What a fantastic night at the Strand Night Markets last Friday! The crowds were out in full force, and after the recent rain, people were keen to get outside and enjoy the evening.

Our energy voting board was a real head-turner, drawing in plenty of curious passersby. We had great conversations with over 40 community members, diving into the complexities of the energy transition. Renewables took the win again, but there was certainly interest in nuclear technology.

North Queensland Conservation Council today vowed to continue its fight to have the cumulative impacts of opening up the Galilee Basin to a clutch of new coal mines taken into account by having ‘Cumulative Impact Assessments’ thoroughly considered by governments charged with approving mining projects.

NQCC was an objector in the GVK Hancock Kevin’s Corner coal mine case in the Queensland Land Court. NQCC Coordinator Maree Dibella was speaking after learning of the decision to uphold approvals for a Mining Lease and an Environmental Authority for the project. Kevin’s Corner is a proposed 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) coal mine in the Galilee Basin that would cover over 37,000 hectares and be worked for 30 years (a period that the mining company defined as a ‘temporary interruption’ of other uses).

North Queensland Conservation Council responds to a story on ABC online that the Queensland Government is offering a royalty holiday to Adani that could cost the state $320 million in lost revenue.

Maree Dibella, Coordinator of North Queensland Conservation Council said:

“This is an outrageous move by the Queensland Government. All Australian’s own the resources in the ground and mining companies need to pay for it. Now Adani is getting our resources for free, on top of free water, and possibly free money too (via NAIF).”

“At a time when we need to be drastically reducing climate pollution, opening up a new mega coal mine is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. We need strong climate change action and that means no new coal.”

“This is a disgraceful decision by the Queensland Government to give preferential treatment to a dodgy company that already avoids paying tax, uses overseas tax havens, overstates job prospects for regional Queenslanders and will now have a break from paying for the coal.”

This is a post by outgoing Community Campaigner Jacob Miller.

The Adani Carmichael Project has increasingly benefited from State and Federal Government support while the list of financial institutions distancing themselves the project continues to grow. Supporters of the mine try to justify the project, citing the supposed economic benefits for North Queensland and even go so far as to claim coal from the mine will help India reduce its carbon emissions. This post is going examine and dispel the myths that are being used to prop up the case for the Carmichael project.

New laws are being introduced by the Queensland Government to change the way mining companies obtain water licences. This was originally written in the Townsville Bulletin as a “roadblock” for the project, without even naming what the proposed legislation is or about.

NQCC responded with this letter to the editor, but under a different headline (the title of this post) than what was published . Despite gaining the necessary environmental approvals at the State and Federal levels, it is not our position that the project “has the environmental green light”. This is highlighted by our support of continued legal challenges of the environmental approvals not taking into consideration the impact that emissions from burning coal will have on the Reef. We wholly support the Australian Conservation Foundation and Environmental Defenders Office appealing the recent decision of the Federal Court on this matter.

On the 11^th of August, NQCC staffers Maree Dibella and Jacob Miller attended Hon. Dr Steven Miles’ presentation on the challenges facing the Great Barrier Reef, as the Virginia Chadwick Memorial Lecture. Dr Miles unveiled the findings of a report by the Water Science Taskforce that details an $8.2 billion strategy to save the reef over the next decade.

The strategy is to reduce the amount of sediment that runs off into the reef by managing vegetation clearing and addressing gully erosion. Of particular concern is the Fitzroy catchment near Rockhampton, taking about three-quarters of the recommended funding, as well as the Burdekin catchment to the south of Townsville, which requires $1.39 billion for rehabilitation.

Cranky Curlew Productions are up to some more creative messaging in the spirit of raising awareness for Australia taking on its responsibilities and doing its share to reduce carbon emissions. In a reiteration of 'Heads in the Sand 2' footage filmed on the The Strand, Townsville in November 2015, we have this GIF. Did YOU know....Australia still subsidises fossil fuels $12 billion annually! For F#*&s Sake!

COP21 explainer – 5 must-watch videos

Seriously, a blog post on The Climate Reality Project website is really useful for understanding the importance of COP21.  And its in a video format.