War on Coal

Greenpeace Document Exposes Dirty Tactics Being Used to Destroy Coal Mining in Australia

 

A few years back a document was leaked to the media by Greenpeace. It was called - "Stopping the Australian Coal Export Boom"

In this document it stated how the Coal Industry would be stopped in this country. 

Their dirty tactics and disinformation is what we are seeing today, everyday, everywhere!! On Facebook, Twitter, news articles, Television.

Adani's Carmichael Coal Mine Project was one of the mine projects they proposed to target first. And, as stated in their document - "Our strategy is essentially to 'Disrupt & Delay' key projects and infrastructure while gradually eroding public and political support for the industry and continually building the power of the movement to win MORE"

From delaying tactics with regards to ridiculous court cases, that they knew they could not win, Indigenous Land Rights, threats to the Great Barrier Reef , Land owners along the proposed rail line worried about impacts to their land, health reasons, black lung disease, coal dust impacts, coal prices, viability of the mine, scandals with regards to Adani, and so forth. 

 Does any of the above ring a bell?

Think about it for a moment..... Please read this document, it is all stated how they would "Change the Story of Coal", discredit an Industry that Australia relies on.....

What we came across was a ‘funding proposal’ to destroy coal mining in Australia.

Created in 2011, it is a very detailed guide into the dirty tactics that have been used over the last six years to discredit the coal industry and destroy the livelihoods of millions of Australians, which now makes sense as to why the hurdles seem so large for Adani's Carmichael Coal Mine Project.

Now that we know these attacks were all ‘part of the their plan’ to start with – it goes a long way to proving our point that the conversation around coal is unfair, incorrect, short-sighted and baseless – its dirty activism and will cause irreparable damage to Australia’s economy.

The origins of the ‘Anti-Coal Movement’.

The movement was started in earnest in 2011, and we uncovered the full strategy cooked up by several interested parties, which is aimed at investing in a number of different ways to completely destroy the coal industry.  The ‘research’ that funded the report’s creation, was supplied, very interestingly, by the Rockefeller Family Fund.

The leaked document was written by Bob Burton from CoalSwarm, Sam Hardy from the Graeme Wood Foundation and John Hepburn from Greenpeace Australia Pacific. It was titled “Stopping the Australian Coal Export Boom”, and when the plan was leaked to business reporters, a political backlash was sparked and led by Treasurer Wayne Swan, who called the plan “completely destructive and irresponsible”.

A link to the document can be found here - Stopping the Australian Coal Export Boom
 

At the time BHP Billiton announced that they were “both disturbed and surprised”, and said that plans to harm the coal industry would be having a “direct impact on the livelihoods of thousands of Australians”.

Rio Tinto also weighed in, calling it a “blue print for economic vandalism”, and saying that it would threaten jobs, investment, and growth.

Document gave detailed plans to bring the coal industry down.

The document is a funding proposal aimed at getting the anti-coal movement mobilised, due to Australia being on the verge of an “unprecedented” coal boom. The proposal is inflammatory, and goes on to say that if the industry continues to expand it will have “devastating consequences for the global climate,” employing generalist and highly loaded phrases like “global climate tipping points” yet the document is scant on supporting research or scientific back-up.

The 6 elements of the plan, that they were seeking investment and money from interested parties to deliver on were:

1. Disrupt and delay key infrastructure projects – challenge and delay ports, rail and mega-mines
2. Constrain the space for mining – leverage coal seam gas outrage and point at coal industry
3. Increase investor risk – create political uncertainty to make coal mines a bad investment
4. Increase costs – remove subsidies and bog down new mines in litigation
5. Withdraw the social license of the coal industry – change the story of coal from a backbone industry to a destructive industry in the media
6. Build a powerful movement – networks, alliances and social movements

These ‘objectives’ would be delivered through a range of media campaigns, litigation, social media, advertising and other tactical points including specified ‘messages’ that would be seeded out to the media. They provided this super-confusing flow chart on page 5 showing how all these tactics intertwine to achieve their unfathomably short-sighted and self-interested objectives.

Targeted Plans – The Battle of Galilee & Hunter Valley

The Galilee Basin was a key focus of their proposed ‘activity’, the group wanted to drive up the costs for the Galilee Basin, causing such extensive delays that the projects would fail. The activists also hoped that more landowners in the Hunter Valley would be “locking the gate” against coal.

