PEOPLE, water, environment and food should be considered before anything else and that includes coal.
The release on Thursday of the scoping plan for a NSW coal and Gas Strategy clearly outlined just how valuable the coal and gas resources are in New South Wales.
How valuable and also how prolific, but that is already well understood.
There are strong future propsects and strong future areas of growth but with that comes plenty of concern.
Sections of the community are calling for a moratorium on coal mining, which given the reliance of New South Wales on coal for energy supply, this is neither practical or possible just now.
Others are calling for a moratorium on new coal developments until there is a thorough understanding on what mining is currently doing to the environment.
There have been studies in the past that are yet to be implemented such as the 1996 Mining Cumulative Impact Study.
If this really is going to be of any value, a strategic approach must at least give, people, water, environment and ability to produce food at least an equal footing as the potential to make billions from coal and gas extraction.
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