A threat to our water, soils, forests, people’s health, and food production

The drilling for coal seam gas, tight gas and shale gas is a threat to our water, soils, forests, people’s health, and food production.

Strangely, it seems that the on-land gas field industry has persuaded the Australian frozen vegetable industry that they can save money by using what the Victorian government would like to be referred to as “natural gas”.

The gas field industry is trying to make industries and food processors believe that gas produced on land will reduce greenhouse gas emissions! In this it is aided by the attitude of the Coal-lition which recently announced that it wants to include gas as a so-called Renewable source of energy, despite the fact that fracking to obtain the gas releases methane from the soil and water bodies (not just from immediately around the drilling sites). The gas field industry is of course trying to cover up the methane emissions issue.

Simplot must be either very scientifically uninformed, or else completely cynical. They say they are choosing Lakes Oil (LKO’s) gas for their food processing because of what they term LKO gas’s “low C02 emissions”, but the methane emitted from natural gas drilling and fracking is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than C02, and the industry has already polluted aquifers and soils in Australia and overseas.

As the land-based gas industry is a threat to food security in Australia, if Simplot sign up to get their energy from on-land gas mining, they may be signing up for a boycott of frozen vegetables produced by Leggo’s, Edgell, Birds Eye, John West and Chiko. A boycott of Simplot’s produce would add to the problems faced by Simplot from the lower-priced vegetables that are subsidised and imported into Australia.

Simplot, you are under notice! The public is not fooled. How about installing wind and solar for your energy supplies, and saving energy with methods that include co-generation and tri-generation? A genuine environmentally aware decision would not only save you money in the end, but would gain the support of shoppers.