Environment minister Tanya Plibersek says she would be ‘carefully considering’ projects referred under EPBC Act
The Sunrise Project calculated if all 27 went ahead it could lead to the release of nearly 17bn tonnes of carbon dioxide – more than 35 times Australia’s annual emissions. The bulk would be released after the coal was exported and burned overseas, and would not be counted against Labor’s target of a 43% cut in national emissions by 2030 compared with 2005.
The new independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, told Guardian Australia the government must oppose all new greenfield coalmines and expansions of thermal coal projects used to fuel high-emitting power plants. “This is the absolute minimum we must do to point our economy towards the future and ensure temperatures warm less than 1.5C,” she said. “Australia is the country with the most to gain from a clean energy future, and the most to lose from a catastrophic rise in temperatures. Labor’s actions must reflect this.”
The national coordinator with activist group Lock the Gate, Carmel Flint, said Plibersek had a “very powerful opportunity” to protect water resources and threatened species while acting on the climate crisis by blocking new coal developments. She said the minister would have to consider a number of coalmines that “obviously did not stack up environmentally”. “If they proceed, these coalmines will turbocharge the climate change-related weather extremes that are putting Australians at risk,” she said.