If the New Zealand cricket team needs a new spinner to replace Daniel Vettori, they need look no further than mining industry lobby group Straterra. Perhaps because Solid Energy is in a tailspin and the mining industry has been coming under challenge all around the country in recent months, they have chosen to highlight a survey carried out, in somewhat mysterious circumstances, by Pauline Colmar, formerly of survey firm Colmar Brunton, which purports to show strong public support for mining.

However, on closer inspection, the survey was worded along these lines:

Survey company: Would you swim with sharks – if sharks didn’t bite?
Lots of respondents: Yes
Survey customer press release: “Majority of New Zealanders say they love swimming with sharks”
(notice the lack of options here for a respondent to say “hang on, but sharks DO bite”).

There’s more on that survey below. We have also more on Solid Energy’s troubles and their future plans; more on the forthcoming Powershift conference in December and 2013 Summer Festival in January; and the latest news on Denniston legal action.

Check out our international section that discusses the links between climate change and the horrific “Superstorm Sandy” in the US this week. Our thoughts are with the families of the people who died,  from the Caribbean to the US and Canada, and with those suffering in the devastation Sandy left in its wake.

Editor’s Note: In February 2011, I took on the job of editing a monthly “Supporters’ Update” for the Coal Action Network Aotearoa. That first update had five items. The September 2012 CANA newsletter had fifteen items, including a number of sub-items. This is a reflection of the breadth, depth and growth of our campaigns, but it’s all getting a bit much for your frazzled editor. So I am taking a break from newsletter editing duties to focus on the other work I should be doing for CANA, but keep on running out of time to get around to!

Along with a change of editor, we’re also going to take another look at how we put together the newsletter, aiming to reduce both its length and the effort required to produce it while still bringing you up-to-date news about our campaigns and the coal industry’s manoeuvres.  Please take part in our upcoming survey.

Regards
Tim Jones
Coal Action Network Aotearoa

1. Coming Events
2. More Spin Than Shane Warne
3. Got Something To Tell Us? Use Coal Tips
4. Summerfest 2013: Registrations Open 5 November
5. Powershift 2012
6. International News
7. TPPA Negotiations in Auckland, December 2012
8. Solid Energy: Still Not Getting It
9. Denniston Update
10. Top of the South Speaking Tour On Lignite
11. Regional Reports: Auckland, Wellington, Top of the South, Canterbury, Southland
12. CANA Social Media
13. Our Blog And Website
14. How To Donate To CANA

1. Coming Events

November

2: Closing date for submission on the Crown Minerals Act review – see this Forest & Bird submission guide at Greenpeace’s draft submission.
3: Auckland Coal Action meeting, 11am start, shared lunch 12.30-1pm, meeting ends 4pm.  Quaker Meeting House, 113 Mt Eden Rd
12: Wellington Ka Nui network meeting, 7pm, 19 Tory St. Contact michelle@ducat.co.nz to confirm venue or for more information.

December

3-12: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiating session in Auckland. Seehttp://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/ for details of planned actions.
7-9: PowerShift 2012, Auckland. See http://powershift.org.nz/
8: National Day Of Action Against The TPPA. Keep an eye on http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/ for details.

January 2013

18-21: Summerfest 2013, Dolamore Park, near Gore

2. More Spin Than Shane Warne

Tim Jones writes:

I had recently had the dubious pleasure of attending a function at Straterra, the mining industry lobby group that is headquartered on the Terrace, conveniently near the Beehive for those Ministers who don’t like traveling too far from their natural habitat.

Cindy Baxter and I from CANA joined the mining magnates and government officials (surprisingly difficult to tell apart) at the event to hear Pauline Colmar, formerly of Colmar Brunton, discuss the research her firm carried out for Solid Energy.

Her headline message to the miners & their Ministry cheerleaders was that mining was much more popular in New Zealand than the industry thought, and that they should get out and celebrate the fact. But even the most cursory look at the figures she presented shows that the survey achieved its numbers by asking New Zealanders whether they would support coal miningif the environment could be protected, or if it didn’t lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

But here’s the problem: coal mining wrecks the environment and leads to more greenhouse gas emissions. And the survey figures show that New Zealanders don’t want either of those things. So, nice try, wannabe Shane Warnes of the mining industry. But your spin is well wide of the mark.

For more on this, see:

* CANA’s press release: 
* Claire Browning’s column in the Otago Daily Times
* Summer Burstyn’s article on LiveNews, which provoked comments both from pollsters and from the person asked to fill in the survey who alerted us to the whole shebang in the first place:
* Beau Murrah’s piece on how he persuaded the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to take the Straterra press release about the poll down from their site.

3. Got Something To Tell Us? Use Coal Tips

coaltips@gmail.com

Since early 2012, we have been getting interesting tidbits of information from people inside the coal industry. They have tipped us off to health and safety problems which have substantially delayed the opening of Solid Energy’s pilot briquetting plant (see the Solid Energy item below for Solid’s take on this), and also given us some other useful information on Solid Energy’s future plans.

We know that there are a lot of disgruntled people in the coal industry right now, and with good reason. So our message to people inside the industry is this: even if we don’t agree on everything, we might agree that the coal industry and its leading players need to be made accountable to the public.

If you’d like to help us with this process, or if there is some information the coal industry is hiding that you think the rest of the country should know, then all you have to do is drop us an email to coaltips@gmail.com.

You don’t have to give your name or contact details, although of course it would help us if you did. We promise to keep your name confidential if that’s what you want. You can send the message from any email address you like. And, if you’ve got a picture or a document to send us, gmail addresses can handle nice big attachments.

We think the coal industry is in trouble, and we think people inside the industry know it. This is your chance to share what you know.

4. Summerfest 2013: Registrations Open 5 November

In January, the Keep The Coal In The Hole Summer Festival, aka Summerfest, held on Mike Dumbar’s farm near Mataura, was a big success, not least because it led to the formation of a number of regional anti-coal action groups.

The Southland regional group Coal Action Murihiku (CAM) has taken on the job of organizing the 2013 Summerfest. This will be held from Friday 18-Monday 21 January 2013 at Dolamore Park, a beautiful native bush reserve near Gore, just outside the north-western boundary of Solid Energy’s landholdings in the Mataura Valley.

We will be putting the registration form for the 2013 Summerfest up on the website within the next few days. Please look on the site on Monday 5 November for updated information, including the registration form.

5. Powershift 2012

Generation Zero, 350.org and other groups are inviting young people (13-35) to attend the biggest youth climate summit ever held in New Zealand – and you can see all the details and registerhere.

An important part of Powershift 2012 is its outreach to Pasifika youth. 350.org.nz Pacific Outreach Coordinator Koreti Tiumalu takes up the story:

Imagine a community of Pacific youth with the passion, skills and capacity to shape a safe climate future for New Zealand, and speak out for their home Pacific Island nations. 
Over the last six months, we’ve started to make this vision a reality and have run “Pasefika Climate Change Jams” in Auckland and Wellington. Now as we build up to Power Shift NZ-Pacific, our goal is to get 100 young Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand to actively participate in the event. We will harness that energy, to then reach across NZ’s Pacific communities in 2013 and beyond.
It’s time Pacific people found themselves a seat at the table where these things are discussed and tackled – and I am excited to be a part of an organisation who has recognised the valuable contribution that Pacific people can bring to that table. We will bring colour, new ideas, new life and above all else, heart.
I’m really excited, and I’m also daunted by the work ahead. Doing all of this on top of a full-time job is a real challenge, but I’m committed to making it work, as this is just too important for it not to happen.
Your help can make a massive difference. Here’s some of the ways:

• Do you have connections with the Pacific Island communities here in NZ that we can get in contact with? Let me know at koreti@350.org
• Support the Pasefika Climate Change Jam fund – donate $20, $50 or $350 to enable us to keep reaching out to Pacific Island communities through events (or sign up as aregular giver).
• Volunteer with our Pasefika team – we need all hands on deck to build the movement. If you are keen to help us out, just drop me an email to koreti@350.org

6. International News

Superstorm Sandy’s links with climate change. 
Superstorm Hurricane Sandy has left eight US states in a state of emergency, with the death toll in the US climbing, and 39 killed in the Caribbean.  The superstorm shattered records in terms of depth of depression over the US and the storm surges, predicted to peak at 11 feet in New York, reached nearly 14 feet, causing billions in damage. It was a scary night for millions of people, and many of us in NZ were glued to the news as it unfolded, hoping friends and family were safe.  Unfortunately the forecasters got it right this time.  As we said above, our thoughts are with those who have suffered.

But how much of it was caused by climate change? While Sandy wasn’t CAUSED by climate change, there are several things we do know about it:  that temperatures in the Atlantic were higher than normal.  Some scientists suspect that the weather system coming from the Arctic was caused by the melt.
New York Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg have started making the links.

Here’s some links to more in-depth coverage of the issue.
Close Up talked about it with Kiwi climate scientist Jim Salinger.
Hurricane expert, scientist Kevin Trenberth, has a good summary here.  He talks about how all weather is now occurring against a background of a warming world.
The co chair of the US National Climate Assessment Gary W Yohe talks about how this isn’t the “new normal” – because the changes we’re seeing haven’t stopped yet.
Joe Romm at Climate Progress
Chris Mooney, science writer and author of “Storm World” on Mother Jones.
The New Yorker: Watching Sandy, ignoring climate change
You can find much, much more online, but we’ll leave you with this fantastic video, using a “baseballer on steroids” analogy to explain how the background conditions can lead to extreme weather events.

Calls to end the climate silence in the US elections
A growing chorus of NGO’s in the US have been calling for the election race to break their “climate silence” – it’s the first Presidential campaign in the US to NOT mention climate change since 1998. Why? Blame the massive increase in fossil fuel funding of the elections (to the tune of around US$150m), in particular a coal industry-led campaign against Obama’s so-called “war on coal” (never mind that it’s the gas/fracking industry driving down the demand for coal)   It’ll be interesting to see if this silence continues in the wake of Sandy’s wrath.

