Climate experts and crossbench MPs have called out the NSW Minns Government over its continued approval of polluting coal mines and failure to tackle the dangerous climate super-heating greenhouse gas methane they produce.
Experts call on Minns Government to tackle coal mine methane pollution problem
Climate experts and crossbench MPs have called out the NSW Minns Government over its continued approval of polluting coal mines and failure to tackle the dangerous climate super-heating greenhouse gas methane they produce.
Coal mines produce significant amounts of methane, yet since it was elected in 2023, the Minns Government has approved six new coal mine expansions including the extension of the notoriously gassy Tahmoor operation last week.
A methane forum featuring policy and legal experts, community advocates, and politicians was held at NSW Parliament House today (Wednesday June 4). A photo and video interviews are available here.
A new Environmental Defenders Office report highlighting the problems of coal mine methane, and how better regulation can help tackle the issue, was released during the forum. It can be accessed here.
Climate Councillor Greg Bourne said, “Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas - its global warming effect is 82.5 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Methane has been responsible for around a third of global average warming experienced so far. Accelerating the reduction in methane pollution will play a crucial role in delaying further warming while decarbonisation takes place.”
MLC and Net Zero joint standing committee chair Jeremy Buckingham said, “Fugitive methane emissions remain a significant and possibly under-reported part of NSW’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is important to hear from the experts about the latest methods of methane measurement and abatement.”
Lock the Gate Alliance spokesperson and bushfire survivor Fiona Lee, whose Elands home was recently cut off due to flooding near Taree, said, “Treasury figures released this week indicated that climate disasters cost Australia $2.2 billion already this year, and much of this cost was borne in NSW.
“This is a massive financial hit to the country but for people like me, the impact of these disasters is direct - on our homes, on our emotional wellbeing, and that of our families.
“As the climate emergency worsens, my experience of being directly impacted by extreme, unnatural weather events will be shared by more people. Cutting coal mine methane is vital to better protect NSW communities from the increasingly severe impacts of fossil fuel-driven climate change.”
Lock the Gate Alliance NSW Coordinator Nic Clyde said, “Ventilation air methane abatement technology exists and is in use at underground coal mines in other countries. Requiring NSW coal mines to use it would dramatically reduce emissions of this dangerous and potent greenhouse gas.
“The lesson of the last few years is that coal mine developers won’t reduce greenhouse pollution unless governments enforce it. We need the government to mandate methane reduction at all existing coal mines and to stop making the problem worse by approving more of them.
“The Minns Government must protect the people of New South Wales from escalating climate disasters and that means making the big coal mining companies cut their pollution.”
ENDS
Background:
The IEA and new evidence from Climate Resource advise that global methane emissions from energy (including coal) need to be cut by 75% or more this decade. Meanwhile in NSW, a new report by Common Capital projects that - without action - coal mine methane emissions are likely to increase by 75%.