No new coal plants: rally at NSW ALP Conference

No new coal
No power privatisation
Invest in renewables now

Rally against the plans to build new coal power stations in NSW
Speakers include: John Kaye (NSW Greens MP)

Meet 12.30pm Saturday November 14
Sydney Town Hall
March to NSW state Labor party conference

Stop new coal plants in NSW

Acting on climate change is urgent. As the UK Meterological office recently confirmed, we face warming of at least four degrees if governments do not get serious about reducing emissions.

But the NSW government has released plans to build new coal-fired power stations.

Coal power is already Australia’s single biggest source of greenhouse pollution. These plans would increase total NSW emissions by an enormous 36 per cent or 31 million tonnes.

Two new power plants are proposed—in the Hunter Valley and in the Blue Mountains near Lithgow. In addition there are plans to refit the existing Munmorah plant on the Central Coast so it can continue operating. The government hopes to complete the sale of development sites by mid-2010.

This shows everything that is wrong with the government response to climate change—both state and federal. Instead of driving a transition to much greater use of renewable energy Kevin Rudd’s emissions trading scheme—the CPRS—is allowing this expansion of coal power to happen.

The state government plans to allow the private sector to build and operate the new plants. This means NSW would have fully privatised power stations. This move comes after the NSW public rejected power privatisation when former Premier Morris Iemma tried it in 2008.

Any new power stations built should use renewable energy. This could provide many more jobs than currently exist in coal-fired power stations, according to research.
The building of new coal power stations must be stopped. Join the rally at the NSW state Labor conference to tell the government to abandon this crazy plan.