Australia confirms its Renewable Energy Target
The Australian Government’s newly formed Climate Change Authority has been reviewing the Renewable Energy Target – and has recommended keeping the target at the energy equivalent of at least 20% by 2020, shrugging off intense pressure from the fossil fuel industry. The final decision will be taken in December.

True cost of CCS revealed 
Remember how Don Elder keeps telling us that we can reduce coal emissions to near zero?  Well that would be using CCS – carbon capture and storage – technology. Apparently.  If Don thinks he’s got financial problems now, wait til he faces the cost of CCS.  Australia’s full report on the issue was recovered through official information and it’s not pretty.

UN warns of food crisis
Meanwhile the UN warns of a looming food crisis in 2013 in the wake of record droughts and heatwaves leading to crop failure in the US and elsewhere.

7. TPPA Negotiations In Auckland, December 2012

A parasitic organism is on its way to Auckland in early December. It is designed to grow fat on its hosts and leaves them weakened and more vulnerable.

Sounds nasty? It is. It’s called the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, it is currently under negotiation by 11 countries chivvied along by the US Government, and, if adopted as it stands by the New Zealand Government, it would significantly weaken New Zealand’s sovereignty in a whole range of areas, including our ability to impose environmental standards on foreign-owned mining companies.

The TPPA negotiating circus is coming to Auckland in early December, and a coalition has been organised to protest against these undemocratic negotiations, with a national day of action planned for 8 December. For background on why the TPPA is such a bad thing, and news of planned events and actions, keep an eye on http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/

8. Solid Energy Struggles To Commission Briquetting Plant, But Wants To Press Ahead With Lignite-To- Urea Plant

In the last couple of newsletters, we’ve reported on Solid Energy’s many misadventures. One that hasn’t been well reported in the news media is the delay in commissioning Solid Energy’s pilot lignite-to-briquettes plant in Southland.

As mentioned under “Coal Tips” above, we’ve heard from industry sources that serious health and safety issues have been uncovered during the construction of the plant, leading to substantial delays in commissioning it and raising fears for the health and safety of the six workers who will be employed at the plant. Of course, that’s not quite how Solid Energy put it in their recent Quarterly Report:

“Plant construction is essentially complete and the plant is working through initial commissioning procedures.  During this process some minor modifications have been required which will delay the timing of first saleable coal.  This is now expected late this calendar year.   At full production, the plant will produce approximately 90,000 tonnes per annum of briquettes.”

However, this hasn’t stopped Solid wanting to press ahead with the next idea Don Elder scrawled on the back of a napkin, his dream of a lignite-to-urea plant:

“The CTF feasibility study to confirm the economic viability, including environmental and social acceptability, of a Southland-based coal to urea development is underway. This phase of the project includes identifying project partners and selecting our preferred development partner.”

Since Ravensdown pulled out of the joint lignite-to-urea project, Solid Energy says it has been working to sign up a new partner but extensive enquiries have yielded no indication that anyone is interested. Using lignite to do what can be done more cheaply from gas doesn’t sound like a winner even in Solid Energy’s terms. However, we are not taking anything for granted, and we’ll be taking a keen interest in where, if anywhere, Solid Energy goes with this.

Note: It’s still possible to make Official Information Act requests to Solid Energy, and here’s a site that makes it really easy to do so. If you have ever wanted to find out anything from or about Solid Energy, now is a good time to ask.

9. Denniston Update

Lynley Hargreaves reports:

The Denniston Court hearing began on Monday 29 October in Christchurch. Bathurst, the district and regional councils, West Coast Environment Network, Forest and Bird, and a brave individual called Terry Sumner will start presenting their arguments at 10am at the Environment Court on 99 Cambridge Terrace. This is open to the public.

Four weeks of hearing have been planned: 29 October-1 November and 5-9 November (Christchurch), 26-30 November (Greymouth) and 3-7 December (Christchurch again). Going along is a great way to get a working knowledge of the RMA and court system and you can contact wcent@riseup.net if you want more details about when particular issues will be heard.

The case is going ahead without climate change evidence, while that battle continues on a parallel course through the courts, but pest control, landscape, invertebrates, social impacts, and biodiversity offsets will all be argued.

Also, you can read this excellent letter by West Coaster Jane Orchard about the real reason for Bathurst’s troubles.

10. Top of the South Speaking Tour On Lignite

Rosemary Penwarden reports from Dunedin:

In 2011 I wrote ‘Just Lignite’, a small booklet about Solid Energy’s Southland lignite proposals published by the Anglican Church Social Justice Commission. 15,000 have been distributed around the country. Dr Anthony Dancer, Social Justice Commissioner, and I were invited to speak on the issue in mid-October in Nelson, Motueka and Takaka. We both really enjoyed speaking with a range of people and exploring this beautiful part of the country.

The issues we face are so big. The association with the Anglican Church brought in some who may have not considered the issues before and was really valuable. Face to face discussions are a big part of what’s needed for change to happen.

Thanks so much to Top of the South group ‘Renewables’ for your hospitality and the fantastic work done in organising the tour, the amazing media afterwards and the other work being done in your region. It was great to put faces to names from the lignite discussion group and make new friends in our work towards a coal free Aotearoa.

Media reports:

Southland Times:  Anti lignite campaign on road 
Motueka online: Lignite mining an ‘international crime’
Scoop: Archdeacon speaks out against coal 

11. Regional reports: Auckland, Wellington, Top of the South, Canterbury and  Southland

Note: A quick way to find contacts of all the regional anti-coal action groups is on the website.

Auckland: Auckland Coal Action

Jill Whitmore reports:

We identified in mid-August that the NZ Symphony Orchestra was advertising an upcoming concert tour of major centres as “The Solid Energy Tour”, sponsored by Solid Energy, and decided  to picket the Auckland performance and put our anti-coal message out to the public. We were concerned not to alienate concert-goers, and also to make it clear that we support the NZSO though we abhor their SE sponsorship. We explained this in a letter to the NZSO management before the event.

Most of us attended the picket, including a “Climate change elephant”, and gave out leaflets to people as they arrived. (Banner: “Love NZSO, but coal cooks the climate”.) We felt the actions (2 so far) were successful, good-natured, and well-targeted, and worth repeating at further concerts sponsored by SE.

Fonterra intends to open a new (small) coal mine near Mangatangi, about an hour’s drive south of Auckland. The coal, which will be very cheap for them, is intended to power their dairy factories in the region. Four of our members attended a meeting which Fonterra hosted for local residents, mainly to gather information. We are seeking initially how we might persuade Fonterra to use wood waste instead of coal for drying their milk powder.

In a similar vein, ACA has decided as part of its coal-free Auckland campaign to try to persuade schools still using old coal-fired boilers, to switch to wood pellets/chips or electric.

Next Meeting, all welcome:  Saturday 3^rd November, 11am start, shared lunch 12.30-1pm, meeting ends 4pm.  Quaker Meeting House, 113 Mt Eden Rd.

Auckland Coal Action was formed in July 2011 following the visit of Dr James Hansen. We recognise that coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and that its ongoing use will lead to catastrophic climate change. We aim to achieve a coal-free Aotearoa by 2030, initially by opposing the expansion of coal mining. We do this work to play our part in sustaining a benign climate for us, our children and grandchildren.

Our website is at http://aucklandcoalaction.org/ and you can contact us ataucklandcoalaction@gmail.com

Wellington: “Keep the Coal in the Hole” Gatherings

Tim Jones reports:

Our most recent “Keep the Coal in the Hole” two-monthly gathering in Wellington was on 18 October. Dr Anne MacLennan of Ora Taiao gave us an excellent presentation on coal’s many risks to human health, covering both its local effects and the bigger global health risks of climate change brought on, in large part, by burning coal. We hope to be able to make this presentation available in electronic form soon.

We are currently considering whether to keep these separate two-monthly gatherings going, or bring them under the tent of the wider Ka Nui! network on resource extraction issues that is emerging in Wellington. The current gatherings strike a good balance between education and activism; on the other hand, it makes sense to bring together people working on closely related issues. We expect to make a decision on this after talking more with our friends in the Ka Nui! network.

Next Wellington Ka Nui network gathering: Monday 12 November, 7pm, 19 Tory St. Contactmichelle@ducat.co.nz to confirm venue or for more information.

Top of the South: Clean Energy Future Action Group

The Clean Energy Future Action Group, based in Nelson, has set up a Kickstarter-style fundraising campaign for its latest campaign against coal mining. You can check out the campaign, and help it meet its fundraising goal here.

Canterbury: Canterbury Coal Action

Check out this press release from Canterbury Coal Action, “Court Process Deeply Flawed”:

Some key quotes:

“In New Zealand we currently have a remarkable situation in that our premier piece of environmental legislation, the Resource Management Act, can only consider the effects OFclimate change, but not the effects ON climate change.  So the court is not able to learn how every tonne of coal that might be extracted from Denniston will add to an already pressing problem of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

As such the court process this week is deeply flawed – it is only hearing part of the evidence.

What happened to “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” ?

Would a murder trial proceed without the key witness?

Would a fraud trial proceed without the accountants?”

It’s well worth reading the whole release. You can contact Canterbury Coal Action atcanterburycoalaction@gmail.com

Southland: Coal Action Murihiku (CAM)

In addition to work on Summerfest 2013, plenty of other things have been going on in Southland, as Jenny Campbell reports:

Coming up 18-21 January Summer Fest at beautiful native bush reserve Dolamore Park near Gore.

Guest speaker Rob McCreath from Queensland who has successfully fronted the ‘Friends of Felton’ will tell us a success story of how they saved their valley from mining and the establishment of a chemical plant there. Rob is keen to connect with local farmers who are being challenged by the possibility of fracking/coal seam gas exploration in Northern Southland. More speakers are being organised to fit in with our theme and as soon as these are confirmed we will enlighten you.

You can find out more about the Felton story here.

Help wanted: we are looking for a person with a passion for organising food for the Summer Fest camp – cooking on gas burners, in a tent…for 120 people – just a wee holiday chore maybe ?

