Environment groups have demanded federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek formally consider the climate impacts of fossil fuel extraction when deciding whether to sign-off on the Mt Pleasant coal mine extension.
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The extension is among 19 new fossil fuel projects that feature in a landmark legal case launched by the Environment Council of Central Queensland in July.
The council is seeking to make it mandatory for each of the projects to be assessed according to their potential impact on climate change.
The project will extend the mine's life by 22 years to the end of 2048.
It will also deepen part of the open cut mining area to access extra coal.
Environmental Justice Australia is the Environment Council of Central Queensland's legal representative.
"Our client's legal intervention presented the minister with thousands of pieces of evidence, documenting the unequivocal effects of climate change on thousands of matters of national environmental significance," EJA principal lawyer Hollie Kerwin said.
"The requests by our client aim to ensure that, for the first time, the application of environmental law in Australia accounts for the reality of climate change."
In its Statement of Reasons for Decision the Independent Planning Commission said that greenhouse gas emissions for the project had been adequately estimated and were permissible in the context of the current climate change policy framework.
But Lock the Gate said the project, which would be responsible for nearly one billion tonnes of carbon emissions, highlighted the desperate need for a national approach to assessing major polluting projects.
The alliance has also called on Ms Plibersek to refuse the project.
"It is madness that as humanity teeters on the brink of climate catastrophe, an assessment authority such as the IPC can wave through a coal mine that will be solely responsible for 876 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions," Lock the Gate Alliance NSW coordinator Nic Clyde said.
"This project is the largest coal mine expansion approved in the state since the Paris Agreement called on nations of the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees yet is totally inconsistent with that pledge."
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Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
