Farmers join fight against Adani coalmine over environmental concerns
More than 2,000 farmers and agriculture leaders express concern proposed Carmichael coalmine could affect groundwater, biodiversity and climate change
A group of Australian farmers have joined the large coalition of groups fighting against Adani’s giant
Carmichael coalmine, after they became concerned about the affects the mine would have on groundwater, biodiversity, rural communities and climate change.
Farmers for Climate Action – a group of more than 2,000 farmers and agriculture leaders concerned about climate change – became the newest group to join the Stop Adani alliance last week, at the same time as one of its members attracted more than 30,000 signatures to a
petition calling on the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, to rescind her commitment to give Adani unlimited free access to groundwater used by farmers in the region.
Longreach farmer Angus Emmott launched the petition last week; a few days later he had an accident on his farm and had to be
airlifted to hospital. When he checked on the number of signatures on Wednesday, he was shocked to see there were nearly 30,000.
“It’s too big a danger for the future,” Emmott said. “We need clean water. We need good soil. We need food security. And we have the potential to be a leader in renewable energy in
Queensland. We don’t need to be reviving an outdated technology.”
In April,
Palaszczuk announced the Queensland government had granted the mine a free unlimited 60-year water licence. The licence acknowledges this will “have an impact on the underground water levels in the region of the mine” both during and after the
planned Carmichael coalmine’s years of operation.
guardian.com.au