On the eve of a landmark court decision – widely tipped to rebuff big coal miners – the New South Wales Government has stepped in to ensure that big coal will not be further frustrated by environmental and social objections to its activities. The state government this week quietly passed into law plans it had foreshadowed in July, to elevate the importance of economic benefits of new coal mines – above their adverse social and environmental impacts – when decisions are being made on whether to approve new mines. These amendments to NSW planning laws have now come into effect: In future, state tribunals and courts required to rule on new coal mines will have to make the economic benefits of those mines their principal consideration. The new laws follow outrage among big coal miners – especially from the global conglomerate Rio Tinto – over an historic NSW Land and Environment Court decision issued in April. That decision withdrew permission for Rio Tinto to vastly expand its large Warkworth mine near the hamlet of Bulga in the Hunter Valley. The government denies any connection between the miners’ outrage and the new green-light law. The court decision is now under appeal. The Bulga residents’ court challenge was seen as a test for big coal miners around the country, to justify now discredited economic modelling which invariably overstated the numbers of jobs new mines would create. The challenge also invited the court to look closely at how big coal miners have frequently been allowed to destroy land and habitat by offering to save other land, despite the fact that the compensatory lands were often far distant from that which was to be destroyed by mining. Source:yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/27443
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 17:44:43 +0000
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