This morning I met the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright and had a wee chat with her, before she began her adress to the combined councils of Southland. I have long admired her work, especially her findings and conclusions around lignite mining. Today, my admiration for her grew, both from what I heard from her in our little tete a tete, and from the presentation she gave to the assembled be-suited councillors.
Her message on lignite? It's the very worst of the fuels and presents too many problems with it's production. Jan was very clear that she doesn't find credible, Solid Energy's (Don Elder's) assurances that they will sequester the CO2 produced beneath Southland's green pastures, or under the seabed of the Great South basin, or that they will off-set the huge volumes of gas produced, by planting trees. She managed the climate-denier from the Gore council, he's the Deputy Chair I believe, well, by presenting the reasons for her firm belief that climate change is real, and comforted him by saying, 'I commend you for taking an interest', but that's as much as she was prepared to concede. Southland's Mayor Frana Cardno spoke powerfully about her concerns around lignite, saying that buried lignite was, 'money in the bank' and that that is where it should stay for the meantime. Jan described the extraction and use of lignite as a fuel as, 'truly unsustainable', and gave it no quarter. Those in attendance must have been struck by her clarity of purpose and depth of knowledge of the lignite issue.
I've not had a chance to hear what their reactions are but will be asking around for their opinions later.
She, incidentally, described the situation with the Waituna Lagoon, as 'truly alarming'.
Showing posts with label Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Coal action!
This is what the Coal Action Network has to say about the report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's report (just released) on lignite.
Lignite Costs The Earth
MEDIA RELEASE
Coal Action Network
Thursday 9th December 2010
The Coal Action Network today praised the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) for exposing the high environmental cost of Solid Energy’s plans to exploit South Island lignite reserves in her new report ‘Lignite and climate change: The high cost of low grade coal.’
“For too long, Solid Energy has used greenwash, contradictory statements and snazzy promotional videos to obscure the reality of what they are planning to do in Southland,” said Coal Action Network spokesperson
Frances Mountier. “In her report, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has clearly shown how digging up and using South Island lignite would incur a prohibitively high environmental cost.”
“The reality is stark,” continued Ms Mountier. “Solid Energy has managed to lay its paws on 1.5 billion tonnes of lignite reserves. The PCE’s report states that there are over 6 billion tonnes of economically recoverable lignite deposits in Southland and Otago.[i] If Solid Energy, L&M and the other companies exploit all 6 billion tonnes, they will be responsible for releasing 8.89 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere.”[ii]
“It’s not true that New Zealand is too small to make a difference on climate change. We can let these companies go ahead with their plans, and bring the world closer to the tipping point of runaway climate change, or we can stop them in their tracks, and make a major contribution to the stability of the world’s climate.
“We need to keep the coal in the hole,” Ms Mountier concluded. “We need to send the message that the mining companies must abandon their plans to mine and burn Southland lignite.”
Lignite Costs The Earth
MEDIA RELEASE
Coal Action Network
Thursday 9th December 2010
The Coal Action Network today praised the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) for exposing the high environmental cost of Solid Energy’s plans to exploit South Island lignite reserves in her new report ‘Lignite and climate change: The high cost of low grade coal.’
“For too long, Solid Energy has used greenwash, contradictory statements and snazzy promotional videos to obscure the reality of what they are planning to do in Southland,” said Coal Action Network spokesperson
Frances Mountier. “In her report, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has clearly shown how digging up and using South Island lignite would incur a prohibitively high environmental cost.”
“The reality is stark,” continued Ms Mountier. “Solid Energy has managed to lay its paws on 1.5 billion tonnes of lignite reserves. The PCE’s report states that there are over 6 billion tonnes of economically recoverable lignite deposits in Southland and Otago.[i] If Solid Energy, L&M and the other companies exploit all 6 billion tonnes, they will be responsible for releasing 8.89 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere.”[ii]
“It’s not true that New Zealand is too small to make a difference on climate change. We can let these companies go ahead with their plans, and bring the world closer to the tipping point of runaway climate change, or we can stop them in their tracks, and make a major contribution to the stability of the world’s climate.
“We need to keep the coal in the hole,” Ms Mountier concluded. “We need to send the message that the mining companies must abandon their plans to mine and burn Southland lignite.”
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