scone.com.auGreens tackle “pathetic air pollution standards”
THE Greens will introduce a Clean Air Bill to Parliament on May 5, which requires all New South Wales coal-fired power stations including Bayswater, to meet air quality and emission standards currently reflected in the United States, Europe and China.
The Bill calls for a reduction in the allowable concentration of air pollutants, the covering of coal trains and continuous monitoring and real-time reporting of all stack emissions.
Sue Abbott, Greens Upper Hunter candidate said air quality standards are “pathetic” and monitors are “only monitoring our deaths.”
“Currently people who live within 50 kilometres of coal-fired power stations face a risk of premature death as much as three to four times that of people living further away, with some of these toxic emissions travelling over 200 kilometres,” Ms Abbott said.
“The data that we get from monitors, nothing happens, so yes we need better monitoring but we need action,” she said.
“In January this year alone, ten alerts were issued here in the Hunter Valley when air pollution standards were breached. It’s not good enough,” she said.
“The coalition can see what is happening, it’s breached all of the time, we’ve seen it in the last week . . . we’re breaching our pathetic standards and then we’re doing nothing about it,” said Ms Abbott.
Greens MP and Spokesperson for Mining, Coal & Gas Abigail Boyd said Matt Kean’s clean air policy draft is a joke and simply reliant on the decline of the coal industry.
“Unfortunately the clean air plan draft is a joke, he [Matt Kean] talks about a lot of things he’s already been doing, there’s nothing new in there,” Ms Boyd said.
“What he’s saying is by investing in renewables, eventually we will end up with a winding down coal industry and that will eventually clean up our air,” she said.
“This Liberal-National government is so obsessed with the coal industry they will not take any actions to put additional costs onto that industry. It’s not good enough to just be investing in renewables, as good as that is, we also need to make the coal-fired power stations pay for their pollution,” she said.
“Doctors for the environment have put together really compelling evidence of the health costs of this air pollution . . . we know what we’re breathing in and we have the evidence that it’s increasing stroke, heart disease, lung cancers, respiratory disease, children with asthma.
“If you take an economically sensible approach to government you would understand that the small costs that these coal companies need to pay now is nothing compared to the long-term health costs,” Ms Boyd said.
The Greens plan also includes ensuring that no new or expanded open cut mines are approved in the Upper Hunter.