Great Barrier Reef | Greenpeace Blogs

– co-written by Mary Anne Hitt, Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, and Justin Guay, Sierra Club’s International Program.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) and its chairman, Fred Hochberg, are facing a big decision about a coal project in one of the world’s most treasured places. Disturbing reports are emerging that the bank is considering financing a massive coal project in Australia with taxpayer money that would include an export terminal inside the Great Barrier Reef.

We need your help to put the brakes on this project now. This is only the latest in a string of coal projects supported by Ex-Im Bank that are harming communities and the environment in South Africa, India, and even here in Appalachia.

The project’s backers, India-based GVK and Australia-based Hancock Coal, are telling various media outlets that Ex-Im is prepared to finance equipment for their massive Alpha mine in Australia’s Galilee Basin. The Galilee Basin is ground zero for Australia’s push to triple coal exports, a move that would put Australia well ahead of Saudi Arabia for total carbon exports. The planned projects from Hancock Coal, including the Alpha mine, would not only flood the international market with nearly 8 billion tons of coal (double China’s current annual consumption) but also ravage one of the world’s unique natural treasures — the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading →

Blogpost by John Hepburn, Greenpeace Australia

In our campaign to stop dangerous climate change, Greenpeace is taking on one of the most urgent issues: the enormous expansion of coal mining and coal exports from Australia. Not only does coal expansion spell disaster for our global climate but it threatens one of the world’s most precious treasures, the Great Barrier Reef.

The Galilee Basin, located in the heart of Queensland, is the site of a series of proposed mega mines that could see Australia’s coal exports more than double within a decade. Enormous coal mines mean enormous amounts of carbon pollution and supporting infrastructure – including at least one rail line and multiple massive port terminals. Australia is on the brink of turning the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area into an industrial estate. Continue reading →