CANA and CAM members are busy organising the programme so hope you are looking at making bookings to come south, make a holiday of it and explore our fabulous scenery and hospitality….

Further information and registrations. 

Briquette plant opening at Mataura: still no date set yet but latest talk from Solid Energy is end of the year. An action is still planned once we get the word.

CAM members went on Solid Energy’s October Newvale mine bus tour. Only one ran as the numbers weren’t as high as expected. CAM member John Purey- Cust reported that on the surface it was hard to see if they were keeping to their conditions – but of course they aren’t taking lignite to the briquetting plant in any quantity yet, so that will change the scale of their operation. We still need to be vigilant.

CAM information stalls were held at Invercargill’s Eco Spring festival 6 Oct and at Gore’s rhododendron festival on Sun 14 Oct. About 400 sign ups were recorded for the Asset Sales petition thanks to keen Green and Labour party members. A few CANA sign ups too.

An excellent front page item appeared in the Gore Ensign with two of our members featuring with local controversial artist Wayne’ Hill’s sculpture about possible fracking and coal seam gas exploration featuring in a paddock at the entrance to Riversdale, close to Gore.
Rangimarie,
Jenny Campbell
Co- convenor, CAM

12. Social Media Rivalry: Facebook Leads Narrowly

In the last month, CANA’s Twitter account has almost closed the gap on our Facebook group. At the time of writing, our Facebook group at
has stalled at 687 members, while our Twitter account has 670 followers.

So, if you’re a Facebook fan, what do you do? You join the group yourself and invite your friends to join!

If you’re in the Twitter camp, then please follow @coalaction, RT our tweets, and encourage your Twitter followers to follow us too.

The race to 1000 is on!

14. Donate to CANA! 

We rely on your generous donations to keep the campaign going. Here are the account details if you want to donate:

Coal Action Network
Kiwibank
38 9011 0484435 00

The post Coal Action Network Aotearoa Newsletter October 2012 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Don Elder pulls down $1.4 million per year as CEO of Solid Energy – about 51 times the average Kiwi income – well paid for his role in the destruction of our planetary civilisation. So it must be galling for him to have to explain why his company is under-performing so badly.  But it’s galling not only for us, but for the climate,  to look at how he is prioritising his review of the company’s operations.

Our full analysis of the latest events at Solid Energy is now up on the blog.  Please read it and share in your communities. 

Meanwhile, all around Aotearoa, people are putting spanners in the works of Don and his mining, drilling and fracking mates. In August alone:

• A major gathering of opponents of the Government’s mining agenda took  place in Rotorua
• An Australian activist toured the country helping tangata whenua and landowners to lock their gates against the mining industry:
• A BERL report, commissioned by WWF-NZ, shows that Southland would benefit much more by NOT mining lignite.

And that’s just in August. This newsletter also carries announcements of a major conference of youth climate activists in Auckland in December, and the second Summer Festival in Southland in January 2013, organised by Coal Action Murihiku.

Not everything went our way this month: in a decision which once again shows the absurdity of the way climate change is (not) taken into account by the Resource Management Act, three commissioners put their hands over their eyes, ignored that proverbial and literal elephant in the room (see our blog on the hearing  and on the consent) and approved Solid Energy’s resource consent application for its planned Mt William North coalmine.

Tim Jones
Coal Action Network Aotearoa

Contents

1. Coming Events
2. Drew Hutton “Lock the Gates” Tour
3.  Ka Nui! Conference reportback
4. Summerfest 2013 Announcement
5. Asset Sales Campaign: Entering the Home Straight
6. BERL Alternative Southland Economic Strategy Report Launch
7. Powershift 2012
8. Mt William North Mine Resource Consent Decision
9. Regional reports: Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland
10. Film Review: Bimblebox
11. News and Resources
12. Update from Australia
13. Are You Team Facebook Or Team Twitter?
14. How To Donate To CANA

1. Coming Events

1 September: Auckland Coal Action meeting, Quaker House, 113 Mt Eden Rd, 1-4pm

5-7 October: Ecumenical Environmental Conference, Wellington.

18 October: Next “Keep the Coal in the Hole” gathering, Wellington. Contact frances.mountier@gmail.com for venue details.

7-9 December: PowerShift 2012, Auckland.

2. Drew Hutton “Lock the Gate!” Tour

Drew Hutton from Lock the Gate Alliance in Queensland has been touring New Zealand in August to talk about the impact the coal seam gas industry and fracking has had on communities and the environment in Australia.

An inspiring speaker who likes to tell stories, Drew has met with farmers, environmentalists, and other key decisionmakers on fracking as he travelled around the country.

For those of you who didn’t get to see Drew, we filmed his Ka Nui! Speech on Saturday – it’s worth watching.  Also check this great TV3 piece on UCG and CSG in Huntly.

The Lock the Gate Alliance is a national alliance of over 120 community, industry and environmental groups and over 1000 supporters concerned with the devastating impact that certain inadequately assessed and inadequately-regulated fossil fuel extraction industries are having on Australia’s short and long term physical, social, environmental and economic wellbeing.

3.  Ka Nui! Enough! Conference

Last weekend, more than 100 activists from Dunedin to Northland, Taranaki to Gisborne, converged in our counter-conference to the NZ minerals institute conference in Rotorua.

It was a great weekend of workshops, inspiring speeches and inspiring people. One of the best bits was the incredible hospitality from the Tangata Whenua of the beautiful Mataikotare Marae on the banks of Lake Rotorua.  Their full participation in our discussions was a valuable contribution to the strong declaration that we all signed onto.  If you like it, use it and share it. Send to your MP, to your local councillor, etc.

We also had time to make a little video about our feelings on the drilling, mining, fracking and seabed mining industries.

Lastly, the 20 or so of us left on Sunday evening paid a little visit to the mining conference’s opening cocktail party, complete with the fabulous Radical Cheerleaders and climate elephants (Drew Hutton joined us as well).

The weekend made us stronger as a network of community groups with a common, shared purpose.  As one participant said: “I really got a lot out of working with others over the weekend, who each have different jigsaw pieces of the same bigger kaupapa of stopping these extractive industries.”

4. Summerfest 2013 Announcement

After the success of Coal Action Network Aotearoa’s Keep the Coal in the Hole Summer Festival, we’re pleased to announce that the Southland anti-coal action group, Coal Action Murihiku, has taken on the task of organizing Summerfest 2013. Here’s the initial announcement from Coal Action Murihiku:

Good news for those of you who missed our initial Summer festival at Mataura last year – that was CANA’s ‘Keep the Hole in the Hole’ Summer Fest, held in January 2012 at Mike Dumbar’s property – the farmer who has held out against Solid Energy’s plans to buy up land for mining lignite in the Mataura Valley.

Coal Action Murihiku is taking up the challenge of organising another family Summer Fest around lignite and coal issues- focusing on education, fun, forward planning, networking and supporting each other.

Dates: Fri 18 Jan to Mon 21 Jan 2013

Venue: Dolamore Park camping ground and native forest reserve north-west of Gore.

Please put these dates in your diary and plan to come. More details about how to register and programme theme will be advised soon.

5. Asset Sales Campaign: Closing in on the Signature Target

By the end of July, over 200,000 people had signed the petition demanding a Citizens’ Initiated Referendum on the Government’s planned state asset sales.

Approximately 310,000 valid signatures are needed on the petition to ensure that the referendum goes ahead. In that sentence, the word “valid” is the key: signatures will be checked, and because the signatures of people who are not enrolled to vote or whose details do not match their details on the electoral roll will be excluded, the petition needs close to 400,000 total signatures to allow for the expected proportion of invalid signatures.

So there is still plenty of work to do to gather signatures – and you can help by getting involved in collecting signatures and publicising the referendum campaign.

6. Report Launch: A View to the South: Potential Low Carbon Growth Opportunities for the Southern Region Economy

One of the main arguments made by proponents of lignite mining in Southland is that this is Southland’s only path to economic prosperity. So WWF-NZ commissioned BERL Economics to report on low carbon growth opportunities for the Southland economy.

The report, “A View to the South:  Potential Low Carbon Growth Opportunities for the Southern Region Economy” addressed the following questions:

• What options are available for developing the Southern region’s economy?
• What employment prospects are available given the wide range of options in the area?
• How can we thrive and create jobs while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions?

BERL found that hundreds of new jobs and tens of millions of dollars could be generated for the people of Southland without developing the polluting coal industry.

Download the full report from WWF

7. PowerShift 2012

PowerShift 2012 is a conference, jointly organized by Generation Zero and 350, that will bring together 1000 young people (ages 16-30) from around Aotearoa and the Pacific to learn about climate change in a local and regional context and embark on a major climate change campaign. It’s in Auckland from 7-9 December 2012.

Find out more about the conference, to register, or to share information about it with young people you know.

There is a 30% discount on early bird registrations received before 31 September, so get in quick!

8. Mt William North Mine Resource Consent Decision
Lynley Hargreaves writes:

Solid Energy has been granted consent this week for the next in its line of mines marching down the Waimangaroa Valley, Mt William North. At the resource consent hearing the company admitted that it’s future plans for the area would destroy 17 percent of the remaining coal measure ecosystems – irreplaceable sandstone erosion pavements and habitat for threatened species in an area that is almost naturally predator free.

The Hearing Commissioners didn’t take this cumulative impact into account, because they only consider the 243ha mine area currently being applied for. So Solid Energy and Australian company Bathurst Resources can chip away at the Stockton-Denniston Plateaux, applying for a new mine every few years, while openly admitting to thousands of hectares of planned destruction which would compromise the ecological integrity of the entire area.

Two other issues the Commissioners chose not to consider were climate change and ocean acidification. There is an ongoing legal argument over whether climate impacts are excluded from Resource Management Act considerations and because of this the Commissioners chose not to hear about 11.5 million tonnes of CO2 from burning coal from this mine (they could, however, see the prominent elephant in the room).

