Banks providing loans to coal and gas projects are now in the sights of community groups opposed to the fossil fuel industry.
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As part of a national campaign protesters gathered outside the Singleton branch of the CommBank on Friday to highlight their concerns with the bank’s continuing support for the coal industry.
The protesters argue the bank had an opportunity to redefine its approach to climate change with the release of a new Climate Policy Position Statement in August. But the policy failed to place constraints on lending to the fossil fuel industry.
Wearing breathing masks the protesters said during September there had been 72 air quality alerts, in the Hunter, due to air pollution which they say is coming predominately from open cut mines and coal burn power stations.
“I am pretty sure that’s a record for the five years since the Hunter Air Quality Network monitoring was established,” said James Whelan, spokesman Environmental Justice Australia. “There had been 181 air pollution alerts issued in the Hunter between News Year and September 30. Without a doubt, the elevated levels of PM10 (an air quality measurement) are caused by coal mines.
“The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) tells us that coal mines account for 87.6 of the Valley’s PM10.”
Dr Whelan said the EPA was failing to protect the community from the affects of air pollution.
In the latest report from the Office of Environment and Heritage on the Winter 2017 Air Quality Monitoring Network it states dairy average PM10 concentrations were above the benchmark on ten days ( (June 1-August 31). This is higher compared to winter in the previous five years as there were no days over the PM10 benchmark in winter 2016.
“The EPA has as its disposal a range of regulatory tools – from observation, snap inspection and dialogue through to enforcement actions including penalty infringement notices and prosecution,” Dr Whelan said.
What concerns opponents the most is the various plans on the drawing board to expand existing coal mines and the opening of new ones. “We don’t have an air pollution control strategy in NSW at the same time as the Government is considering ever more air pollution from an expanded coal industry,” he said.