Do you want to have a say in Western Australia’s energy future? If the answer is yes, and you are concerned about the prospect of more and more coal-fired power stations in WA, read on. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is currently accepting submissions on THREE coal-fired power station proposals. All three assessments are part of the bidding process for Western Power Corporation’s Power Procurement Process (PPP). • Griffin Energy’s ‘Bluewaters 2’ proposal (200MW – to be potentially built in conjunction with ‘Bluewaters 1’, also 200MW) • Griffin Energy’s Collie B proposal (300MW) • Wesfarmers/ J-Power Collie Power Station expansion proposal (300MW) (The last two are different tenders for the same project). Send a Fax Today Fax Dr Judy Edwards, the Environment Minister, and call on her to reject the Bluewaters Power Project - which will emit almost 1,000,000 tonnes of greenhouse pollution each year. Send a Fax Today Or outline your concerns in an email: judy-edwards@dpc.wa.gov.au Make a Submission The project titles, reference numbers and closing dates are listed below. All you have to do is put the project title in the heading and cut and paste the project officer’s email into the address line. You don’t have to write a long submission, some points that you can make are: I am greatly concerned about the proposed coal-fired power station for the following reasons: Recent research has shown that WA’s current additional energy needs – up to 500MW – can be met through a combination of renewable energy and energy efficiency. (Mark Diesendorf, Towards A Clean Energy Future for Australia- Substituting for Western Australia’s next Coal-Fired Power Station, 2004). These options should be considered instead of building a new fossil fuel power station. While gas can only be considered as a short-term transition to a sustainable energy future, if a new baseload station is to be built, gas is far preferable to coal. (Any gas-fired power station should offset all of their emissions). 5 reasons why the EPA should recommend against constructing a new coal-fired power station: 1)WA needs to join the global effort to combat climate change. Climate change is already having major effects on water supplies in the South-West and the changes in temperature, rainfall and sea-level caused by climate change will impact heavily on WA’s health, tourism and agricultural sectors, biodiversity and infrastructure. 2)Generating electricity from coal-fired power stations is the biggest single source of human made CO2 emissions worldwide, accounting for 37% of emissions. Coal is the most carbon intensive fossil fuel, producing 70% more CO2 emissions from the same energy output as natural gas. 3)Collie coal, being ‘sub-bituminous’ coal is particularly greenhouse intensive, with only Victoria’s brown coal being worse. 4)Besides greenhouse gases, coal-fired power stations emit a range of air pollutants including acidic gases, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and particulates, all of which are capable of causing serious ecological and human health impacts. They also emit mercury, a toxic heavy metal, into the atmosphere. Elevated levels of mercury are harmful to everyone. Women of childbearing age are especially at risk because the unborn and infants are vulnerable to mercury. 5)A new coal-fired power station will have a lifetime of at least 30 years, committing ourselves and future generations of Western Australians to dirty, polluting energy until around 2040! The transition to WA’s clean energy future has to start now. 6)The Western Australian and Commonwealth Governments must work to reduce Collie’s vulnerability to the changes in state, national and international energy policy. A Structural Adjustment Package for Collie must be developed for Collie to assist their transition from dependence on coal mining and generation. For the full PER documents, go to the EPA website: www.epa.wa.gov.au and follow the “Proponent Documents Currently Open for Public Comment” link on the right hand side. Project Titles, Closing Dates and Email addresses: • Bluewaters Power Station Phase 2 (Griffin Energy), closes 7 March, 2005 – email to: John Güld - john.guld@environment.wa.gov.au • Collie Power Station Expansion (Wesfarmers/ J-Power)- closes 21 March, 2005 – email to: Nicole Zago -Nicole.zago@environment.wa.gov.au • Collie B Power Station (Griffin Energy), closes 21 March, 2005 – Nicole Zago - Nicole.zago@environment.wa.gov.au Download the CANA submission Key contact person - WA Tristy Fairfield Climate Change Campaigner Conservation Council of Western Australia 08 9271 4488 (w) tristy.fairfield@environmenthouse.org.au www.conservationwa.asn.au