Ocean acidification, the effect of the ocean’s uptake of CO2, is not part of the legal wrangle over climate change and submitters at the Mt William hearing presented extensive evidence on the issue. The Commissioners chose to disregard this, stating in their decision that ocean acidification is ‘similar in principle’ to climate change and so lies outside the RMA. Groups or individuals have 15 working days to appeal the decision.

West Coast Environment Network would like to thank all those who have made generous donations to help finance the legal fight to include climate change in our overarching environmental legislation. We’re still working to reach our fundraising goal, so if anyone else has spare change for a good cause, please donate to West Coast ENT Incorporated, Kiwibank, 38-9012-0009759-00.

9. Regional reports: Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland

Note: A quick way to find contacts of all the regional anti-coal action groups is here.

Southland: Coal Action Murihiku (CAM)

Coal Action Murihiku has continued its hard work in opposition to the lignite, coal seam gas (CSG) and fracking proposals Southland is currently facing. In addition to the announcement that Coal Action Murihiku will be organizing the 2013 successor to the January 2012 Keep the Coal in the Hole Summer Festival – as reported above – Jenny Campbell reports on all the other developments in Southland:

On 14 August, the Riversdale Community Centre was the venue for a community briefing about the Government’s tender process for oil and gas exploration permits in Northern Southland organised by Environment Southland. It was intended to give locals the chance to listen and ask questions about the process and what might follow. About 100 people gathered to hear geologist Brad Ilg, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Petroleum, Strategy, Planning and Promotion Manager, attempt to address concerns by farmers. It was reported that they were unhappy to learn they would have no control over exploration on their land.

A proposed action at the pilot briquette plant opening has CAM members formulating an appropriate response to remind Solid Energy and others that we are serious, will not go away and that their schemes are meeting growing opposition. We are watching them. Commissioning appears to be meeting some obstacles so the date seems to be being pushed out till September.

Rangimarie,

Jenny Campbell, Co- convenor CAM

* Coal Action Murihiku produce excellent monthly newsletters. Check them out online.

Dunedin: Southern Anti-Coal Action (SACA)

Rosemary Penwarden reports on a busy month in Otago, but first, Tarsh Turner has news of a new initiative from CANA and Generation Zero:

CANA and Generation Zero are joining forces in Dunedin to launch a drive to raise awareness about the big plans for Southland lignite, and take action by pressuring the University of Otago to commit to moving away from coal for heating their campus. We have been shocked to learn that the boiler that heats the University often burns lignite, but the good news is there is a report soon to be released, detailing the viability of change and possible alternative heating and power options.

In order to ensure that this report doesn’t slip by unnoticed, we want to show the University Council that the student body is in support of transitioning off coal. We will be kicking this off in September with an event during OUSA Environment Week, and we aim to collect 2,000 signatures supporting our asks. For more info, contact Tarsh at climateninja@gmail.com, or keep an eye out on CANA’s blog!

Here’s Rosemary’s report on a very busy August:

1 August: Oil giant Anadarko Petroleum has delayed drilling in the Canterbury Basin until the summer of 2013. More time to organise!

4 August: A line of people, big and small, held hands along St Clair Beach to say NO to drilling off our coast, in solidarity with other groups all around Aotearoa.

13 August: A large and motivated group of students and helpers met to hear the joint Gen Zero/CANA/SEA launch of the campaign to end coal (and lignite) use by University of Otago. We hope this campaign will grow to eventually include all users of coal in Dunedin – and further.

15 August: Rosemary Penwarden presented an update to Sustainable Dunedin City on Southland lignite, including latest climate science, its relevance to Dunedin, and a few ideas about what we can do.

28-29 August: A group from Dunedin travelled Southland to catch the launch of WWF’s alternative economic strategy for Southland in Invercargill and Drew Hutton’s Lock the Gate talk in Gore.

Wed 12 September:  Just Do It documentary will be screened during Otago Uni’s Environment week.  7pm at The Lounge on Dundas St, next to the church.

“This documentary gives an insiders look at climate change activists in the UK as they employ direct action tactics to stand up to power and make their voices heard. It is funny, personal, and deeply inspiring, and will make you want to get out there and ‘Just Do It!’”

Canterbury: Canterbury Coal Action (CCA)

Rachel Eyre reports:

On 1 August we watched the Australian film Bimblebox at the WEA Centre. (Note: John Adams’ review of the film is below, following the regional reports.)

The CD was provided to our group to watch, courtesy of CANA.

We don’t have a next meeting to promote at this stage but are quietly planning some lobbying of local MPs on coal and climate change issues.

In the meantime if people are interested in getting involved here in Canterbury they should contact Canterbury Coal Action through our gmail: canterburycoalaction@gmail.com

Wellington: “Keep the Coal in the Hole” Gatherings

Tim Jones reports:

The latest “Keep the Coal in the Hole” gathering in Wellington was held on Thursday 16 August. It was a good opportunity to catch up about the wide range of events in August, including the Ka Nui! Enough! Conference which a number of Wellington people went to, Drew Hutton’s “Lock the Gate” tour and the PowerShift Conference for young climate activists being organized by Generation Zero and 350, and the WWF-NZ/BERL report on alternative economic strategies for Southland.

We arranged to meet again on Thursday 18 October at the 350 Office, 22 Allen St. To get updated meeting details, please contact frances.mountier@gmail.com.

New Zealand Petroleum Summit protest

The New Zealand oil and gas industry has organised a back-slapping session for itself called the New Zealand Petroleum Summit.

A coalition of groups has formed to oppose this summit and its climate-wrecking, environment-despoiling agenda, and they have organised a protest to leave the assembled delegates in exactly no doubt how unpopular their plans are. Here’s the initial announcement – watch out for further details:

Calling everyone to protest against the NZ Petroleum Summit. Wednesday 19th September, 5pm, outside the Amora Hotel, 170 Wakefield St.  Please watch this space for further details.  Noise makers, placards and children welcome.

Auckland: Auckland Coal Action

Jill Whitmore reports:

This month Auckland Coal Action has worked on developing a PowerPoint presentation on coal and climate change, and those thinking of speaking are preparing their talks to which it can be adapted, as we are planning an outreach information campaign. We will also campaign for a coal-free Auckland, first analysing which organisations in the Auckland area (besides the Glenbrook steel mill – we’ll leave that till later!) are still burning coal in boilers etc, and will then try to persuade these organisations to switch away from coal to more sustainable fuel e.g. wood pellets.

One of our members has succeeded in getting a number of good letters published in the Herald.

On Friday 17 August we ran another film evening, showing the very interesting Australian documentary Gas Rush, with Jeanette Fitzsimons talking about the dangerous potentials of further unrestrained fossil fuel development. The audience this time was fewer, mainly members and known supporters, but we enjoyed the evening in a pleasant venue and the refreshments. The proceeds of over $400 will be shared between the Denniston appeal and ACA’s own needs.

Next meeting, all welcome: Saturday 1 September, at the Quaker house, 113 Mt Eden Rd, 1-4pm.

About Auckland Coal Action

Auckland Coal Action was formed in July 2011 following the visit of Dr James Hansen. We recognise that coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and that its ongoing use will lead to catastrophic climate change. We aim to achieve a coal-free Aotearoa by 2030, initially by opposing the expansion of coal mining. We do this work to play our part in sustaining a benign climate for us, our children and grandchildren.

Join our Facebook group:

Subscribe to our monthly email update – contact: aucklandcoalaction@gmail.com

Regards

Jill Whitmore

10. Film Review: Bimblebox

Canterbury Coal Action screened the documentary Bimblebox on 1 August. John Adams of Canterbury Coal Action has kindly reviewed the film for us:

Bimblebox is a challenge.  It’s a documentary movie based on Australian coal and coal seam gas expansion and the community responses to that expansion.  If that sounds dry, then you need to watch the film, because it’s surprisingly emotional.

Bimblebox itself is a nature reserve in inland Queensland, described by an ecologist as being indicative of wilderness Australia.  The family that farms nearby has an agreement with the Government that the reserve will be managed in perpetuity for its wildlife values.  But the agreement is worthless now that coal has been found.  The whole area is in line for open cast mining.

The action shifts to the Hunter Valley and to the Darling Downs where communities and food-growing land are threatened by the expansion of mines.

Further afield the film shows the effect on the corals of the Great Barrier Reef and on Aboriginal sacred sites that stand in the way of the diggers.

Any Kiwi audience would be quick to draw parallels with Denniston (indicative of wilderness New Zealand) and Mataura (communities and food growing land) as well as tangata whenua concepts of turangawaewae and “sense of place”.

So it’s not just an Aussie film – it’s for us all.

What is frightening is the scale of the proposals and the power of the developers – they appear to have the support of the governments in Australia and in China.  Against them is a small, informal coalition of farmers, mothers, students and tribal leaders.  What hope can they have?

I was lucky enough to watch the film at a screening organised by Canterbury Coal Action, so I knew I was surrounded by like-minded people.  What hope can we have?

The answer, from the film and from our own knowledge is that we have hope because we know that what we are doing is right.  The film gives us something more:  one person in the audience, with a tear in her eye, said “It makes me so angry!”  Maybe some anger is what we gain from watching Bimblebox.

So Bimblebox is a challenge.  It’s challenging to watch because you want to cry, or to help.  But it challenges us to step up our efforts for a just transition to a coal free future.

John Adams

Note: if you want to screen Bimblebox in your region, email us at CANA and we can get mail it to you.

11. News and Resources

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is investigating the link between climate change and increased earthquakes and vulcanism. That should concern New Zealanders – and it’s a great prompt for Letters to the Editor:

•  In case you missed it, the summer ice melt in the Arctic has broken all records, already.  There’s still a couple of weeks left before the summer minimum, so this year’s low will be even worse.  Check out the daily updates at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)  The Guardian’s George Monbiot’s take on it is pretty good.

• Meanwhile, if you weren’t clear on the climate science, we suggest you read the American Meteorological Society’s latest update, adopted on August 20:  “There is unequivocal evidence that Earth’s lower atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming; sea level is rising; and snow cover, mountain glaciers, and Arctic sea ice are shrinking. The dominant cause of the warming since the 1950s is human activities.”

