to a group. I’ve been singing the praises of NZ innovation LVL, a strengthened timber building material that can substitute for steel and concrete in multi-storeyed buildings – very low carbon, in fact stores carbon for the life of the building. I’ve been lamenting that Christchurch was not rebuilt in this sustainable material, partly because there is no fabricating plant here to cut the stuff to order. A voice from the back row in Takaka called out “not true. Nelson Pine opened one this week”. Turned out to be Piers McLaren, doyen forester with whom I have corresponded but never before met. Led to a useful discussion with the CEO of Nelson Pine the next day.

So Blenheim, Takaka, Motueka and Nelson – lots of great people all working in their own way on a fossil free future.

Then to Dunedin where I met up with Rosemary. We managed our “Two Ronnies” act OK at the university presentation. The Chamber of Commerce wanted a rather different slant – business opportunities in a low carbon economy. They booked quite a small room so it was a good experience for them to find it booked out a day ahead and they were squeezing people in on the night. More general public than business, but some of the latter too and I’ve heard it did make an impression on the Chamber. Back to Rosemary….

I teamed up with Jeanette again for the two Dunedin presentations on 29 and 30 July, to audiences of around 50 at each venue. The following afternoon, armed with cups of tea and sandwiches for non-stop travel, we headed to Invercargill where fellow CANA organising member Jenny Campbell had a precisely timed two days awaiting. A pot luck tea, catch-ups with fellow Southland anti-lignite campaigners and our JAC presentation followed – complete with our very own climate change sceptic in the front row. Neither Jeanette nor I needed to respond as the Invercargill audience deftly dealt with his comments.

Rosemary Penwarden, Nathan Surendran, Joe Nowak…

…Jeanette Fitzsimons and Mike Dumbar in conversation with old friends at the Invercargill event

The following morning we met with Steve Canny and others at Venture Southland for an exchange that lasted the entire morning, with an interlude to pose for the Southland Times and a TV interview with the very patient and charming Cue TV reporter. Thanks to Dave Kennedy for organising the Venture Southland meeting – their work is inspiring. I spied their speedy little electric car being delivered as we left. A couple of spare hours were filled with unexpected discussions with bank staff when Jeanette’s plastic card was swallowed up by the ATM machine, never to be returned. They were so nice. (Jeanette: So they should have been – Bank’s mistake, not mine! ) You just can’t get angry with Southlanders! We kept hearing about the next event on Jenny’s itinerary: the Environment Southland Awards. It’s big, we were told. Southlanders are not known to exaggerate, even so, we were both surprised at the scale of the evening at the Ascot Hotel – live TV, over 500 guests for a full meal and accompaniments, anyone who’s anyone there and, as is always the case down this end of Aotearoa, they all seemed to know each other. The best part of the evening was the very last prize being awarded to Jenny’s group, Southland Forest and Bird, for their remarkable 25 years of restoration and care of the yellow eyed penguin reserve, Te Rere. A very early morning at Invercargill airport completed this leg of the JAC roadshow. We look forward to being invited to other parts of the country to continue the discussion. For me, it’s about more than phasing out coal mining. It is a good place to start the necessary work we must all now participate in – to build and manage a fair and durable shift to a low carbon economy, where workers do not bear the brunt of that shift. From here, our little JAC relay looks like part of an enormous marathon. Change is emerging but we’re racing to a deadline. A just transition to a low carbon economy has to be fair and it has to be swift. We need everyone’s diverse, creative skills to keep that baton moving, run like hell, and pass it on. We have advantages many other countries could only dream about, and we look forward to taking charge of our own futures instead of being at the mercy of unjust market forces and a dying industry. It’s already happening.

