You Are Here:
The 27 activists included an ex-miner from the Hunter. They stopped 10,000 tonnes of CO2 from being released.
Some 16 activists were locked on to stop the conveyors moving.
"We have to stop fuelling climate change when creating electricity,"says Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Simon Roz. "Eraring, an oldand inefficient plant, is one of eight coal-fired power stations inNew South Wales. These plants are responsible for half the state’s and 13% of Australia’s greenhouse pollution."
The activists entered the plant in the early hours and then stopped the conveyors that distribute the coal.
UPDATE 9:00am: Two teams of activists are still locked on. 15 have been taken into custody. Coal supply is still being stopped. Sign on as an energy revolutionary.
UPDATE 8:15am: Police Rescue have just arrived. Activists have now been in place for over three hours.
Why Eraring Power Station?
Eraring Power Station is Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power plant, sending nearly 20 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution into the atmosphere every year.
Graham Brown, a retired Hunter coalminer, who is partof the team blockading the coal conveyor, says, "I feel very stronglythat we must start making the transition from coal-fired power torenewable energy. Coal communities have been taken advantage of by coalcompanies and governments.
"Renewable energy is the future and it’sbright. Workers must be retrained and re-skilled so that they don’tmiss out. Renewable technology is already there, we don't have to wait20 years for it. But we need a transition mechanism in place."
Garnaut report on climate change
On 4 July, the government’s climate change advisor, Professor Ross Garnaut, delivered his draft review on climate change. Any urgent action on climate change must include policies that support renewables to replace dirty coal-fired power.
Says Simon Roz, "Renewable energy can replacecoal-fired power and would be a huge step forward in reducing ouremissions in line with Professor Garnaut’s recommendations."
Greenpeace has released two reports showing how renewables, combined with some gas co-generation and energy efficiency, can provide all of Australia’s energy needs. The Energy [R]evolution Scenario showed that renewables could replace coal by 2030. Our second report, A Just Transition to a Renewable Energy Economy in the Hunter, found that replacing coal-fired generation with renewables will create tens of thousands of local jobs.
Read live updates
Sign up to be an energy [r]evolutionary!
