A incredibly contentious issue across all of the nation, the Adani Coal mine located in Northern Queensland represents the attempt to revitalize coal mining within Australia. Despite many claims to its beneficial factors towards the ‘jobs and growth’ of Queensland, the mining project has been mired by scandals, controversy and a black-throated finch.
The most contentious point within this whole issue is the environmental impact that the Adani coal mine will have on the world, as well as how it will impact Australia’s attempt to reduce its own emissions. Should the full Adani Mine plans go through, it could see an increase of 320 million tonnes to Australia’s coal output. However, due to the owners and plan to go along with the mine, the mine’s own emissions are looking to be relatively low. On the other hand, the coal produced could lead to 705 million additional tonnes of Carbon Dioxide entering the atmosphere once burnt. And due to the lack of enforcement on the already lacking environmental regulations within India, these emissions will directly attribute to pollution worldwide.
At the same time, the coal mine could look to disrupt the local environment around the area. Of note is the black throated finch and groundwater plans which have been introduced by the Adanigroup. Plans for groundwater management, which ‘accepted changes by the scientific community in full’ apparently did not accept these changes and could introduce unprecedented disruption to the areas water table. On the other hand, the Adanigroup’s plan for protecting the black-throated finch has been accepted by the government, despite the outroar by many scientists and public figures. However, many have also saw some decent work done with the environmental plan.
The last and possibly most disastrous point about the issue is the amount of jobs that the mine will provide to Australians in the area. Originally promising ‘10,000 jobs‘ for Queenslanders, the Adanigroup was forced to change their promise to ~1400 after a court hearing. However, in further revelations it was found that the mine would only provide ~100 ongoing jobs after the mine had been constructed. And finally, the Adanigroup wants the mine to be mainly automated soon after construction, possibly cutting the amount of jobs in the mine even more. So despite the contentious environmental issues which surround the mine, the jobs which allowed it to go through may not even exist.
From all sides, the Adani mine seems to be less of a job-creation prospect that the Liberal government has promised and more so another way to increase India’s coal consumption. Only time will truly tell if the mine is worth the cost, but at the current moment it seems that the negatives far outweigh the positives.
PoliticsBuff 