Posts

Public rejection of Coal Seam Gas Mining nationally

Lock the Gate Media release 3 June 2016
Polling of 250,000 people confirms public rejection of CSG mining nationally.

Lock the Gate say this should trigger election commitments.

New polling confirms the public has rejected risky unconventional gas drilling and highlights the failure of both major political parties to act on community concerns on the issue in the lead-up to the Federal election.
The ABC has released polling data showing 67% of Australians are opposed to any easing of restrictions on coal seam gas exploration, and that this number had grown since the last Federal election in 2013.

http://ab.co/1Y5b4KK
Lock the Gate Alliance National Coordinator, Phil Laird said, “Clearly, there is widespread rejection of the unconventional gas industry by people across Australia given the profound risks that it poses to water resources and human health.
“This polling of more than 250,000 repondants confirms that opposition to CSG and unconventional gas is a massive issue in the lead-up to the Federal election and that controls on this risky industry need to be tightened not loosened, to address community concerns
“We’re calling on both major political parties to respond by:
• Fully protecting important water sources like Sydney’s drinking water catchment and the Great Artesian Basin in no-go zones.
• Acting urgently to protect human health by creating a national Environment Protection Authority and commissioning national research on health impacts of gas drilling.”
“The CSG industry has been a nightmare for families forced to live with it in Qld. The impacts on health, water and farming communities, as well as regional economies, has been severe.
“People across Australia have learnt the hard lessons from Qld and are saying very clearly that they think Governments must take stronger action against this industry. The time for action is now.
“This new polling also confirms previous regional polling which has shown 70-80% opposition to unconventional gas drilling in various communities across Australia and 96% in door to door surveys in farming districts,” he said.

95%agree

Online Citizen News Story Publishing Site

This is a site where you can publish your own coal seam gas related news. Many people from all over the world post articles here.

View the Australia section of Coal Seam Gas News here

headercsg

Public wants more CSG regulation, federal oversight

One in two Australians want more regulation of coal seam gas, while 71 per cent think the federal government should be responsible for regulating the industry rather than individual states, according to new research by The Australia Institute.

Fracking the future: Busting industry myths about coal seam gas will be launched today by former Independent MP Mr Tony Windsor at Parliament House in Canberra. Click here to read about the document exposing the myths

The paper reveals overwhelming public support (86 per cent) for more information to be provided about coal seam gas projects when they are proposed in local areas.

“Considering the controversial nature of coal seam gas extraction it’s unsurprising that the public wants more information, especially when it comes to environmental impacts,” report author and senior economist Matt Grudnoff said.

“Respondents to our survey raised concerns about damage to the local environment, negative impacts on farming land, health impacts and water contamination.

“The federal government is out of step with the public which wants it to better regulate the expansion plans of the gas industry. It has the power to do so, yet it seems content to allow sloppy state oversight such as we’ve witnessed recently in NSW with the contamination of water in the Pilliga forest,” Mr Grudnoff said.

When asked to nominate potential benefits of CSG, respondents focused on economic examples such as lowering the price of gas and creating jobs. Fracking the future examines these alleged benefits.

“Despite the gas industry’s claims that more gas will mean cheaper gas this does not stand up to scrutiny. Once Australia’s eastern gas market is linked to the world market, the prices we pay will jump to match the world price,” Mr Grudnoff said.

“Our paper also discredits the claim that the industry creates a lot of jobs, showing the entire oil and gas industry employs 23,200 people, or just 0.2 per cent of the Australian workforce. To put this in context, the hardware retail company Bunnings employs 33,000 people.

“The gas industry likes to make inflated claims about its economic importance yet it arrogantly tries to avoid answering community concerns. When there is so much at stake environmentally, the public has every right to demand greater transparency from the industry and greater interest from the federal government,” Mr Grudnoff said.

Article reproduced from The Climate Specator

Three myths the coal seam gas industry wants you to believe

Click here to read the article – from The Conversation an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.

Myth 1: The gas industry is a big employer

Myth 2: More CSG will stop the gas price rises

Myth 3: CSG can act as a low-emission “bridge” from coal to renewables

coalseamgas