Please introduce a permanent ban on unconventional gas in Victoria

TO:

• Daniel Andrews, Premier
• Lily D'Ambrosio, Energy Minister

Dear Minister,

My name is Peter Campbell, I am an IT consultant and live in Surrey Hills.  I am writing to you to urge you to stand with the community and permanently ban onshore gas drilling.

The community has reached consensus. 73 communities have declared themselves 'Gasfield Free' , with an overwhelming majority pledging they will do whatever it takes to stop onshore gas drilling going ahead.

Onshore gasfields have inherent risks that we will not tolerate.  Water contamination, air pollution and industrialisation threaten rural communities, the health of people and animals, our environment and local economies.

Already the coalition have promised us a 5 year moratorium on all onshore gas drilling. But that does not give us enough certainty. We need your government to address community anxiety and lift the cloud from over our heads by putting in place a permanent ban on all onshore gas drilling.

Unconventional gas (UCG) production will destroy agricultural land and wilderness areas and will greatly compromise tourism in Victoria.

I hope the Andrews Labor Government will stand on the side of the community.

Renewable energy must be implemented to replace fossil fuel usage for electricity, heating and transport.

Regards,

Peter Campbell

Halt coal seam gas expansion

Open letter to Minister Greg Combet. 

I am writing to urgently draw your attention to research which has just been release by Southern Cross University. The research shows massive leakages from the ground occurring around Tara in Queensland where coal seam gas mining is underway.

If these results are verified it could mean that coal seam gas is worse for climate change than coal.

Please take the following urgent actions in the interests of Australia's farms, environment and climate:

1. Put in place an immediate moratorium on coal seam gas exports from Australia until further study has been done to verify the results of this research.
2. Commission a thorough independent study of the scale of fugitive emissions from coal seam gas mining, including emissions directly from the ground.
3. Implement a revised greenhouse gas accounting method to ensure that these 'fugitive' emissions from coal seam gas mining are accounted and paid for.

Your Sincerely,

Peter Campbell