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Greenpeace activists shut down a coal digger at Hazelwood, the developed world's most polluting power station.
Enlarge imageFor every hour these massive excavators are idle, 2500 tonnes of brown coal stays in the ground where it belongs. Greenpeace wants Kevin Rudd to take real action on climate change by phasing out coal.
Says Greenpeace campaigner, Simon Roz, “Australia is digging itself into a hole. By phasing out coal and investing in renewable energy, we can protect our environment and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.”
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| LATEST UPDATE 2.30PM: | ||
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The remaining activists have been removed and all 7 arrested. |
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| UPDATE 12.15PM: | ||
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2 activists were cut down at 12pm, leaving 5 still stopping the massive coal digger. |
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Why are we here?
This dramatic action highlights how Australia's coal dependence is fuelling climate change. Our activists have been locked onto the massive coal digger since 7am.
Hazelwood power station produces 19 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution every year. This is the same amount produced by all of Melbourne’s 1.4 million households. It was due to be decommissioned in 2009 until the state Labor government extended its licence to pollute until 2031.
Kevin Rudd promised voters he would deliver on climate change but all he has served up is hot air. His Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme won’t cut Australia’s greenhouse emission for decades to come.
Hazelwood, majority owned by the UK-based company International Power, is a monument to the government’s policy failure.
A just transition for coal workers
Greenpeace commissioned a Just Transitions report [PDF 770kb] for coal communities in the NSW Hunter Valley. The report shows that every job lost by phasing out of coal power could be replaced by eight new jobs in renewable energy. Where is the government’s ‘just transitions’ blueprint for the Latrobe Valley?
Scientists support our action
Dr Barrie Pittock, a Australian climate scientist, is supporting Greenpeace’s actions with a press conference this morning on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne. In May 2009, Dr Pittock and six other leading climate scientists sent an open letter to Australian coal-fired power stations, making it clear that the coal industry is directly responsible for causing climate change impacts around the world.
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