ANOTHER massive boost for the region, GVK Hancock’s Alpha Coal Project, is under threat in Brisbane because of the actions of the extreme green anti-coal protesters.They fail to understand that even if they won the battle they would lose the war.This fringe group are now taking a court decision back to court, because they’re hell-bent on stopping every coal project they come across.The inconvenient truth for them is that the global demand for thermal coal will continue for decades to come.And if we don’t mine it some other country will.They are not going to kill the demand for coal; they’re just going to rob Australia of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.The loss to the region would be immense.What’s under threat with the Alpha Coal Project is 7,000 jobs during construction and another 4,000 jobs during the operational phase.Add the flow-on benefits and we’re talking about 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and more than $44 billion in taxes and royalties for the country.Imagine the effect this project would have on our regional and state economy and unemployment figures.The Alpha Coal project open cut coal mine is to be located 38km north-west of Alpha in the Galilee Basin.