• There are lots of resources available on the Coal Action Network Aotearoa website. Check out our Video/Audio page at  and our Resources page.

12.  Australia update

While Australia is facing a much bigger onslaught on coal, it’s inspiring to know what’s been going on over there.

Output from coal-fired power stations is down 10 per cent.

The Government has pulled funding for a new HRL coal plant proposed for Victoria, after a concerted community campaign.  Renew Economy has a good summary of Australia and new coal.

Possibly off-topic (fracking), but so inspiring:  locals this week finished a nine-day blockade of Dart Energy’s coal seam gas plant at Fullerton Cove, Newcastle.

But all is not great over there:  mining magnate Gina Rinehart has just received go-ahead for her Alpha Coal mine in Queensland – a mine that will produce 30 Megatonnes of coal a year, shipped out through the Great Barrier Reef.

13. Are You Team Twitter Or Team Facebook?

The section of the newsletter where we list our social media channels might be seen as a little boring, so why not spice it up with some spurious Twilight-style competition? Right now, it’s a close race between CANA’s Facebook group and Twitter account to see who can gain the most followers. At the time of writing, our Facebook group and our Twitter account both have 549 followers!

Who’ll win? CANA will, as we build up the reach of our social media channels.

The good news about this little competition is that you can be on both sides. If you’re on Facebook and haven’t already done so, please join our group and invite your friends. If you’re on Twitter, please follow @coalaction, RT our tweets, and encourage your Twitter followers to follow us too.

A Facebook page we encourage you to Like is Leave the Lignite, Save the Soil.

Say No To Fracking in NZ also has a Facebook group.

Visit our Blog

14. How To Donate to CANA

We rely on your generous donations to keep the campaign going. Here are the account details if you want to donate:

Coal Action Network

Kiwibank

38 9011 0484435 00

The post Coal Action Network Aotearoa Newsletter August 2012 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

As we know, the Government and the mining industry have launched a coordinated assault on New Zealand’s environment and on the land, health and water of communities and iwi around the country.

A coordinated assault requires a coordinated response, and that’s what will be happening in August. First, people opposed to mining in its various guises will be gathering in Rotorua on 25-26 August for Ka Nui / Enough!, a counter-conference to the mining industry conference also happening in Rotorua. If you want to be there, email kanuiconference@gmail.com for details.

One of the participants in the conference will be Drew Hutton of Australia’s Lock the Gate Alliance. If you can’t make it to Rotorua, Drew will be touring the country in late August – check out the dates below.

Our campaign continues to build all around the country, and we welcome a new group, Coal Action Waikato, to our roundup of news from regional groups.

Enough of introducing the news – time to let you read it!

Regards
Tim Jones
Coal Action Network Aotearoa

What’s in this newsletter?

1. Coming Events 2. Ka Nui / Enough! Conference in Rotorua, 25-26 August 3. Drew Hutton Tour: Lock the Gate!
4. Asset Sales Campaign: The Big Push for Signatures Is On
5. Thermal boilers update: EECA heat plant database and Fonterra’s very bad decision in Darfield
6. Climate Change and the Resource Management Act: An Update and a Fundraising Plea
7. Regional reports: Waikato, Auckland, Wellington, Motueka, Takaka, Christchurch, Dunedin and Southland
8. Just Transition: Moving Away from Coal
9.  News and Resources
10. CANA online: Blog, Facebook and Twitter
11. How To Donate To CANA

1. COMING EVENTS 

1 August: Canterbury Coal Action Bimblebox film screening, 7.30pm, WEA, Gloucester St.Bimblebox website.

4 August: Hands Across the Sands (nationwide/worldwide)

4 August: Hands Across the Sand action at the Janie Seddon Shipwreck, Motueka Quay, noon

5 August and 19 August: Nonviolent direct action workshops, Takaka. Contact rojoanna@ihug.co.nz or see below under “Regional Reports” for details.

16 August: “Keep the Coal in the Hole” meeting, Wellington, 6-9pm, 18-24 Allen St

22-29 August: Drew Hutton Tour

25-26 August: Ka Nui / Enough! Conference, Rotorua

5-7 October: Ecumenical Environmental Conference, Wellington.

2. KA NUI / ENOUGH! CONFERENCE IN ROTORUA, 25-26 AUGUST 

Coal Action Network Aotearoa is proud to be one of the groups organising a counter-conference to the New Zealand mining industry conference in Rotorua in August. The counter-conference takes place in Rotorua on 25-26 August, and its name sums up its purpose: Ka Nui / Enough!

This will be a weekend of inspiring speakers and workshops on the issues faced by communities on the resource extraction frontlines and the alternatives to the mining and fossil fuel industries.

We’ll bring details of speakers and venue to you soon, but in the meantime, start making your plans to attend, and email kanuiconference@gmail.com for more details and to register.

3. DREW HUTTON TOUR: LOCK THE GATE! 

Drew Hutton from Lock the Gate Alliance in Queensland is coming to New Zealand in August to talk about the impact the coal seam gas industry and fracking has had on communities and the environment in Australia.

The Lock the Gate Alliance is a national alliance of over 120 community, industry and environmental groups and over 1000 supporters concerned with the devastating impact that certain inadequately assessed and inadequately-regulated fossil fuel extraction industries are having on Australia’s short and long term physical, social, environmental and economic wellbeing. See Lock the Gate website.

Drew will be speaking in the following centres. Venues and times are still to be confirmed – check the CANA blog for further details:

Drew Hutton Tour dates, August 2012
Wed 22  Wellington pm.
Thu 23   Dannevirke (Lunch/early afternoon meeting), Hastings pm.
Fri 24    Gisborne
Sat 25   Ka Nui / Enough! Conference, Rotorua
Sun 26  Rotorua Conference workshops
Mon 27  Waikato Uni, Hamilton
Tue 28  New Plymouth
Wed 29  Gore, evening

4. ASSET SALES CAMPAIGN: THE BIG PUSH FOR SIGNATURES IS ON 

The campaign against the Government’s planned sale of state assets is going ahead on two levels. One level is the succession of national days of action, hui and protests all around the country which show the level of public opposition to the Government’s asset sales plans — including protests in at least 16 centres on Saturday 14 July.

The other is the continuing process of gathering signatures for the petition calling for a Citizens’ Initiated Referendum on asset sales. A great deal of work has been done by the political parties, the NZCTU, Grey Power and the other groups involved in this campaign to get valid signatures, and the numbers are stacking up – but more are needed! You can get involved in collecting signatures and publicising the referendum campaign here.

Oh and, it seems, Solid Energy CEO Don Elder can’t get to speak at a rally.

5. THERMAL BOILERS UPDATE
– EECA heat plant database and Fonterra’s very bad decision in Darfield

a) EECA’s new heat plant database shows where coal is used in your community
If you don’t live in an area menaced by coal extraction, it’s easy to think that the problem is a long way away from you. But it’s all too likely that coal is being used in a school or hospital or factory boiler in your community. The bad news is that this helps to provide coal miners with a reliable local market. The good news is that boilers come up for replacement – and that’s when you can push for the replacement of coal with a renewable source of energy, wood.

If you want to know where coal is used in your community, then a good place to start is EECA’s heat plant database, recently updated. You can download it from the EECA website.

If you find a coal-fired heat plant that you want to do something about, contactcoalactionnetwork@gmail.com, or one of the regional group coordinators. We’re keen to do what we can to get coal-fired boilers out of our communities.

b) Darfield milk drying plant – a huge missed opportunity

Of course, while we’re taking steps to oppose coal-fired boilers, our opponents are busily lobbying for more of them. As Jeanette Fitzsimons reports, Fonterra, no stranger to environmental crimes, has just committed another one:

We are disturbed to learn of a huge new coal burning plant that will use 90,000 tonnes a year of thermal coal.

Fonterra is in the process of building a two stage milk drying plant at Darfield with 2 coal fired boilers totalling 75 MW of heat. It will be the largest milk drying plant in the world. This is ten times larger than the Waiouru Defence Force plant which recently won an award and much acclaim for a successful conversion from coal to wood – the largest pellet burning plant in the country.

At 90,000 tonnes a year, this Fonterra plant is equal in fuel consumption to Solid Energy’s new briquetting plant, currently being built at Mataura. The sub-bituminous coal will be sourced from Giles Creek mine near Reefton, operated by Birchfield Coal Mines, a local family-owned company. The greenhouse gas emissions will be more than 150,000 tonnes/year of carbon dioxide, along with local emissions of sulphur dioxide and various heavy metals found in the coal. The consent sets limits on these, but they could have been avoided altogether.

The application for council consents makes it clear that using biomass fuel from wood was an option that was considered.  If fired completely on wood pellets it would have required more than the total South Island production, but wood chip was also possible, and would have required only 15% of the locally available wood, competing with MDF and export logs.

We understand that wood chip was a serious option, and no serious problems seem to have been raised, but the company makes clear in its consent application that it was a little nervous about continuity of supply and didn’t have experience of operating a wood fired boiler.

This is exactly the sort of situation a price on carbon is meant to assist. So why didn’t the ETS make the difference?

The answer is that we don’t really have a price on carbon. First, the National Government amended the initial scheme which would have required all new projects to pay in full for their emissions. Fonterra as an exporter will qualify for the majority of its carbon obligations as free credits, even for this new project. This could be 90% or 60% depending on the Minister.

Second, for the remaining small obligation, the Government has just extended the “two for the price of one” scheme indefinitely meaning the price in NZ is capped at $12.50 per tonne rather than the $25 in the legislation.

Third, Government is accepting cheap CDM (“Clean Development Mechanism”) credits as payment rather than requiring companies to buy from NZ foresters within the NZ market, and the price of those has slumped to about $7/tonne. Fonterra will be paying hardly anything for its emissions, while the government pretends we have a world-leading Emissions Trading Scheme.

We believe that if Fonterra was paying $25/tonne for all its greenhouse emissions the obvious choice would have been wood. The other likely consequence of a real price on carbon would be action to plant fast growing coppicing trees for a reliable supply of biomass energy in the future.

6. CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RMA:  UPDATE AND A FUNDRAISING PLEA 

Jeanette Fitzsimons writes:

You will recall that our ability to argue climate change in RMA hearings is being tested in court. The Environment Court (Judge Newhook) in May confirmed the Commissioners’ decision on the Denniston mine that climate change arguments were not allowed.

West Coast Environment Network and Forest & Bird have appealed this judgement to the High Court, and the miners have appealed to have the case moved to the higher Court of Appeal. There was general agreement that this would save a step and some costs but the High Court has denied consent for this.

So the High Court hearing of the appeal against the Environment Court decision is set down for 30 July. The substantive hearing against the Denniston consents, in the Environment Court, is set down for late October. It is unlikely that the legal issues around climate change will be finally determined by then, so the case may go ahead with no discussion of the climate change effects of burning 6.1 million tonnes of coal. In this case it would turn on the biodiversity and landscape arguments.

We will keep you posted as these cases are heard.

Lynley Hargreaves of West Coast Environment Network adds:

West Coast Environment Network is now fundraising for these next rounds of both cases. The group has had some extremely generous donations, both from fundraising events by the Auckland Coal Action group and large individual donations. Thank you everyone! Now money is needed specifically to pay for court fees, security of costs for the upcoming High Court case, and our legal costs for the main Environment Court case. We’re hoping to raise $4000 in the next four months and are planning a raffle and other local fundraising activities, but any help would be appreciated:

West Coast ENT Incorporated, Kiwibank, 38-9012-0009759-00

7. REGIONAL REPORTS:  WAIKATO, AUCKLAND, WELLINGTON, MOTUEKA, TAKAKA, CHRISTCHURCH, DUNEDIN AND SOUTHLAND

Note:  quick link to contacts of all the regional anti-coal action groups.

Waikato: Coal Action Waikato

Welcome to the newest regional anti-coal group, Coal Action Waikato! Dawn Shapira sets the scene:

We have begun a Coal Action Waikato Group.We have the same aims as Coal Action Network Aotearoa, with a focus on our immediate area, the Waikato.

There is a Coal Seam Gas (CSG) project roughly 7 km northwest of Huntly town, where it has been running the last 5-10 years on a non-notifiable consent, which is why the public at large did not know. Fracking has been used on this project and consent was given to use known toxic chemicals.

Further to this an Underground Coal Gasification plant (UCG) has been in operation for the past few months, almost alongside the CSG wells — also on a non-notifiable consent.

These are Solid Energy projects in partnership with Ergo Exergy. Both of these projects are part of the greater Huntly area coalfields, which include Huntly East and Huntly West underground coal mines and Rotowaro opencast mine.

Among the eventual issues of the CSG and UCG projects of pollution and emission of toxins in the air, should full scale plants go ahead, there is the absolute danger of polluted waterways and toxic waste water that can never be used again, along with the possibility of UCG plant catching fire, and health issues to local people and stock.

Our first project as part of the group is to raise awareness and educate the public, Federated Farmers, Waikato Regional Council, local council and iwi.

If you are interested in working with us, please contact me at Dawn.Bera@xtra.co.nz and we can set up a meeting. Networking can then be done via email, phone, Facebook etc.

Alongside this is the importance of working against the sale of assets by our government. The sale of Solid Energy will take any chance we have of negotiation out of New Zealand hands and the prospect of a large UCG plant will be even higher than if it stays with Solid Energy.

Please note that aside from Hamilton and other minor town centres, the whole of the Waikato is under permit to prospect to explore in some form or another, with fracking expected at Ohura, near Taumaranui!

Also, L+ M have a permit next to Solid Energy and their website states they are awaiting Solid Energy’s findings to drill for CSG.

Dawn Shapira
for Coal Action Waikato

Auckland: Auckland Coal Action

During recent weeks Auckland Coal Action has got together with members of Generation Zero and350.org to prepare submissions to Auckland Council on the Auckland Energy and Climate Change Mitigation Strategy.

On 7 July our regular members attended an all-day meeting, facilitated by Tanya from the Kotare Trust, with the purpose of refining ACA’s objectives and agreeing upon strategies for achieving them.  An ambitious programme for one day, but the meeting was productive.

Our monthly planning meeting on 14 July was brought forward to the morning so that we could attend the Aotearoa Is Not For Sale march. ACA had a good turnout for this march, including a large grey elephant with a sign around his neck that said “Climate Change is the Elephant in the Room!” We signed up several new members.

We are now planning our participation next month in the Ka Nui /Enough! Conference in Rotorua in August.

About Auckland Coal Action

Auckland Coal Action was formed in July 2011 following the visit of Dr James Hansen. We recognise that coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and that its ongoing use will lead to catastrophic climate change. We aim to achieve a coal-free Aotearoa by 2030, initially by opposing the expansion of coal mining. We do this work to play our part in sustaining a benign climate for us, our children and grandchildren.

Join our Facebook group.

Subscribe to our monthly email update – contact: aucklandcoalaction@gmail.com

Regards
Jill Whitmore

Wellington: “Keep the Coal in the Hole” meetings

We had an excellent “Keep the Coal in the Hole” meeting in Wellington on 28 June. Among the highlights were presentations on the history, activities, and operating style of Solid Energy, and on alternatives to coal. Both of these presentations have led to work which we now have underway, and which we’ll be making available publicly soon.

We also discussed a range of campaigning opportunities. One of these has been presented to us by the New Zealand petroleum industry, which plans to strut its stuff in Wellington on 19 and 20 September.

We think the petroleum industry needs to get the message that their activities do not have public support. And we’re planning to do something about that at our next meeting. Here’s the meeting invitation from Frances Mountier:

We’ve heard that the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) are presenting the NZ Petroleum Summit this September 19-20 here in Wellington.  A number of us thought Yukkkk! And that there’s no way that’s going ahead without us protesting.  So, we’re calling a Wellington planning meeting to organise how we might like to respond.

The planning meeting will be:
7:30-9:00pm.
Thursday 16th August
Venue: 350.org offices, 18 Allen St, Wellington CBD (If you are late, the door is locked, sorry – there will be a cellphone number on the door so please text to get let in)
Please bring food to share if you are able to.

Facebook event

We hope many of the climate change, climate justice and anti-mining groups can make it along.  We haven’t got plans yet for what we might do – so please bring your thoughts.

The meeting is preceded by a Wellington Keep the Coal in the Hole gathering from 6.00-7.30pm. These are two-monthly networking meetings of groups and individuals working to phase out coal mining, and they grew out of the Keep the Coal in the Hole Summer Festival – anyone working for the phase out of coal mining is welcome.

Hope to see you on 16 August
Francie Mountier

Please note, this is NOT a public meeting; it is for those who want to organise against the NZ Petroleum Summit.  Mining bosses and PR reps will most definitely not be welcome.

Top of the South

a) Motueka: Hands Across the Sand

There is another international Hands Across the Sand action coming up on the 4th August. Motueka is planning to participate. Anyone else across the Top of the South or on the West Coast planning an event? You can register your event on the website.

Here is the invitation to the Motueka event:

Unite with friends and neighbours in joining Hands Across The Sand at the Janie Seddon Shipwreck, Motueka Quay, Motueka, at noon on Saturday 4 August.

On this day people from all walks of life worldwide will gather on their local beaches, joining hands to create a line in the sand, sending a powerful visual message to our nations’ leaders. We will join hands to keep oil drilling out of our waters, urging our leaders to adopt policies that protect our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife and fisheries. Exploration permits are being granted around New Zealand for dangerous deep sea oil drilling. Frequent oil spills continue to happen worldwide and often go unreported.

Kiwis said no to racist sport. We said no to nuclear powered ships in our ports. Now is the time to stand together and say NO to oily beaches. We will join hands to show our support for the phasing out of fossil fuels, and for putting all of our human ingenuity behind creating a renewable energy future.

For more information contact “The Renewables”, email: no.oily.beaches@gmail.com

b) Takaka: Nonviolent direct action workshops, 5 and 19 August

Civil Action: disobedience through non-violent non-compliance

Facilitator:  RoC Piekarski

Dates & times:  Two Sundays, 5 and 19 August, 2-5pm
Venue:  Benfys Co Creative Space, 4 Commercial St, Takaka
Number of participants:  minimum 4

Description: Abusive authority must always be questioned and never be tolerated. From Gandhi to the Occupy Movement, non-violent non-compliance has demonstrated the empowerment of the people.  Come share an enthusiasm for humanity to reach its greatest potential by understanding the history and methods of civil disobedience and non-violent action.

Participants will explore successful civil actions then match them to present-day reasons to take civil action locally, regionally, nationally and globally.  The plan is to select at least one civil action campaign and design a strategy to implement it.  The tools of positive activism are within all, and participants will find expression of their need to stand up and disobey.

Please bring: Non-violent action exploration tools, such as laptops, writing implements, the kind word and clear laughter. Tasty dishes (finger foods) will be arranged.

Cost:  20H/$ (10H + $10) (up to half HANDS, no early bird discount). Will be applied to venue hire, HANDS costs for printing and advertising, snacks and the Community Enterprise and Economic Development Services (CEEDS) Trust.

HANDS website.

Tutor’s background: More than three decades ago Ro found Gene Sharp’s Ph.D. thesis, Non-Violent Political Action, on a university library shelf.  This weighty two-volume treatise intrigued a novice, who then hunkered down to scan and wow over this thorough exploration of the philosophy and strategy of civil action.

Over the years Sharp expanded his work and added more juice to the practice of non-violent political action.  Recently the Occupy Movement and Arab Spring have successfully applied Sharp-inspired non-violent actions to empower the people to stand up to aggressive authority for real improvement in social/economic/environmental justice and equality.

These issues and more are possibilities that participants engaged in non-violent action can explore.  We will share our intense need, emanating from the force within, to help create the best world and to allow humanity to reach its highest potential.

Other information: Please put your HANDS up early to receive emailed information to review before the first session.  Your participation includes an exploration of human potential and participants can look to extract decayed or sickening cavities that impede living in a peaceful and harmonious world.

