Western Australia’s peak environment group has released an analysis of the WA Fracking Inquiry’s findings on climate change and carbon pollution, revealing how the Inquiry used highly questionable assumptions to downplay the climate change impacts of fracking, despite the McGowan Government’s election commitment to undertake a ‘full lifecycle assessment’ of carbon pollution and prevent fracking if it ‘contributed adversely to climate change’.

Western Australia’s peak environment group has called on the LNG Jobs Taskforce to focus on the huge job creation opportunities that are immediately available in WA, by LNG companies addressing their rapidly rising carbon pollution.

The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has welcomed today’s announcement that the McGowan Government will develop a state climate change policy, recognising that Western Australia has an important role to play in addressing the drivers and impacts of climate change.

The response to the announcement by Premier McGowan that Western Australia would be opened up to fracking has been one of first disbelief, followed by anger for thousands of Western Australians. History shows people are prepared to accept unpopular policies when a solid rationale is laid out based on sound evidence and analysis, but that is certainly not the case with this decision.

Vimy Resourceshas relied on heroic assumptions about prices, unfounded optimism about a booming nuclear industry, and has ignored regulatory risks and mine closure costs in its Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the proposed Mulga Rock uranium mine to the east of Kalgoorlie, a new report by the Australia Institute has found.

Published in the Kalgoorlie Miner, Monday 26th November 2018

Jo Vallentine & Mia Pepper

10 years ago this week the Barnett government lifted the long-standing ban on uranium mining in WA. The Barnett government promised “$5 billion to WA’s gross State product” and “$450 million a year.” Industry proponents promised jobs and bragged that uranium will be like “iron ore on steroids.”

The state’s peak environment group has released independent analysis from RepuTex Energy, revealing around 4,000 new jobs would be created in land management, renewable energy, and other industries if the state government reinstated and strengthened conditions requiring WA’s largest polluters to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Conservation groups are urging Premier Mark McGowan to uphold his election commitments to undertake a ‘full analysis of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions’ from fracking, and to maintain the moratorium on fracking if it ‘contributed adversely to climate change’.

Conservation groups have welcomed the announcement of climate and renewable energy targets by Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten today, but warned that a decision by the WA Government to allow fracking would undermine the policies in the eyes of voters, by making Federal Labor’s climate change targets unachievable.

On Saturday 17 November, members of the community gathered at Perth Waldorf School for the CCWA Community Conservation Awards 2018. Hosted by our President Prof. Carmen Lawrence and Vice President Tim Barling, together we acknowledged some of the most inspiring environmentalists in Western Australia.