Wind or gas?
In the Northern Star 4/1/2012 Ballina MP Don Page is reported as saying people should not compare guidelines on coal seam gas (CSG) wells to the tough new guidelines on wind farm developments. ‘They are different things. Wind farms are created on the surface of a property owned by farmers or landholders. That’s not the case with CSG which is a resource that is underground and owned by everyone. So they are different sorts of things really.’
Really? Who owns the wind, Don? CSG may be generated underground (owned by the Crown not the Public) but the infrastructure resides on the surface; the bit supposedly owned by the landowner who has no rights or legal support in the matter.
The physical footprint of the wind farm is minuscule compared to a CSG installation. Have you been to Chinchilla Don? Or seen the movie Gasland? That will show you the extent of a fully developed gas field and the effect it has on existing communities, businesses and water.
I say if a 2 kilometre set back is good enough for wind farms and those landowners and neighbours have a right to veto, then the same should apply to the CSG industry. More to the point, Don, wind farming is not adding to global warming whereas CSG is just as big a contributor to global warming as coal and has many more negative aspects than wind farming, including destruction of aquifers, devaluation of property values , diminishment of our land ownership rights and risks to existing businesses and enterprises.
Global warming and sea level rise are with us now, Don. Have you been to the coast recently? Have you seen the erosion? Have you seen that in many places there is no longer a beach? (Kingscliff, Broom’s Head,The Old Bar).
Why is your government following the previous Labor government in backing the fossil fuel industry? Why is your government actively discouraging and destroying the renewable energy industries?
If your government will not initiate solutions to power generation that are sustainable and non damaging to our climate then your government is part of the problem.
Simon Chance
Richmond Hill
