28
July 2008 - International — After successful
campaigns in New Zealand and the Philippines,
the Rainbow Warrior spent 21 days in Thailand
as part of the "Quit Coal, Lead the
Energy [R]evolution Tour" promoting
solutions to climate change. The tour included
human banners, port blockades and a visit
to the Ministry of Energy.
Thailand’s energy revolution
should be underway already thanks to a new
law that allows residents and villages to
generate electricity from wind turbines
or other renewable sources and sell surplus
electricity back to grid. This should help
alleviate poverty and unemployment among
Thais as well as generate clean energy.
That sounds sweet -
but the reality looks very different as
many bureaucratic barriers prevent people
from taking up this opportunity. And the
lack of a Renewable Energy law that prioritises
green electricity over dirty electricity
means that investors are gearing up to build
coal fired power plants instead of windfarms.
Last year even nuclear energy appeared on
the agenda.
Our tour started on
July 4th when the Rainbow Warrior, sailed
into Songkhla. We were launching a Greenpeace
petition to the Ministry of Energy demanding
they reject coal, nuclear and other fossil-fuel
energy systems, a petition that was endorsed
by over 1500 residents.
The ship then moved
on to Thapsake on July 9th when hundreds
of local people joined the crew to form
a human banner proclaiming ‘Quit Coal’ on
the beach. The Electricity Generating Authority
of Thailand (EGAT) is proposing to build
a 4000 MW coal-fired power plant in Thapsakae
but local communities are opposing it due
to concerns about pollution and climate
change. These villagers added their voice
to the Greenpeace petition to the Ministry
of Energy.
In Rayong province, on July 15th the crew
of the Rainbow Warrior staged a peaceful
protest against the expansion of a Belgian-owned
coal power plant in Mapthaphut, anchoring
a few meters off the coal wharf and unfurling
banners saying “Quit Coal” and ”Coal = Climate
Change”. The ship was confronted by tug
boats and coal plant personnel who fired
water cannons as it entered the coal port.
European energy companies such as the Belgium-based
Suez Energy International, part of the largest
energy consortium in Western Europe are
involved with the expansion of the coal
industry in Thailand even though the European
Union has committed to drastically reduce
its own carbon emissions by as much as 30
percent by 2020.
In Bangkok on July 21st
we delivered our petition as Greenpeace
activists filled the Ministry of Energy
headquarters with balloons printed with
the word "CO2". The balloons symbolize
the carbon emissions from the construction
of new coal power plants in Thailand.
Coal is the dirtiest, most carbon intensive
of all fossil fuels. Energy from coal now
accounts for roughly 2 percent of global
greenhouse gas emissions. Emitting 29% more
carbon per unit of energy than oil and 80%
more than gas, coal is one of the leading
contributors to climate change. Burning
coal also releases massive amounts of toxic
substances such as mercury and arsenic which
have deadly impacts on human health.
Greenpeace is calling
on the Thai government to quit coal and
increase energy efficiency. The government
needs to adopt legislation that provides
investors in renewable energy with stable
and predictable returns and guarantee priority
access to the grid for renewable generators.
Thailand doesn’t need coal, it needs an
Energy Revolution.
+ More
Twenty coal ships get
new paint jobs in Australia
28 July 2008 - International
— Greenpeace Australia activists painted
coal ships waiting in a queue at Hay Point
port in Queensland with messages saying
“Stop coal expansion", "Barrier
Reef Gone", "Ice caps gone"
and "Rudd exporting CO2".
The activists from our
ship Esperanza drove up to the coal ships
in inflatable boats, while they were anchored
in the queue, painting the messages along
the sides of the waiting coal boats. Police
arrived on the scene after the 20 ships
had been painted, boarded one of the inflatables
and arrested 10 activists.
The peaceful action
highlighted Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd’s plans to rapidly expand coal exports
at a time when the world is trying to cut
global greenhouse gas emissions. Whilst
talking about urgent action on climate change
Rudd is overseeing plans for Australia’s
first new coal port in decades and a doubling
of New South Wales’ and Queensland’s coal
exports.
Just days ago in Port
Douglas, he warned "Australia must
act locally and globally on the challenge
of climate change because if we fail great
assets like the Great Barrier Reef will
be fatally in peril".
Australia is the world’s
largest coal exporter by far, accounting
for 30 percent of global exports. The plans
for coal expansion in Queensland alone would
increase Australia’s current emissions by
80 percent. Emissions from all of the planned
expansions total 729 million tonnes of CO2
- equal to 120 percent of Australia’s current
emissions.
A new poll reveals that
82 percent of Australians want the country’s
coal exports capped or reduced. Is Kevin
Rudd going to shape up to be the climate
leader Australians hoped he would be?
In his climate change
review for the Australian federal government,
Professor Garnaut said that if we do not
successfully combat climate change, the
Great Barrier Reef will die and Australians
will lose 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in
tourism dollars each year.
Queensland: the world's
best solar state
Queensland has the best solar resources
in the world, but instead of leading the
way in renewable energy, the 'Sunshine State'
has plans to massively expand its export
coal industry. The earth has enough renewable
energy to power the globe six times over
forever. In Australia, all that’s missing
is the political will.
If the Rudd government
acts now, Australia could become a powerhouse
for renewable energy manufacturing and technological
development, creating thousands of new jobs
and investment opportunities.
Having promised action
on climate change, to prove he's serious,
Rudd must agree to replace ageing power
stations with renewable energy and halt
the expansion of Australia’s export coal
industry. Australia can’t continue to burn
coal and ship CO2 emissions overseas and
say that they are fighting climate change.
