Australia’s Minerals Council out to stop climate change action, and start nuclear power

Use G20 for power push: miners ANNABEL HEPWORTH THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 17, 2014 MINING giants will urge the government to use the presidency of the G20 to secure a renewed commitment to end global “energy poverty”, recognise coal as a cheap and plentiful fuel, and call for a national debate on nuclear power.

The powerful Minerals Council of Australia will today call on the Abbott government to urgently seek to reverse a move by the World Bank to restrict funding for coal-fired power generators in poor nations to “rare circumstances”.

And in a move sure to inflame tensions with environmental groups, the miners will ramp up calls for the repeal of the carbon tax and the phasing out of the renewable energy target, saying Australia now has some of the highest electricity prices in the developedworld largely because of “ill-judged policy interventions”……..

The World Bank dramatically reduced its support for coal-fired power stations last year because of their high carbon emissions and has argued that a rise in average temperatures would leave millions trapped in poverty.

But the submission says the policy is counterproductive, because coal plants could be built anyway.

On nuclear power, the Minerals Council is pushing for fresh debate on the politically sensitive issue, and wants the government to reconsider the prohibition.

There has long been bipartisan opposition to the domestic use of nuclear power.

While the December issues paper described nuclear power as an option for reliable future energy, the government has said it has no plans for nuclear power and that it cannot be used without the support of the community and both sides of politics.

Uranium prices have dropped steeply since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, and this month Paladin Energy mothballed a uranium mine in Malawi, but the Minerals Council argues that demand for uranium will grow because China has 28 nuclear power plants under construction and India is building six http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/use-g20-for-power-push-miners/story-e6frg6xf-1226828766298#