In a major win for the environment, Australian environment minister Tanya Plibersek rejected a large-scale coal mining project proposal, stating that the irreversible damage that the reef would get exposed to wasn’t worth it
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Australia has, for the first time in history, turned down a proposal from a coal mining magnate, to protect the environment and to honour federal environment laws.
Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek officially rejected Clive Palmer’s application to build a coalmine near Rockhampton in Central Queensland, stating unacceptable environmental risks.
Addressing the public on Twitter, Plibersek said that the project can cause irreversible damage to the Great Barrier Reef. “I’ve decided that the adverse environmental impacts are simply too great,” she said, before adding that the open-cut coal mine is less than 10 kilometers away from the Great Barrier Reef, making the project a potential hazard not only to the reef but also to the freshwater creeks and groundwater in the area.
“These would throw the entire ecosystem out of balance.”
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