Stopping mining is economic suicide

Tony Maher: "It’s not a very smart idea. I mean if you really want to destroy the Australian economy you would do that and the alleged moral case for that is greenhouse gas emissions. That’s the current modern case for closing down the mining industry. The problem with that is that they miss the point that Australian coal, for example, half of it is used in steel making. It’s not used in power stations at all. Now sure there’s a carbon emissions in the steel making process, but there’s not much of an alternative at the moment.  So there’s that problem; it’s a really unsophisticated view. And in terms of emissions, the accounting system that underpins the Kyoto protocol and all the other mechanisms in the United Nations framework is that you count the emissions in the country in which they’re produced, not from where you source the fuel. So if we’re going to change that to Australia being responsible for the emissions produced elsewhere then we’re going back 20 years and we’ll have to start again, and that is in nobody’s interests.  I always say to my friends in the environment movement that you can’t have your Kyoto and eat it too."

Categories: Coal in Australia, Economy, Global Markets, Resources & Economy
related videos