To book: email rojoanna@ihug.co.nz
Christchurch: Canterbury Coal Action

Rachel Eyre writes:

Film Screening on 1 August

On the first of August, we are proud to be promoting and hosting the screening of a movie:Bimblebox. What, I hear you ask, is Bimblebox? Well, all I’ll say now is that it’s the story of a reserve in Australia and it documents their battle against a coal mine – as well as similar battles being waged across the country by tiny communities against Big Coal and Coal Seam Gas. To see the film, come to the WEA on Gloucester St at 7.30, Christchurch on the 1st of August 2012 – and for more details on Bimblebox, see this link. 

We’ve also been involved with the 350.org Climate Connections Day, hosting a meeting for local groups to discuss what they’ve been doing to combat climate change and what they’ve learnt works well and not-so-well. A great afternoon was had by all!

Dunedin: Southern Anti-Coal Action (SACA)

Rosemary Penwarden reports:

SACA met on 20 July for a catch-up. We discussed:

•  A time and venue for holding the Just Do It DVD screening– details to be finalised shortly.
•  Dunedin having our own “climate” elephant (Climate Change is the Elephant in the Room) – could be useful around the geology department and other places…e.g. at Council meetings? – ideas welcome!
•  The possibility of holding a large public talk/forum focused on lignite – similar to the Denniston one.
• Showing more films – Bimblebox and Surviving Progress – in the near future.
• Tarsh Turner reported a successful Socialist Saturday event on July 14.

You can contact SACA via rose.penwarden@gmail.com.

Southland: Coal Action Murihiku (CAM)

a) NVDA (Nonviolent Direct Action) Reflection: CAM NVDA weekend, 22- 24 June at Te Tomairangi Marae, Invercargill

Jenny Campbell reflects on the hui:

It was exciting to have about 20 people participate enthusiastically in the NVDA hui weekend ably and sensitively lead by Kristin Gillies, assisted by Niahm O’Flynn and Rosemary Penwarden.

Hospitality given generously from Te Tomairangi marae hosts, scrumptious food, an awareness of the needs of others as we explored what NVDA means for us made this a special time together as we built up bonds of support and care within this huge campaign we have embarked on with CAM.

Reflecting on other protest actions – which had taken many forms – carried out over the centuries in various cultural settings, along with our involvement in some, started the conversations and listening. The theory of NVDA, definition clarifications, ways of dealing with emotional and local issues, strategising and storytelling all helped inform our perspectives, took away some of the scariness and focused our energy.

Personal experiences, passions, learnings and practice along with the facilitators being adaptable meant the local group was able to formulate a proposed action for a possible opportunity for some NVDA responses. Amid much laughter, fears, listening, stories and offers of help, a positive way forward was agreed upon. Even though the proposed plans for the weekend training could have been seen as having been ‘hi-jacked’, it seems that the strengthening of the group and feeling a sense of empowerment in the face of some despair, were all positive outcomes.

We thank Kristin in particular for his adaptability and positive engagement with our group which has enabled us to move forward on our NVDA journey. Kia kaha.

I recommend a NVDA workshop for all groups as an awareness raising exercise and for group building and bonds.

b) Coal Action Murihiku News – July 2012

Kia ora e hoa ma.

June has seen our main event as the NVDA workshop and the formulation of an action around the proposed opening of the pilot briquetting plant at Mataura – date yet to be announced. There has been general follow up from the postings of the billboards with messages about our loss of farmland in the Mataura valley.

Our second CAM newsletter has just been published with an increasing readership. If you’d like to contact or join CAM, please email me at jennycam@xtra.co.nz

Members are continuing to collect signatures for the Citizens’ Initiated Referendum.

At a recent meeting in Auckland I heard that Southland has the highest number of signatures collected to date/ head of population! Kia kaha! Tumeke!

I used the excellent stall kit resources at the national Forest and Bird conference in Wellington, as well as at a 3 Tikanga Anglican Women’s Hui in Auckland, a Trans Tasman Rural Ministry Conference south of Cairns and at the 3 Tikanga Anglican General Synod in Fiji. As well as the general resources, items specific to Southland were distributed along with the ‘Just Lignite’ booklet which has been reprinted.

In all these places concerns about the present impacts of climate change, coal mining, health issues and the need for more clean green energy uses were some of the conversations I had with people, as well as people signing up to the CANA network, eager to learn more and be involved.

The next Southland event is Australia’s ‘Lock the gate’ campaigner Drew Hutton’s talk in Gore on Wed 29 August, hopefully meeting with farmers, landowners and concerned public (see Item 3 above for more details).

CAM members are very appreciative of the support they received from members of CANA around the country in making submissions to Environment Southland for the recent Proposed Southland Regional Policy Statement. Ideas about what to include in submissions helped Southlanders with their efforts and our continuing need to use every method to stop Solid Energy’s plans for Southland lignite. We noticed our helpers and fellow submitters had all been to the Summer Festival in Mataura so knew the issues and are prepared to continue their support – even from afar! Sincere appreciation.

Rangimarie, Jenny Campbell, Co- convenor CAM
8. Just Transition: Moving Away from Coal

This report from the labour movement in the US discusses how a just transition away from coal can be made in the USA.

Its conclusion is well worth reading, and just as applicable to Aotearoa:

“Today we face a global climate crisis and at the same time a global economic crisis. The horrible result can be to pit jobs against the environment. But the  transition to a clean, climate-friendly, environmentally sound economy and society is the solution to both. The issue of coal-fired power plants is a perfect example. It can—and often has become a battle over jobs versus the environment. That often translates into a battle between trade unionists and environmentalists. But this issue also provides a perfect example of how to move beyond that futile polarity. The solution is to create an energy and economic development alternative that creates jobs, putting our world on a sustainable basis.

Ultimately that will require a global green New Deal, in which the nations of the world cooperate to put millions of women and men to work, eliminating the threats to our common future. We are creating the building blocks of that new model locally as we transition from coal to renewable energy in a way that creates jobs, reconstructing our community energy systems and economies.”

9. NEWS AND RESOURCES 

• At last, the Flat Earth Society has found a group that shares their worldview – New Zealand’s climate change deniers. They turned out at the High Court on 16 July to support the deniers’ case challening NIWA’s temperature records. :  More coverage onHot Topic and, more seriously, the  sciblogs podcast that has a good interview with Gareth Renowden on the case and Jim Renwick on the state of the NZ climate.

•  A report from Australia on how an influx of miners affects local communities

•  Sharyn Munro talks about her book Richland, Wasteland: How Coal Is Killing Australia

• Climate Change is hitting the US – hard.  The US Dept of Agriculture has declared a state of disaster in 26 states.  The price of corn and soya hit record highs, sparking fears of a global food price crisis.  The US media is finally picking up on the connections with climate change, which is most unusual. There’s been a lot written about it, but, to us, one of the best pieces we’ve seen is by 350.org‘s Bill McKibben in Rolling Stone Magazine 

10. DONATE TO CANA

We rely on your generous donations to keep the campaign going.  A big THANK YOU to those of you who are already contributing:  hugely appreciated.

Here are the account details:

Coal Action Network
Kiwibank
38 9011 0484435 00

11.  FEEDBACK PLEASE! 

What do you think of this newsletter? It has grown with us and we’d appreciate your feedback.
Is it too long?
Too short?
What would you like more of?
Less of?
Please send feedback to coalactionnetwork@gmail.com with “newsletter” in the subject line.

The post Coal Action Network Aotearoa Newsletter July 2012 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

From a Coal Action Network Aotearoa perspective, we are most concerned about the planned privatisation of Solid Energy, which may allow them to raise investment capital for their planned massive lignite projects in Southland. Solid Energy is towards the back of the queue for privatisation. That means that, even if some asset sales have occurred by the time the referendum takes place, we should do everything we can to mobilise political opposition to the remaining sales.

The wording of the referendum question will be:

Do you support the Government selling up to 49 per cent of Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power, Genesis Power, Solid Energy and Air New Zealand?

For the referendum to go ahead, the promoters of the referendum need to obtain over 300,000 valid signatures on the petition – that is, the signatures of people who are on the electoral roll, with their name and address details listed as they are on the electoral roll.

That makes collecting signatures a job that has to be done carefully and well. And that’s why we’d like Coal Action Network Aotearoa supporters to help with the signature-gathering process.

You can do so by going to the Keep Our Assets website at http://keepourassets.org.nz/. This is where you can download the petition form, and find out how to get more involved in the campaign at

http://keepourassets.org.nz/help-build-the-campaign/

If you have already signed the AVAAZ petition against the bill that is currently going through Parliament, you should still sign the Citizens’ Initiated Referendum petition as well. Passing the bill does not sell the assets – it just makes it legally possible. It will still take months after that before they can float companies on the sharemarket.

Solid Energy does enough damage as it is. Let’s make it as difficult as possible for the Government to make matters even worse. Recent events show that this Government will buckle when sufficient political pressure is exerted on them.

The post Getting the Numbers: How You Can Help The Asset Sales Referendum Campaign appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

2011 is shaping up as a very big year for the campaign against mining Southland lignite. Solid Energy has announced plans for its pilot lignite briquetting plant in Southland, the first stage of its massive plans to exploit Southland’s lignite reserves. And a wide range of local and national groups are gearing up to stop them.

Before we get onto the latest developments, here are two important messages:

A) The Coal Action Network email list

The campaign against the expansion of coal mining in Aotearoa New Zealand is growing. But it needs to grow a lot more. We think there are a lot of people out there who are concerned about this issue, or who would be if they knew about it, and who will want to get involved in this campaign.

If you are not on our email list, and would like to be, please send names and email addresses to coalactionnetwork@gmail.com,

The mailing list has been used mainly for announcements and updates from the Coal Action Network. But that’s not all it has to be used for. Anyone on the list can post news, discussion points, or requests for help and information.