I took a picture of the shiny silent mothballed briquette plant on my way home, for old times’ sake. Still think it would make a great whisky distillery

The post Jobs After Coal Roadshow Report appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Last year Environment Southland revealed that both Invercargill and Gore had exceeded air pollution standards multiple times due to the on going use of lignite and coal for domestic heating and has amongst the poorest air quality in New Zealand: http://www.es.govt.nz/your-council/news/2013/tough-choices-ahead-on-how-homes-are-heated/

Venture Southland has researched a range of energy options available in Southland and has recognised wood as one of the better long-term solutions for our future energy needs, both economically and environmentally: http://www.scribd.com/doc/98146950/Venture-Southland-Wood-Energy-Demand-Assessment-EIS-Energy-Final-Report-WEB

The Dunedin City Council has come to a similar conclusion and conversion to wood pellet heating systems is being actively promoted: http://www.bioenergy.org.nz/wood_fuels.asp

A number of Southland Schools and our swimming pool have replaced coal boilers for ones using wood pellets. Although initial costs were greater than reinstalling a coal system, running costs become cheaper over time and the level of ash produced and maintenance required is much less using wood. Schools felt the health of their children was also an important consideration because the negative effects of using coal are well known. Economically and morally wood fired boilers were the best choice.

Ascot Park Hotel in Invercarill is nationally recognised for being one of the best examples of a business using sustainable practices and having a minimal environmental footprint and it has won multiple awards for doing so. The hotel’s environmental efforts have actually attracted business and have proven to be a commercial success story as well: http://www.ascotparkhotel.co.nz/sustainability

You can imagine my surprise when I read the article in the Southland Times (January 13) that they are replacing the old lignite boilers with new lignite boilers and board member Angela Newell is quoted as being disappointed that a greener option had not been explored.

I struggle to understand how the management of our Licensing Trust can be so short sighted in their decision to use lignite again and have effectively sabotaged Ascot Park’s progress in becoming one of the most environmentally friendly hotels in New Zealand.

You can comment on the Southland Times article or write a Letter to the Editor of the Southland Times on this issue. 

The post Ascot Park Hotel In Invercargill Ruins Its Sustainability Story By Choosing Lignite appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network activist at Mataura briquetting plant

16 October 2013– Coal activists are cheering today at the news that Solid Energy and GLT Ltd are mothballing the lignite briquette plant in Mataura, Southland, and said they were confident that a final decision later this month would shut it for good.

This is the final nail hammered into the coffin of Solid Energy’s grandiose plans to turn farmland into an open-cast lignite mine: a multi-billion dollar plan to use some of the world’s dirtiest coal to convert into diesel, urea, and into highly experimental “briquettes.” (see Solid Energy history, below).

“This is a great day for the climate – Southland’s coal is being kept right where it should be – in the hole, propping up beautiful, fertile farmland,” said Rosemary Penwarden of Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA).

“Meanwhile, Solid Energy has left a divided community, sponsorships abandoned, and a valley full of tenant farmers wondering what their future is going to be.  This should be a warning for any community when a big coal company comes to town, promising the earth.”

After Ravensdown walked away from the coal-to-urea project, and Fonterra confirmed it wouldn’t use the briquettes, Solid Energy’s plans were looking pretty shaky.  After Solid’s economic downfall, the company turned to its partner in the briquetting plant, GTL Energy Australia, to continue in its efforts to get the briquette plant up and running.

While GTL is still talking up the success of the briquette plant, over the course of this year, neighbours have continued to report – from their observations of the plant, and after their regular meetings with the plant manager – that the experimental technology has suffered from continued problems.   The company had even been seen returning briquettes to the New Vale mine from whence the coal had come, returning the coal to its hole.

In June, a CANA Freedom of Information request found that a similar effort by GTL to trial the technology in North Dakota had resulted in an explosion in the plant, that was then closed down. The FOI showed that Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment officials had expressed grave concerns at the fire risks in Mataura.

Last month, on 18 September, the local fire department attended a fire at the Mataura plant after dust in some ducting caught alight.

“This whole sorry mess, along with the financial instability of Solid Energy, should be a warning to the Government not to trust the promises of Big Coal.  Perhaps their eyes should be now turning to the shaky financial condition of Bathurst Resources, who want to dig up the Denniston Plateau” said Ms Penwarden.

Some of Solid Energy’s past promises

September 2009:  Solid promises 500 jobs from lignite to Urea

February 2011: Solid Energy promises lignite projects worth $1.5 billion a year 

September 2011: Briquetting plant: Solid promises 85 full time positions (now down to one, with three jobs lost this week)

The post Southland coal looks set to stay in the hole as briquette plant mothballed appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Our goal of coal staying in the hole: achieved!

