By celsias
Posted on Aug. 27, 2011. Listed in:
Coal Action Network Aotearoa has condemned the decision to grant resource consent for the 200 hectare mine on the Denniston Plateau, inland from Westport, saying New Zealand doesn't need to mine more coal.Consent has been given for a massive new open cast coal mine on conservation land on the West Coast
"Burning coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel activity on the planet and there are huge reserves of coal left worldwide. If we allow them to be burnt, we have no chance of avoiding a climate catastrophe. We need to keep the coal in the hole," said Frances Mountier, spokesperson for the Coal Action Network Aotearoa.
"This mine would destroy 200 hectares of a nationally significant ecosystem - when just last year, people across the country clearly said 'no' to mining on conservation land."
The Green Party is also criticising the decision to grant consent for the mine.
"New Zealand accepted a legal obligation, 19 years ago, to take immediate action to avert dangerous climate change," Green's Associate Climate Change spokesperson, Kennedy Graham said.
"Developed countries such as New Zealand are required to take the lead at national and regional levels. Instead, the West Coast Regional Council displays the dim-witted wisdom of permitting an open cast coal-mine that will further increase our net carbon emissions."
"This will have major negative consequences for West Coasters as the years go by. The commissioners say they had reservations and suffered anguish over their decision. Understandable because it is so patently absurd."
