Australia’s CFMEU Calls for Cleaner Measures to Reduce Carbon Emissions

The Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia has called on the new Kevin Rudd government in Australia to reverse John Howard’s policies on the environment. In a report released on 6 December, CFMEU is calling on the government to devote more funding to new technologies aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

Specifically, the CFMEU is urging the Rudd government to take the global lead in promoting carbon capture and storage technology. The CFMEU also called on mining houses operating in Australia – BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Xstrata – to also invest at least A$1-per-tonne of coal produced into new technologies for carbon capture. CFMEU National President Tony Maher said coal companies currently are only placing A$0.20-a-tonne into clean coal research.

CFMEU's Tony Maher

“While some call for extreme responses like banning coal altogether,” said Maher, “the real challenge is to accept that developing nations, in particular India and China, will be reliant on coal for some time and we need to reduce the impact of this energy source on the environment.”

Maher was part of the official Australia government delegation to the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. That delegation, in stark reversal to Howard’s policies, announced to a panel on 5 December in Bali that it supports a Kyoto protocol measure for Australia, calling for carbon emissions curtailment of 25-40% by the year 2020.

“Making carbon capture and storage a reality for our future is the brave step that Australia must take as it embarks as a global leader on climate change,” said Maher on release of the CFMEU report. “That’s why Australian coal miners have embraced the Kyoto process,” he added, stating that the world’s major coal producers ought to be investing at least A$1-per-tonne on clean technologies.