Defend the Laws that Stop New Coal Mines.

If you are starting to think that the grip of the coal and gas industry on Australian land and politics is impossible to break -take hope. New coal mines are being knocked back by the courts for their climate impacts. In February  2019   the New South Wales Land and Environment Court made  a landmark judgement  to reject a new open-cut coal mine near Gloucester in the Hunter Valley,  NSW.  For the first time one of the key reasons given was the global heating impacts of the co2 released when the coal is burned. Six months later the legal precedent was repeated when it was determined that   South Korean company’s Kepco’s plan for a coal mine in Bylong Valley cannot go ahead.   For the second time the court case considered the global heating impacts of burning coal.  Coal investors and political backers like Senator Matt Canavan, NSW Minister Rob Stokes and the Minerals Policy Council are in a spin. They are now trying to change the law to make sure no such decision is ever made again. Earth Matters joins farmers from the Bylong Valley  outside the  Korean Embassy in Canberra wanting  Kepco to sell the land in the Bylong Valley back to farmers . James gives a mini update on the mines underneath Sydney and Central Coast water supplies,  the massive proposed Shenhua mine and gas extraction in NSW.Links:Petitions:Protect Our Laws from the Coal LobbyOrganisations:Lock the GateThe Australia Institute. The Australian Student Environment NetworkClimate Action Network AustaliaList of Climate Action Network Australia member groups List of Australian Climate Action Groups (incomplete)List of Sydney  Climate Action Groups News Stories:New coal projects in Sydney's catchment on hold after panel's reports , Sydney Morning Herald. 9/11/19The Berejiklian government will pause new approvals for mining under Sydney's catchment until well into 2020 as it considers an advisory panel's report that environment groups say was too lenient as water supplies dwindle. Show  #1219  was produced by Bec Horridge