Press release

22 February 2013—The Coal Action Network Aotearoa is celebrating the end of the nonsensical lignite project plans in Southland, after Solid Energy Chairman Mark Ford confirmed on national radio this morning that the company will drop the project.

When asked on radio about the lignite projects, Mr Ford said: “I think that is part of the non-core assets that we will be exiting from.”

“This was a ridiculous project from the outset: dirty, low-grade coal being turned into a product nobody wanted, digging up prime Southland farmland for coal that would simply end up in the sky, adding to the looming climate crisis,” said Kristin Gillies, CANA spokesperson.

“The people of Southland, just as the people of the West Coast and Huntly, have been sold broken promises by an industry that will do nothing for our economic future. Coal is a sunset industry and we need to wake up to this reality.”

Co-spokesperson for Coal Action Murihiku, Dave Kennedy, said there would be a huge sigh of relief from the growing local opposition to the project, which had so far only produced six local jobs, and would be taking the region in the wrong direction.

“Southland has so much to offer a green future for New Zealand, and we’re very happy that the coal here will be left where it belongs – in the hole, and the fertile soil can continue to be productive for generations to come.”

It is also highly doubtful that the briquetting plant in Mataura will be able to be sold: it has suffered a number of problems, has yet to be commissioned, and there is no market for the briquettes.

CANA also pointed out today that it was wrong for people to put Solid Energy’s financial woes down to its investments in renewable projects.

Renewable investments were tiny compared to the other things that lost Solid money. P45 of the 2012 annual report discusses “impairments” (the reduction in capital value of parts of the business – similar to a write down?)

– Biodiesel resulted in an impairment of $9m;
– Natures Flame $24.5m, Switch $1.6m.
– total renewable impairment $36m.

Meanwhile:
– Spring Creek resulted in an impairment of $64.3m,
– Huntly coal seam gas $18.5m,
– Huntly East $33.5m,
– they wasted $29m on the Southland lignite briquetting plant that may never work and may never have markets, though this is not marked as impaired in the accounts.

Even without the lignite projects (and the Annual Report notes impairment and loss from the whole Iignite project) total coal impairment is ~$116m, 3.5 x that of the renewable losses.
“To blame renewable energy for Solid’s woes simply doesn’t stand up,” said Gillies.
Solid bought 49% of the shares in Spring Creek as recently as Feb 2012, closed it temporarily to upgrade the mine, then closed it permanently later in the year. They spent a capital outlay of $64m – and they never got any coal out of it.

The failure of the renewable energy plants can be laid at the door of the govt. The investments were made under the Labour govt when there was a biofuel obligation coming on all motor fuel sales; this was then replaced by National’s subsidy, then that was cancelled.

Coal and gas would have been more expensive under the 2008 ETS and there would have been a better market for pellets. The company also made the mistake of going for the export market for pellets when they could have developed a good market in NZ.

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So it seems appropriate to highlight a couple of reports of the Festival from Southland sources:

Dave Kennedy of CAM reports on the Friday and Sunday of the Festival in his report on the Festival, Shaping Southland’s Future Without Lignite.

Coal Action Murihiku’s February newsletter is entirely given over to reports, thoughts and photos on the Festival. As Bell Murphy says in her Festival report:

The fact that this year’s event was primarily organised by Coal Action Murihiku (CAM) was really exciting. It’s a tribute to the staunch, creative, loving and ingenious folk in Southland.

You can find all the CAM newsletters on the CANA website.

The Summerfest packdown crew still had time to remember the purpose of the Festival!

The post Summerfest 2013: The View From Southland appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

The post Keep Southland’s coal in the hole, Coal Action Network urges Solid appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Find out all about the Festival here: http://nocoalsummerfest.org.nz/

Register here (see the yellow Registration button near the bottom of the page): http://nocoalsummerfest.org.nz/information

Find out what we did at the last festival – and the tremendous progress that’s resulted from decisions made and steps taken at the Festival – in this summary which looks at what happened at the Festival and what the situation is one year on: Summerfest_2012_notes_and_progress

Check out the amazing poster for this year’s Summer Festival …

… and take a look at this group photo from the 2012 Festival:

The post Summerfest 2013 – And What We’ve Achieved Since Summerfest 2012 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.