coal

New South Wales police have mustered a force of 160 officers to manage protestors at this week's Climate Camp in Newcastle. Riot Squad, water police, mounted police and police dogs will be at the ready, preempting conflict that organisers have been carefully planning to avoid.

The camp comes in the wake of the release of the Garnaut Draft Report on Climate Change and the proposed introduction in 2010 of a Carbon Emissions Trading scheme which has met political and industry opposition.

27 Greenpeace activists are taking non-violent direct action to stop
climate-changing coal from being burnt at Eraring, Australia's most
polluting coal-fired power plant. The activists, including an ex-miner
from the Hunter Valley, have blockaded the coal supply to the plant by
locking on to the conveyor. The action comes as the Australian
government's climate change advisor Professor Ross Garnaut prepares to
deliver his Draft Climate Change Review.

Photos | Energy [r]evolution Live Reports

Update: Greenpeace blockades coal fired power station, demands Energy [R]evolution

Greenpeace has announced the Esperanza will be visiting the East Coast of Australia over the next six weeks highlighting the need for a transition away from coal to clean renewable energy as contained in a new report called Blueprint for an energy [r]evolution

In related news: The Minister for Climate Change has announced new Greenhouse Gas Emission reporting requirements; and scientists have proclaimed that ocean warming has proceeded faster than expected and that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is in danger of collapse over a period of 20 years possibly raising sea levels 4 to 6 metres, unless measures are taken to limit fossil fuel use and its contribution to global warming. Upcoming event: Camp for Climate Action, Newcastle July 10-15

Grassroots climate change action group Rising Tide has blockaded
a coal train on its way into the world's biggest coal export port, at
Kooragang Island in Newcastle Harbour. No trains are able to enter
Kooragang Coal Terminal because of the blockade.

The blockade comes just two days after the United Nations'
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report warning that the effects of climate change will be worse than
previously anticipated, and five days before the Federal Election.

Photos: Rising Tide |
Videos: 1, 2, 3

15 Greenpeace activists closed down Munmorah coal fired power station on Thursday in protest against the greenhouse gas emission policies of the Howard Government and Rudd opposition. The power station is located on the Central coast of NSW, 110 km north of Sydney, and has been identified as one of the most polluting coal stations in the world.

The protest ocurred as a new report (PDF) was published by the Climate Institute that said "the IPCC assessment is underestimating the risks of adverse impacts due to increased warming during this century and that impacts previously considered to be at the upper end of likelihood are now more probable. Greenhouse emissions are rising faster than the worst case IPCC scenarios."

Greenpeace Photos | videos 1, 2 | CARMA - Carbon Monitoring for Action | Carbon Equity | Video: Peter Costello on 2050 climate targets

More than a hundred people participated in a maritime blockade of Newcastle Port on November 3 to protest the expansion of the export coal industry and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Hundreds more people watched the protest from shore. The protesters, in a flotilla of kayaks, canoes and small boats blocked the main shipping channel for about 5 hours.

Related: George Darroch Photos | Sutherland CAN Photos | Rising Tide Australia

On Friday morning 25 protesters disrupted the start of the Australian Nuclear Association conference and the speech by Ziggy Switkowski, chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Sydney. With anti-nuclear placards and chanting slogans the protest caused heated arguments with conference attendees before the building manager was called and ordered the protesters to leave. The protest and Switkowski's comments to the media indicates that this election campaign is effectively a referendum on Nuclear Power in Australia.

Related: Anti-nuclear action | Vote Nuclear Free | Video: Climate of Hope