The Wilderness Society marked World Environment Day (Saturday) by warning of the impacts and dangers of native forest-fed power stations in Tasmania.
Speaking at an event organised by local group Climate Action Hobart, the Wilderness Society’s Tasmanian Campaign Director Vica Bayley, warned wood-fired power stations would lock in the negative environmental impacts of logging in high-conservation value forests, threaten the clean, clever brand of Tasmania and present a serious blockage to reaching a lasting, agreed resolution to the conflict over logging in Tasmania.
“On World Environment Day, not only should we celebrate our environment and the positive steps that are being taken to protect it, we should recognise and discuss new, emerging threats to the environment like wood-fired power generators,” said Mr Bayley.
“When Tasmania has so many renewable energy options like as solar, wind, wave and hydro, native forest-fed power stations should be ruled out as they are not a positive part of Tasmania’s future.”
“There are currently three wood-fired power generation proposals in Tasmania, representing a life-line to woodchipping operations in the state. Global markets have moved on and as the rest of the world rejects Tasmania’s native forest woodchips, burning them in power-stations is a desperate new plan to keep woodchipping alive.”
Forestry Tasmania has two wood-fired power plant proposals, one in the south and another in the north-west. Gunns’ proposed pulp mill also has a power generation plans using wood. Collectively, these represent a new market for many hundreds of thousands of tonnes of woodchips from native forests, including high conservation-value forests like oldgrowth, rainforests and threatened species habitat.
“Decades ago Tasmanians were sold the line that woodchipping was needed to clean up the waste from clearfell logging operations, yet history shows it went on to be a major driver of forest destruction.”
“Now we are being sold the same line in regards to native forest-fed power and Tasmanians should beware; these power stations are simply a lifeline to a woodchipping industry in crisis.”
“Native forest-fed power is bad for Tasmania’s brand, bad for the environment and would lock in years of more conflict over the logging of native forests,” concluded Mr Bayley.
Matthew Groom:
Matthew Groom MP
Shadow Minister for the Environment
Saturday 5 June, 2010
World Environment Day: Where is the Labor-Green Government?
Today is World Environment Day, but Greens cabinet Minister Nick McKim has been conspicuously quiet on a major environmental issue here in Tasmania.
The 2009-2010 State Budget was cast after Labor’s decision to axe the Department of Environment, Parks, Heritage and Arts.
With just two weeks until the next State Budget is handed down, will the Greens deliver on their promise for a stand-alone Environment Department?
Or will this be yet another so-called core Greens’ policy which will be ditched?
The Tasmanian Liberals committed during the election to re-establish a properly resourced, stand-alone Environment and Parks Department as a fundamental first step to restoring proper environmental oversight and objective advice to the government on environmental issues.
The Tasmanian Greens had a similar policy. And yet they have been strangely quiet on this initiative since they have bedded down with Labor.
Will the Greens use the fact that Labor relies on them to stay in power to fix this in the upcoming budget?
The Government has back flipped on the Tarkine loop road, they’ve come to their senses regarding the size of the Parliament and I am urging the Labor-Green Government to change its position and use the budget to create a stand-alone department as a first step toward better environmental outcomes in Tasmania.
What Forestry says: Is wood the way of the future?: HERE
