Category Archives: The Mitigation Battle

PLEA Network

17 July 2015, The Independent, Iran nuclear deal: Oil majors have already started the scramble to tap the country’s rich resources. The race to exploit Iran’s vast and under-utilised oil and gas reserves has begun after the country struck a crucial deal to curb its nuclear programme in return for relaxing foreign sanctions on its energy and finance industries. Easing the sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and the UN in 2012 paves the way for a massive leap in Iran’s oil and gas production that will require Western production expertise. The Iranian government and the oil majors have been quietly courting each other in the run-up to the agreement, with companies such as BP, Shell, Eni, Statoil and Total all thought to be seriously considering a move into the country. Read More here

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13 July 2025, 350.org: New information confirms what we suspected all along — the Commonwealth Bank has been helping Indian mining giant Adani with its plans to dig up vast stores of coal from the Galilee Basin and ship that coal across our precious Great Barrier Reef. This comes after months of CommBank refusing to comment on its involvement in this ridiculous project and shutting out the concerns of the community and its own customers. As CommBank gives Adani a helping hand, 11 of the world’s largest banks have backed away from this climate and reef disaster for good. Whilst it’s undeniable that CommBank has its fingerprints on this climate bomb, it’s also undeniable that Galilee coal is simply unburnable and unbankable. According to the former QLD Treasury department, this project is financially unviable. According to the climate science, Galilee coal can never be safely burned. This makes it all the more outrageous that Australia’s oldest and largest bank would even consider touching it.  Go here to Tell CommBank’s CEO Ian Narev that the case for canning this climate catastrophe has never been clearer – tell him to get his Bank out of Adani’s Galilee coal project today!

PLEA Network

13 July 2015, The Guardian, Abbott government extends renewable energy investment ban to solar power. Clean Energy Finance Corporation banned from investing in small-scale solar projects in move industry claims is ‘revenge politics’ that will strangle the sector: A directive banning the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) from investing in existing wind technology will also apply to small-scale solar projects, a move that will effectively throttle the industry, the Australian Solar Council said. The federal government on Sunday confirmed that the $10bn CEFC will no longer invest in wind power, instead focussing on “emerging technologies”.

“It is our policy to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation because we think that if the projects stack up economically, there’s no reason why they can’t be supported in the usual way,” Abbott told reporters in Darwin. “But while the CEFC exists, what we believe it should be doing is investing in new and emerging technologies – certainly not existing windfarms. “This is a government which supports renewables, but obviously we want to support renewables at the same time as reducing the upward pressure on power prices,” the prime minister said. “We want to keep power prices as low as possible, consistent with a strong renewables sector.”

PLEA Network

7 July 2015, The Guardian, Bulga residents battling mine expansion hail NSW government planning decision. The NSW planning minister says a proposed amendment would give social and environmental issues equal standing with the economic in decision making. Residents in the New South Wales town of Bulga, which was previously earmarked for relocation due to the expansion of a nearby mine, have seized upon changes to the state’s planning laws as potentially crucial in their battle to prevent the project’s extension. NSW planning minister Rob Stokes has released a proposed amendment to the state’s mining environmental planning policy. The change removes a provision that makes the economic importance of resources “the principal consideration” when determining whether to allow mining projects. Stokes said the draft change would ensure decisions were made with environmental and social, as well as economic, factors in mind. Read More here