Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has stunned conservationists by denying that burning coal causes greenhouse gas emissions.
The denial was made in a submission by Senator Campbell to a Federal Court challenge by a Queensland environmental group.
Wildlife Whitsunday went to court seeking environmental impact assessments on two coal mines, saying burning coal produces gas emissions that contribute to climate change and thereby threaten assets like the Great Barrier Reef.
The government approved the Isaac Plains and Sonoma Coal projects in May, saying neither needed assessment under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Senator Campbell, through a government solicitor, disagreed with the need for the assessments and refuted the group’s claim that “the burning of coal to generate electricity generally results in the emission of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming”.
He made the statement on August 5, just days after warning Australians about the inevitability of global warming.
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