Community group that advocates for a total ban on gas mining in Victoria. Will we allow industry practices to be deployed in Torquay and the Surf Coast that will pollute air, waste vast quantities of water, cause 24/7 noise pollution, over-stress our roads, could irreversibly contaminate aquifers and even trigger earthquakes?
Why on Earth should we now that we can get our energy from renewable energy sources which are safe, better for both climate and environment, and create sustainable jobs in the region? Reasons why we don’t need to frack for gas:
1) The local community bears the burden while the profits go elsewhere:
• Gas prices go up – the gas is exported
• Landscape mutilated by industrial gasfield zones. Tourism ruined. Real estate value drops
• Local pollution and noise. Risky gambling with drinking water and health
2) Fracking is intergenerational theft, short-sighted and amoral. Here’s why:
• It is only profitable because costs of cleaning up and climate damage are not part of the equation
• Gas causes more climate damage than coal and oil when methane and fugitive emissions are accounted for
• Removes focus and economy from the transition to renewables and sustainable jobs
• Unnecessary detour. Fossil fuels are to be phased out
• So-called ‘scientific’ figures are taken out of thin air. Scientists’ statements are for hire.
What drives the gas mining industry forward is a desire to make profits. Local communities in Queensland are seeing the devastating consequences of this industry: Only a few people benefit financially from it, and they are not held accountable by authorities to pay the bills for the damage they create in the ground as well as in the air.
» See also: www.frackfreegeelong.org and www.climatesafety.info/audio-postcard-from-the-future-of-fracking