Antinuclear

Senator Christine Milne, and protestors too, slam Ferguson’s Energy White Paper

Greens leader Christine Milne has slammed the white paper’s focus on gas and its recommendation for streamlined environmental approvals. “What that means is Australia’s farmland, its aquifers, communities who are already outraged by the onrush of coal-seam gas are going to see this as yet more taking away of their rights to facilitate the fossil fuel industry,”

Protesters crash release of energy white paper Yahoo 7 Finance, By chief political correspondent Simon Cullen | ABC  8 Nov 12 Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has been interrupted by anti-fossil fuel protesters as he outlined plans to overhaul the national energy market.
The two men took over the podium during Mr Ferguson’s speech, accusing him of being a “puppet” of the fossil fuel industry and singing a satirical song about global warning…..
Despite strong community concerns about coal-seam gas projects on
agricultural land, the paper talks of the need for a policy of
“coexistence, rather than exclusion”.
Greens leader Christine Milne has slammed the white paper’s focus on gas and its recommendation for streamlined environmental approvals. “What that means is Australia’s farmland, its aquifers, communities who are already outraged by the onrush of coal-seam gas are going to see this as yet more taking away of their rights to facilitate the fossil fuel industry,” Senator Milne told reporters in Hobart.
“Sadly, the focus is still way too much on a dash for gas.
That clearly is Martin Ferguson with his fossilised fingers all over the past.” By 2035, Australia’s gas production is predicted to quadruple on the back of strong growth in the liquefied natural gas industry, although the paper suggests there could be short to medium-term pressures on east coast supplies until new projects come on line.
Despite that, Mr Ferguson has strongly rejected calls for gas supplies
to be reserved for domestic consumption, arguing it should be left to
the market to balance supply and demand…….
Mr Ferguson, a long-term supporter of nuclear energy, says it is not
cost competitive given the abundant access to cheap coal supplies and
there is still no community consensus on the issue.
“If we get to a point in the future by which we’re not achieving our
outcomes in terms of reducing emissions and we need to look at some
other form of clean energy, then there will be…
an ongoing debate about nuclear energy,” Mr Ferguson said.
http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/protesters-crash-release-energy-white-050740528.html

November 9, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News