Brought to you by coal power ... and its devoted side-kick, the Lavoisier Group.
The fact that coal-fired power releases a tremendous volume of greenhouse gas is well known. With this in mind I designed and copywrote a series of placards to inform people of some of the OTHER problems caused by coal-fired power stations.
They were used to protest at a gathering held by the pro-coal, climate-denying Lavoisier Group, a group closely associated with the Australian mining industry.
The Australian economist John Quiggin wrote in 2001 that the Lavoisier Group is "...devoted to the proposition that basic principles of physics...cease to apply when they come into conflict with the interests of the Australian coal industry."1
You'll notice that the statement on each placard has at least one reputable citation.
Background information - Coal power in Australia
Approximately 80% of Australia's electricity is generated by coal.2 Where I live, in the Australian state of Victoria, lignite (commonly known as brown coal) is the primary source of electricity generation. Lignite releases 20-30% more CO2 per unit of energy produced than black coal.3
Australia's use of lignite and black coal for electricity generation is one of the main reasons Australia hovers near the top of the list of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita; (almost three times higher than the United Kingdom's).4
The Latrobe Valley and Hazelwood
The majority of Victoria's coal-fired power stations are located in the Latrobe Valley. One of these is the 1.5 gigawatt Hazelwood plant, the developed world's worst polluting power station. It was built in the 1950's and was supposed to have been decommissioned by now but in 2005 the Victorian State Government, under Premier Stephen Bracks, extended its operation to at least 2027.
More information about the Latrobe Valley can be found here: http://www.aboutcarbon.com.au/fossil-fuels/latrobe-valley
More placard ideas
Given the large number of negative impacts from coal-fired power, I could easily have made more placards covering other themes such as water use or water table and river degradation.
For example, water is an issue of great concern in Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent. The southern half of Australia suffers from particularly severe, enduring droughts. Permanent water restrictions exist, and yet Latrobe Valley power generators use about 125 billion litres of water each year. This is the equivalent of approximately one-third of Melbourne's annual consumption or 23% of Victoria's annual consumption.5 6
(As an aside, I seem to recall that almost 70% of our water is used by industry and yet the Victorian government lumps most of the water conservation effort onto the shoulders of the average person).
1. "Wishful thinking of Walsh's true believers" John Quiggin, Australian Financial Review, 11th April 2001
http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin/news/Lavoisier0104.html
2. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
http://www.csiro.au/science/Coal.html
3. "The Complete Guide to Climate Change" Brian Dawson, Matt Spannagle, Published by Routledge, Publication Date: 28/11/2008, pg 172
http://www.routledge.com/books/The-Complete-Guide-to-Climate-Change-isbn9780415477901
4. List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions_per_capita
5. Fury over coal giants' water bid.
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/fury-over-coal-giants-water-bid-20091104-hxyn.html
6. All is not well in the Valley.
http://www.aboutcarbon.com.au/fossil-fuels/latrobe-valley