And now for the news…

1) Coal Action Network Public Meetings Announced

The Coal Action Network is going public with a series of meetings explaining why the mining of Southland lignite is such a disastrously bad idea, and encouraging people to join our supporters’ list and get active in the campaign. Jeanette Fitzsimons, climate change campaigner and former co-leader of the Green Party, will be the featured speaker at the meetings. So far, the details of the Wellington meeting are confirmed:

Wellington Meeting

Keep The Coal In The Hole: Why Southland Lignite Shouldn’t Be Mined
When: Wednesday 16 February
Where: St John’s Church Hall, cnr Willis and Dixon Streets, Wellington
Time: 7pm-9pm
Web page: http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/node/2942
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184510844914298

We were not involved in organising this meeting, but we are happy to include the notice from the Transition Towns website:

Venue: Invercargill Environment Centre, SIT Arcade, 46 Esk Street, Invercargill

Start: 14 Feb 2011 15:30
End: 14 Feb 2011 17:00

Join Dr Susan Krumdieck and others for an informal discussion about
lignite issues in Southland.

Dr Susan Krumdieck is the Associate Professor of Mechanical
Engineering at the University of Canterbury and National President of
Engineers for Social Responsibility. She has been studying climate
change and future energy supply issues for more than 25 years.

http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/node/2952

3) Solid Energy Spills The Beans

Solid Energy has always been prone to PR slip-ups, and it appears that its recent announcement of its preferred site for its pilot lignite-to-briquettes plant in Southland may have been a case of a Solid Energy spokesperson saying more than he was supposed to, rather than deliberate strategy.

In any case, the cat is out of the bag: as reported by the Southland Times, “Solid Energy plans to build its pilot briquetting plant south of Mataura, at the site of its former mine in Craig Rd, but a large commercial plant, if it went ahead, would probably be in the Croydon area, near Gore.” – see

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4572621/Site-for-Solid-Energys-pilot-plant-revealed

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4574618/Solid-Energy-plans-briquette-plant

Solid Energy also announced that it would be proceeding with resource consent applications soon – the proposed site for the pilot plant will face less consenting requirements than the other possible sites.

This pilot briquetting plant is the thin end of the wedge. Solid Energy want to get their first lignite conversion plant up and running as soon as possible, so that it is harder to stop subsequent, larger, dirtier developments. This plant has to be stopped, and we expect it to face intensive opposition – see subsequent updates for more on how you can help with that.

Here is Scoop’s coverage of the Coal Action Network’s statement in response to the announcement:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1101/S00084/coal-action-network-slams-lignite-plans.htm

Here is Greenpeace’s response to the announcement:

http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/press/Briquette-plant-a-crime-for-which-Fonterra-and-Government-will-share-guilt—/

4) Lower Mataura Landcare Lignite Backgrounder: Getting A Copy

As the first Southland Times article linked above makes clear, there is strong local opposition to the project, notably from the Lower Mataura Landcare group.

Lower Mataura Landcare (LMLC)  has prepared a comprehensive backgrounder on the Southland lignite. It’s particularly revealing on the local environmental effects in Southland, which haven’t yet received much coverage in the national media.

At 1.3MB, the LMLC backgrounder is too large to circulate on this list. If you’d like a copy, please email coalactionnetwork@gmail.com and I’ll send you one as a PDF file. It will also be posted to this site shortly.

5) They’re Blue-Green, Just Like Algae

While the Government presses ahead with its plans for massive carbon emissions on one hand, it is still trying to preserve the fiction that it has some environmental credibility on the other. National’s environmental fig-leaf is called the BlueGreens, and the Government used the recent BlueGreens conference to make announcements about marine reserves, a clean technology working party, and other green-sounding things. But Greenpeace has pointed out the absurdity of the Government’s green pretensions when juxtaposed with its coal-mining and oil-drilling plans:

http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/news/blog/bluegreens-gave-me-the-blues/blog/32756

“At the heart of the Government’s thinking is an hypocrisy that undermines climate action. The Government talk about a clean economy, yet they invest millions in subsidising the fossil fuel industries of yesteryear. It  backs moves to dig up six billions tonnes of the dirtiest form of energy in Southland – which would amount to a climate crime of global significance – and have just declared open season on BP-style deepwater oil drilling in some of our most pristine environments.”

The Government is going to have to try a great deal harder than that to be taken seriously on climate change policy. Ending all plans to mine Southland lignite would be a good start. You might want to remind your nearest National MP of that.

Till next time,

Regards
Tim Jones
for the Coal Action Network

The post Supporter Update 09/02/11 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Though the end of the year is fast approaching, that hasn’t slowed down
the pace of developments regarding the expansion of coal mining in
Aotearoa/New Zealand: and the tragedy at the Pike River Mine is being spun
by the mining industry as an excuse to allow opencast mining on
conservation land.

Meanwhile, as the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment joins
groups such as the Coal Action Network in pursuing Solid Energy for more
information about its lignite mining plans and their greenhouse gas
emission consequences, a new player has arrived on the scene in the shape
of Greywolf Mining, an Australian front company for the Qinghua Group of
China.

There is more news about all that below, but first, what is the Coal
Action Network planning in early 2011, and how can you help with the
campaign?

(1) Events in 2011

The Coal Action Network is planning to step out from behind the scenes
with public meetings in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch in February
/ March 2011. Once we have dates and venues confirmed, we’ll be asking
Coal Action Network members in those places if you’re able to help with
publicity and with meeting arrangements – and, of course, we’ll also be
asking you to come along!

Then, in May, distinguished American climate scientist James Hansen will
be visiting New Zealand to talk about the crucial decision New Zealand and
the world has to take about coal. Put simply, if we dig up the world’s
coal and burn it, then we will ensure that the climate is rapidly and
dangerously changed, and this will be irreversible over timescales
meaningful to the human race. If we leave it in the ground, then we still
have a chance of avoiding, or at least minimising, dangerous climate
change.

And there is enough coal – especially lignite – in New Zealand that what
this country does will make a significant difference on the world scale.
James Hansen, who has himself been arrested in protests against coal
mining in the US, will be adding a powerful voice to the campaign to Keep
The Coal In The Hole.

2011 promises to be an interesting and active year. There will be plenty
more to talk about as the year goes on, but in the meantime, you can:

* Talk to friends and family about this issue. Especially outside
Southland and Otago, there is a great deal of ignorance about the massive
mining developments planned for that region, and their climate
implications. Make sure the people closest to you know what’s going on.

* Write a letter to your local paper. It may seem very “old media”, but
Letters to the Editor are widely read – not least by politicians. Tell
your community why coal has to stay in the ground.

Now for a roundup of recent developments:

(2) Coal Action Network statement on Pike River Coal

There is blood on every ounce of coal.

The Coal Action Network sends our solidarity and sympathy to the families
and communities on the Coast who have lost loved ones in the Pike River
mining disaster.  This was not a ‘natural disaster’ and like many
tragedies in mines that have come before, and the ongoing deaths of
individual workers in mines every year, workers have again died because of
the companies’ drive for profit.

As the human cost of coal through its extraction and through climate
change continues to grow, perhaps it’s time to ask the question: How much
blood for coal?

Here are two independent perspectives on the issue that provide food for
thought – and debate:

Nandor Tanczos: Pike River – the hard coaled facts:

http://www.3news.co.nz/Pike-River—the-hard-coaled-facts/tabid/1341/articleID/188481/Default.aspx

Matt McCarten: Eventually someone will be held culpable:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10692080

(3) Solid Energy: Evasions and Offsets

Solid Energy don’t like being asked awkward questions about their plans to
exploit Southland lignite. When they are asked those questions under the
Official Information Act, they can’t avoid answering, but they try very
hard to limit their answers, and they use the defence of commercial
sensitivity permitted under the Act to remove as much useful information
as they can.

MPs, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and environmental
groups are all pursuing Solid Energy for this information. The good news
is that, even in their attempts to prevaricate, Solid Energy do give away
some useful information. From Solid Energy’s attempts to avoid answering a
recent OIA request by Green MP Catherine Delahunty regarding their plans
for biosequestration, i.e. attempting to offset emissions from their
lignite mining plans by gaining credits for sequestering carbon in living
things, we now know that they are working on the following projects in
this area. Solid Energy says:

“1. Forestry development and acquisition

Along with our currently owned forestry, Solid Energy is investigating
options around exotic and indigenous forestry development.  We have
been actively involved with assessing afforestation propositions and
investigating potential afforestation investments.

2. Mokihinui forest regeneration study

Solid Energy is running a scientific study to investigate the effects
of pest control on the regeneration of indigenous forests.  The
objective of this study is to understand the impact of the removal of
ungulates from native forests and assess the most effective ways to
enhance carbon store.

3. Biomass burial

Solid Energy has continued to investigate the potential of biomass
burial as a source of carbon storage.

– Correspondence from Solid Energy regarding Official Information Act
request, 3 December 2010”

No. 3 on this list is especially interesting. Instead of keeping coal in
the ground, it appears that Solid Energy’s bright new idea is to stick
plant matter in the ground in the happy expectation that it will turn into
more coal in due course.

(4) Qinghua/Greywolf

Australian mining company Greywolf is the recently-formed Australasian
front company for the Qinghua mining conglomerate of China. According to
Greywolf, they have big plans around coal mining, processing and export,
including a lignite mine and lignite-to-briquettes plan for Southland –
see

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/139746/chinese-mining-decision-expected-soon?page=0%2C0

Naturally, we share the concern expressed by the Green Party and
Greenpeace about these plans, and we’re no less opposed to them than we
are to Solid Energy’s lignite exploitation plans. There is a risk that
such projects will be handwaved through by Minister Brownlee and not go
through the full consenting process.

(5) Lyttelton

The Lyttelton Port Company’s plans to expand its facilities to export coal
were set back by the Christchurch earthquake. Their response? They are
applying to have their consent applications considered at the Environment
Court, skipping the resource consent stage. We’re working to oppose these
planned developments as well.

So there’s a lot going on. Let’s all have a good break over the holiday
period, and return energised for a strong start to the campaign in 2011.

Regards
Tim Jones
for the Coal Action Network

The post Supporter Update: 15/12/10 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.