An activist climbs down a ladder in a
stairwell above the coal stockpile. © Greenpeace
Our colleagues across the Tasman have just pulled off an audacious action at the Eraring Power Station. In a 5.5 hour blockade of the coal fired power station, they stopped more than 10,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions.
27 activists, including an ex-miner from NSW’s Hunter Valley blocked the station and stopped coal supply. Fore every hour they stopped the coal supply, 2000 tonnes of CO2 didn't get released.
“We have to stop fuelling climate change when creating electricity,” says Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Simon Roz. “Eraring, an old and inefficient plant, is one of eight coal-fired power stations in New South Wales. These plants are responsible for half the state’s (and 13% of Australia’s) greenhouse pollution.”
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 part of the team blockading the coal conveyor, says,
"I feel very strongly that we must start making the transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy. Coal communities have been taken advantage of by coal companies and governments.
"Renewable energy is the future and it’s bright. Workers must be retrained and re-skilled so that they don’t miss out. Renewable technology is already there, we don't have to wait 20 years for it. But we need a transition mechanism in place."
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