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Coal loading at the Mount Thorley Warkworth mine in the Hunter. Photograph: Ho New/Reuters
(The Guardian) Famed Nasa climate scientist James Hansen has joined 21 other academics to urge the New South Wales government to ban new coal mines in the Hunter Valley, saying mining is putting residents’ health at risk.
In a pre-election salvo, a letter to NSW premier Mike Baird raises concerns about health impacts from air pollution, degradation of underground water and soil and the resulting “dangerous changes” to Australia’s climate due to the release of greenhouse gases.
The letter states: “The health of the community and the social and environmental values of the Hunter Valley are being damaged by the increasing coal production in the region.
“People’s health is at risk from declining air quality associated with coal mining, transportation and combustion. The illnesses and deaths associated with air pollution from coal in the region are potentially costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year.
“It is time to begin to phase out coal production in the Hunter Valley and begin a transition to a safer, healthier, and secure economic future.”
The letter is signed by Hansen, who is considered one of the first scientists to highlight the issue of climate change through his testimony to US Congress in the 1980s, along with former Australians of the year Fiona Stanley and Tim Flannery.
An accompanying report by the Climate and Health Alliance, a coalition of 28 health groups that are concerned about climate change, calculates that the health damage caused by the Hunter Valley’s five coal-fired power stations costs the economy $600m a year.
This figure, estimated by Economists at Large, is based on the health costs and lost productivity from respiratory problems, such as asthma, and cardiac issues caused by coal dust particles released into the atmosphere.
Read full story here.