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Mining lobby silencing community dissent.Posts: Joined: 2007-02-02
Rising Tide, a community climate action group that I work with, have had some troubles with the NSW Minerals Council trying to shut us up over the past few weeks.
this is a copy of the RT press release, and has ALL the information
[url]http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/node/50223[/url]
the SMH has covered it:
[url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/industry-closes-anticoal-website/2007/03/04/1172943275688.html]
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ industry-closes-anticoal-website/2007/03/04/1172943275688.html[/url]
check the website out at:
[url]http://www.miningnsw.com.au[/url]
blogged here:
[url]http://eco101.wordpress.com/[/url]
Submitted on Sun, 2007-03-04 22:21
Re: Mining lobby silencing community dissent.
So what, you guys are getting all upset about somebody standing up to you? Rightfully so, I might add.
Get a calculator and work out how much of the last century's 0.6 degrees warming was directly caused by the NSW Mining industry.
Re: Mining lobby silencing community dissent.
I don't agree with the NSW Mineral Council's attempt to shut down Rising Tide's website, but nor do I agree with Rising Tide's campaign against coal mining and electricity production.
There is no need to silence the likes of Rising Tide, simply, because they have no viable alternative to coal mining - indeed, when you pose the question 'what is your alternative to coal fired electricity production'? Rising Tide has next to nothing to say about that.
Considering that NSW derives 90% of its electricity from coal-fired power stations, it begs the question of how the people of NSW can survive with some 60% less energy? Of course, they can't survive with such a drastic cut in their energy consumption - indeed, I'd like to see how anyone could survive with 60% less energy - unless people moved from their homes into caves that is.
NSW Mineral Council's actions against Rising Tide is a disgrace, and should rightly be perceived as an attempt to gag their critics - but, Rising Tide's campaign against the coal mining industry is even worse than the Council's actions. Attacking the coal-mining industry without a viable alternative will have a far more dramatic and detrimental effect on the lives of people living in NSW, than anything the NSW Mineral Council could get up to.
The truth is, NSW needs coal-fired power stations - if Rising Tide and the other green gangs are opposed to coal-fired power stations or even 'clean-coal', then they should support C02 free nuclear power then. The greens cannot hope to see the C02 emissions reductions they would like of 90% (See George Monbiot latest book), without supporting nuclear power.
Re: Mining lobby silencing community dissent.
Despite my earlier snide comment, I agree with Courtney. The behaviour of NSW Mineral Council sets a poor undemocratic precedent. What is desperately needed is a public debate. Let's say we want to ban coal, what are the alternatives (wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, nuclear)? What are the direct costs of such alternatives (higher energy and consumer product costs)? What are the indirect costs (job losses, recession, manufacturing flight)? What are the benefits (what reductions in global temperatures can we expect)? All these issues need to be considered and honestly debated. While wind and solar energy are being embraced by the green-frenzied public they have very little understanding that such energy is expensive and intermittent. They simply can not provide the energy requirements of industrialised countries. Running a TV or a fridge is very different to running a car manufacturing plant.
Unfortunately if there is one thing I know, it is enviro-mentalists are not interested in any debate. Not honest debate anyway. They have a track record of rejecting empirical data when it does not fit their ideology. Past precedents include the vicious campaigns of disinformation about DDT, nuclear energy, pesticides and GM foods. For them the debate is over, what we need to do is clear and everyone that disagrees is a dangerous denier. In the light of such absolutist, unreasonable and undemocratic approach it is perhaps not surprising that organisations like NSW Mineral Council may feel the need to resort to undemocratic means themselves.
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