Both major parties have struggled to find a message that appeals to climate-concerned voters in cities and regional communities that depend on coal for jobs.
Climate change: Australia wrestles with its coal mining dilemma
For more than 200 years, workers at the Port of Newcastle have loaded ships with coal dug out of nearby mines for transport to Asia and beyond. But with global action to tackle climate change set to decimate the trade, the management at the world’s biggest coal port is preparing for a future without the fossil fuel that generates 60 per cent of its revenues.
“The future of coal is obviously questionable and we have to prepare for that,” says Roy Green, chair of the port, which is a gateway to the Hunter Valley, a coal mining region 280km north of Sydney. “We are likely to see a continuing flattening of coal volumes through the port and ultimately a decline, as the world switches away from coal-fired power.”
Coal-rich Hunter Valley ponders jobs future as Asian giants commit to net-zero carbon emissions
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FebFebruary 2021 at 2:08am
Gerard Spinks and Carl Kirwin are not as worried about their own futures as those of their children and grandchildren.
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At the Lochinvar pub in the NSW Hunter Valley, a couple of power industry workers meet for a drink and ponder the future. Everybody s a bit nervous because we are very reliant about coal, coal-fired power, says Gerard Spinks, who has worked for 39 years in the power stations of the Upper Hunter. All of our other main industries are gone our steel, shipbuilding, rail, and textiles so all we ve got left is mining and power. Once that goes, we ve got no idea what the future holds.