Adani Coal Mine Test for Australia’s Environmental Intelligence

Adani coal mine is a test of Australia's environmental intelligence, says former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown. His 'Stop Adani' Convoy is bound for Queensland's coal country and expects a warm welcome from communities fearful of job losses. The convoy aims to derail Adani's plans for a new coal mine in the Galilee Basin.

Brown expects a similar response as the convoy heads to costal communities near existing coal mines. "I have been to Airlie Beach quite recently. People up there are terrified about burning coals because its threatening 64,000 jobs on the Great Barrier Reef. This is not some sort of doom and gloom. The reef is half dead. And a major factor in that is the burning of coal." Brown said many Australians understood the inherent harm in allowing an overseas company to dig up Australian coal and sell it for use overseas, especially when Australia could be a world leader in renewable energy.

"Adani is a litmus test on whether we have got the God-given intelligence as a nation, and as a people, to move to renewable," he said. "We should be phasing out coal and that, of course means you don't phase it in for somebody else." The Queensland Resource Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane agrees that coal-fired power will be phased out. He reiterated the federal government's warning that Adani would source lower quality coal from other countries if its denied access to Queensland's 'cleaner' coal.