WOLLAR resident Bev Smiles describes herself as a woman who lives in the middle of an open cut coal mine.
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Surrounded by the giant Wilpinjong, Ulan and Moolarben mines, in an area between Denman and Mudgee, Ms Smiles is one of the last remaining residents in a village eaten up by coal.
On a heritage train trip between Maitland and Gulgong on Sunday, she spoke about the death of Wollar caused by expansion of Wilpinjong mine to provide coal for Bayswater power station at Muswellbrook.
In September she will ask questions, along with other Hunter residents, at the annual general meeting of energy giant AGL, which runs Bayswater, as part of a Fossil Free AGL campaign by environmental and community groups.
“AGL wants to be seen as a clean, green company, but more than 80 per cent of its energy comes from coal, and they own three of the eight dirtiest coal plants in the country,” environmental group 350.org campaigner Moira Williams said.
The campaign has called for AGL to transition from coal within the decade, after the company recently announced plans to continue relying on coal at some power stations until nearly 2050, with plans for Bayswater until 2035.
More than 80 people joined the heritage train for a trip through the Hunter and Western coal fields, including the Wilpinjong, Ulan and Moolarben mines stretching for kilometres, which could eventually produce more than 50 million tonnes of coal per year.
The trip was organised by 350.org, Lock the Gate, the Nature Conservation Council and Wollar Progress Association to show a unique view of the extent of coal mining in the Hunter and Western regions.
It was held two months after 350.org launched its AGL campaign for the company to move to renewable energy, and outline a plan at its 2017 annual general meeting to transition out of all fossil fuel extraction, generation and supply by 2026.
Energy analyst Tim Buckley said Australian politicians were failing the community by committing to a target to keep a global temperature increase to two degrees, but failing to put a price on carbon and plan for a national transition from coal by supporting renewables.
He provided evidence to show the world’s three largest coal producers and consumers – China, America and India – were moving away from coal imports and would not be moving back. Reliance on Japan, Korea and Taiwan to fill the void was misguided because a declining global coal market meant declining coal prices and unprofitable Hunter coal mines, he said.
“China has spent the past five to 10 years investing in everything other than coal-fired power stations. They’re building the most solar power stations, the most hydro, the most wind power and the most gas pipelines. And that says they’re diverting away from coal.”
Although Chinese coal imports had recently increased, pushing up thermal coal prices, China had also announced the retrenchment of 1.2 million of its 6 million coal workers, he said.
“The Chinese government wants to dominate the world in new industries, and they’re doing a bloody good job about it,” Mr Buckley said.
The changing Indian economy and approach to energy was also significant for Australia, he said.
Its intention to end coal imports by increasing its domestic coal production, and set a target of producing 175,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2022 was significant in world terms, for Australia and the Hunter region, he said.
“Whenever I get depressed by Australian politics I look at India,” Mr Buckley said.
Bev Smiles said the march of coal in more isolated parts of the Upper Hunter meant individuals and tiny communities like Wollar were left stranded within hundreds of square kilometres of mine-owned land.
“This current NSW Government is making it easier for mining companies and sacrificing people’s lives,” Ms Smiles said.
Bulga resident Judith Leslie said the history of government support for the Mount Thorley Warkworth mine had left many in the Hunter deeply distrustful of politicians and more willing to engage in community action.
“Alan Jones shamed Mike Baird to ‘walk’ the country where coal mining occurs, which he didn’t do. He just came to the Hunter for a day and smiled a lot,” Mrs Leslie said.
Lock the Gate Hunter coordinator Steve Phillips described the results of a doorknock in Muswellbrook as surprising.
“Even people who supported coal were asking ‘What next after coal’?” Mr Phillips said.
Although the mining industry depicted coal and the Hunter as inevitably linked, the community wanted to see a transition plan, he said.
“It was only in 1996 when the first open cut mine was approved near Muswellbrook, and now there are three big mines. Before that time coal mining was underground and very small for most of its history,” he said.
Moira Williams said events like the coal heritage train trip were designed to show that the consequences of large open cut coal mines in the Hunter, and particularly in isolated parts of the Upper Hunter, were being borne by a few, and the full cost of coal needed to be acknowledged in the community and in governments.
“We think it’s important to hear from the communities that have dealt with the massive expansion of coal mining in the region,” Ms Williams said.
“We all flick on the lights in our homes, but the electricity comes at a real cost to some people in the Hunter region, and increasingly at a real cost to the environment both in Australia, but globally.”
Ms Williams said the train trip on Rail Motor Society-restored 600 Class trains provided evidence of mine impacts that most people did not see.
The shock of the size of Wilponjong mine showed why local residents fought its impacts for years, she said.