Extreme green rot must stop

 OCTOBER 8, 2015: THE latest extreme green court action mounted against the Alpha Coal Project demonstrates how important it is that the Federal Government stick with legislation to end the sabotage of coal projects.The people who pay the ultimate price for these vigilante court actions are the workers of Central and North Queensland in dire need of jobs, and the businesses desperate for a boost to the region’s economy.The extreme green activists will continue to mount challenge after challenge against coal projects like the Alpha Coal Project and the Carmichael Mine Project.This ‘green lawfare’ is their latest weapon, and they need to be disarmed by the repeal of Section 487.2 of the EPBC Act.As the Liberal National Coalition Government stated in August, our courts should not be used for an endless stream of vigilante action from groups who are not directly affected by projects.The extreme green activists are not interested in the environment.They use the environment as the pawn in their political game of frustrating, delaying and ultimately stopping developments, and they couldn’t care less about the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment that will be lost in the process.A recent extreme green court action against the Alpha Coal Project in the Galilee Basin was rejected a month ago, and the latest challenge is the fourth faced by the project.The basis of the challenge is a ridiculous objection relating to emissions from coal-fired power generation in other countries not being considered in Australian approvals.Our Australian coal is much in demand because of its quality, but our reputation as a coal supplier is being trashed globally because of the delaying tactics of these extreme green groups.We must stop the extreme green rot before our business reputation is completely destroyed.