The so-called “Battle of Galilee” was prioritized, as the rail line to the basin was seen as one of the most important pieces of infrastructure since it would “unlock coal from a series of mega-mines” in the area which is rich in high quality coal resources. The plan was to capitalise on the basin’s links to the Great Barrier Reef, launching a public campaign which would put it under the international spotlight.

Other plans included building the anti-coal movement and mobilising off the back of the 2011 community backlash to coal seam gas. Martin Ferguson, the Resources Minister at the time, said that the “elaborate strategies which were designed to destroy Australian jobs and industries were very disturbing.”

The document also outlined a pitch for funding of up to $5.92 million which was to be used for litigation aimed at stopping the expansions of coal ports, new mines, and major rail lines. Conservative estimates suggests that to-date, this campaign has cost investors closer to $50 million in advertising, agency fees, consulting, litigation and events.

How they proposed to spend the $5.8 million to destroy an industry.

 Turns out – rent-a-crowds are super expensive to organise and ‘manage’.

Litigation: $1.35 million
Battle of the Galilee: $925K
Enough is Enough – Hunter Valley: $614K
Activism in Victoria & WA:  $280K
Change the Story of Coal (Media costs): $665K
Investor Uncertainty: $220K
Exposing the ‘Health Impacts of Coal’: $100K
Staff Training, Admin, Management: $1.765 million

In order to ‘Change the Story of Coal’ one of the strategies proposed the hiring of staff who would be conducting “industry scandal research” so that instead of being seen as something which has created prosperity and jobs for Australia, coal would be seen as destructive, corrupt, and threatening to the global climate.

Movement Received Dodgy Funding.

In an article published by Australian Mining (and mainstream newspapers) in 2012, it was found that the anti-mining activists had received approximately $750,000 in funding from the federal government.

The Greenpeace proposal acknowledges Environment Victoria, The Conservation Council of Western Australia, and the Nature Conservation Council, who received government grants of $211,000, $319,420, and $213,215, respectively in 2011-2012.

Nikki Williams (Australian Coal Association CEO) said that the ACA was deeply concerned about anti-mining groups potentially “misusing public funds”.

John Hepburn, an author of the document in question, has admitted that he received $70,000 from the Rockefeller Family Fund, which is based in the US. Since this document was leaked, the Rockefeller family came out to the press in 2012 and distanced itself from the proposal and the campaign. That said, they were front-and-centre during the Four Corners ‘Coal is Dead’ not long ago!!.

Movement also has ties to the recent USA election

As was revealed by WikiLeaks during the recent US elections via the Podesta emails is that these Activists have ties to the US.

In one of the emails John Hepburn was praising the efforts of people such as Tim Buckley from the IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis) which we are sure is a front for the anti coal movement. Link to their website here - IEEFA

Also note that the IEEFA gets funding from the Rockefeller Family Fund , which also funded the Greenpeace document!!


Other groups mentioned in the emails were - 
Getup, Greenpeace, 350.org,  Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Mackay Conservation Group, Market Forces and the Sunrise Project.

All involved in one way or another with the Stopping the Australian Export Boom document.

Link to WikiLeaks email - Podesta Email

Stand up and Speak Up – and DO IT NOW.

Its time to speak up for your industry and your livelihood.

In the year 2015-2016, the Queensland Coal Industry contributed $32.7 billion Gross Regional Product and, also employed, directly and indirectly, 164482 people. Regardless of their personal environmental views, it defies belief that the anti-coal movement are so willing to drag down an entire industry – taking with it the employment prospects, livelihoods and economic security of almost 1 million people in Queensland alone (not to mention those employed, directly or indirectly by coal in NSW, WA and the rest of the country).

What we must realize, after researching this at length, is that we are but a very small voice in a David-and-Goliath battle against a movement that is well funded, well connected and essentially activating a well put together plan to achieve their objectives at ANY COST.

Extremism in any form is worrying, especially when it comes to the Australian economy. The Australian public should voice their disgust at the lengths the anti-coal movement is willing to go to in order to sabotage the coal industry, and in turn, all of the people who rely on the industry for their livelihoods.

If you work in Coal Mining – or supply to mining, infrastructure or any of the associated industries – you need to start making your voice heard. Consider this a rally-cry: so we come out booming just as loud to counter this nonsense before it, as intended, destroys our livelihoods.

The first thing you can do – is write personally to your local member of parliament. Voice your concerns to anyone you know.  Share this information so that everyone knows what is going on in Australia right now!!

Adani Abbot Point Coal Terminal - Bowen Nth Qld

Please check out our facebook group and facts pages, we also are on twitter. Links below -

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