Anvil Hill
Anvil Hill is the largest intact stand of remnant vegetation on the Central Hunter Valley floor. Anvil Hill is:
- home to at least 178 animal species, including 4 threatened bat species, the squirrel glider, the koala, 14 threatened bird species and many more protected under international covenant;
- home to at least 420 species of native flora, many of which are threatened and 3 endemic to the area;
- home to at least one newly discovered species of orchid found only in the Anvil Hill area;
- home to at least 22 vegetation communities including Endangered Ecological Communities;
- a major catchment of Wybong Creek, which flows into the Goulburn and Hunter Rivers;
- rich in Aboriginal heritage.
All this stands to be destroyed by a massive open-cut coal mine proposed by Australian company Centennial Coal.
 denman pomaderris |
 grey crowned babbler |
Climate Chaos
The Hunter Valley is one of the world's top coal producing regions. Newcastle is the world's largest coal export port. Every year it exports 80 million tonnes of coal, about 10% of all world trade. Yet despite growing awareness of the threat of climate change, the NSW Government is approving new coal mines with absolutely no consideration of their climate impact. 15 new mines and 10 expansions of existing mines are in the pipeline which would add another 60 million tonnes a year to the 110 million tonnes of coal produced by Hunter mines1. This increase alone is almost double NSW's annual consumption of coal.
To get all this coal out of Newcastle about $1 billion is being spent in the next five years to increase the capacity of the railways that transport the coal and build a new coal loader at that port. These upgrades will increase Newcastle's capacity by over 50%. The amount of coal that will be exported by the proposed new coal loader alone is equivalent to the entire amount that NSW consumes every year.
This massive expansion will accelerate the onset of dangerous climate change, the greatest threat facing NSW.
Clean Energy is the Answer
The clean, renewable energy industry in NSW is floundering, while the climate-changing coal industry enjoys unquestioning support. With the Federal renewables subsidy about to expire, clean energy projects like wind and solar will not happen if the state government does not step in. We will lose:
- 16 wind projects that are in advanced stages of preparation. If they go ahead they will provide over 400MW of clean electricity, $2 billion in investment, and thousands of good, long-term jobs for NSW, particularly in regional areas.
- A booming solar industry: BP Solar estimates that with a subsidy equivalent to 1% of consumers' electricity bills over 1,700MW of clean solar power could be installed by 2020. That equivalent to more than 10% of NSW's current installed electric capacity. This would create 23,000 jobs, more than twice the number employed by the NSW coal industry.
NSW is going backwards on climate change, our greatest future threat. Our Government is promoting climate-changing coal while starving the clean energy technologies which are an essential part of the climate change solution. The government must introduce a legislated renewable energy target of 15% by 2012 and 25% by 2020 now.
Act Now!
Click here to help us draw a line in the sand at Anvil Hill.
1: Newcastle Herald.