Climate fights for day in court
Climate fights for day in court
Coal mining companies
are up against environmental groups in an appeal in
the
High Court in Christchurch today, arguing whether climate
change can
be considered in coal mining consents.
West
Coast Environment Network planned to call evidence in the
Environment
Court on the impact of coal mining on climate
– including testimony from
NASA scientist Dr James
Hansen – at the Environment Court hearing for a
mine
proposed on the Denniston Plateau.
However coal companies
sought and won a declaration from the Environment
Court
earlier this year that an amendment to the Resource
Management Act
(RMA) in 2004 excludes climate change
considerations from all coal mining
– and by
implication all – applications under the RMA.
West Coast
Environment Network and the Royal Forest and Bird
Protection
Society appealed that decision, which will be
heard in the High Court in
Christchurch
today.
“Climate change is arguably the biggest issue
facing humanity today,” said
West Coast Environment
Network spokesperson Lynley Hargreaves. “We
believe
that decision makers need to be able to take a
project's impact on the
climate into account in cases
such as these.”
Although the case has implications for
many resource consents, it is
specifically about
Australian company Bathurst Resources'
proposed
Escarpment Mine on the Denniston Plateau and
state-owned coal miner Solid
Energy's planned Mt William
mine on nearby Stockton Plateau. Both mines
propose to
export coal to countries without Kyoto
obligations.
ends