aljazeera.com
Australia top court rules against coal mine expansion, citing climate harm
Australia’s highest court has ruled against the expansion of a major coal mine, finding that planning authorities had failed to ensure that emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases would be “minimised to the greatest extent practicable”. Environmental campaigners called Wednesday’s court decision the first climate case to reach the country’s highest court. They said it set a “binding national precedent” requiring climate damage be weighed when fossil fuel projects are considered. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3Australia’s Great Barrier Reef hit by record bleaching as oceans warm list 2 of 3World’s ‘fossil fuel obsession’ threatens billions of lives: Amnesty list 3 of 3South Africa to Australia: Why coal profits are surging during Iran war end of list In the ruling, three of the High Court’s five judges found that the expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine in New South Wales must be halted. Planning authorities, they said, were obliged to consider granting consent only with conditions ensuring that all greenhouse gas emissions were minimised, and had not done so in this case. The case was brought by retired science teachers Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan, who had fought for years to halt the planned mine expansion in...
