Fines don't deter coal protestors

Some of the local protestors who were fined in Muswellbrook Court recently were (l-r) Benny Zable, Ahri Tallon, Philippe Dupuy, Tom Driftwood, Tony Gleeson and Alan Roberts.

Tom Driftwood from Corndale isn’t at all worried. Convicted in Muswellbrook Court recently for taking part in a Climate Camp coal protest, he said he’d happily do it all again in the pursuit of phasing out the coal industry.

Tom and seven other Northern Rivers residents were among 75 convicted and fined $250 each on January 31 for an offence under the Rail Safety Offences Act after more than 100 protestors occupied the train lines at Bayswater Power Station in the Hunter Valley.

The Climate Camp activists stopped the supply of coal to Bayswater for around eight hours while calling on the NSW Government to halt the expansion of the coal industry and instead move to 100% renewable energy.

Bayswater Power Station is the country’s largest power station, emitting almost 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.

“The conviction doesn’t both me in the least, in fact I’m proud to take action on climate change in the face of the irresponsibility of our state government,” Tom said. “Bayswater is one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters and this clearly causes climate change – there’s no argument about that in scientific circles. It’s too important an issue to sit back and do nothing.”

Fellow protestor Philippe Dupuy of Larnook was also not deterred by the magistrate’s finding.

“Who are the criminals here – us or the government and corporations who are destroying farmland, ecology, people’s health and a liveable climate for humans and countless other species?” he asked.

Tom said the protestors were backing Beyond Zero Emissions, which has developed a 10-year plan in conjunction with the University of Melbourne’s Energy Research Institute to phase out fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy.

“There are clear renewable energy alternatives that could supply 100% of our energy needs to the whole of Australia in 10 years if the political will was there,” Tom said. “The plan uses commercially tested and available technologies… there’s no pie-in-the-sky stuff, this is doable now.”

Tom said not only would renewable energy solutions create more jobs than the “dirty, polluting and dangerous coal mining industry”, but also pointed out that the environmental ecology of the Hunter Valley, once a flourishing food bowl, was being destroyed by coal mining and was putting food producers out of work at a time when food security should be paramount.

Tom said he and other local activists were now focussing their efforts closer to home and would be working with the Keerrong Anti Gas Squad to protest local coal seam gas (CSG) exploration.

“There has to be an immediate stop to any expansion of the fossil fuel industry followed by a phase-out of fossil fuels and a phase-in of renewable energy if we’re serious about creating a liveable future for our children,” Tom said.

Tom encourages others concerned about climate change to check out www.beyondzeroemissions.org or www.100percent.org.au. He said climate action groups in Lismore, Nimbin and Ballina are always looking for more people to join the fight against fossil fuels. Phone the Lismore Climate Action Group on 6689 5693, the Nimbin Environment Centre on 6689 1441 or Tony Gleeson in Ballina on 6682 8145.