"Name supplied" - readers invited to guess who penned the letter

There are definitely times when newspapers publishing letters to editors shouldn't publish writers' names. However, today's edition of The Daily Examiner is not one of those times. One has to hope this was an oversight by the Examiner.

 

Coal Seam Gas: an object lesson for Northern Rivers communities is coming out of Colorado USA

These photographs and videos set out below are coming out of Colorado in the United States and, show just part of the gas and oil fields flooded in September 2013.

Is this the level of risk Prime Minister Tony Abbott, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell, Metgasco Limited, and its main backer ERM Power, are willing to expose the flood-prone Northern Rivers region to?

http://youtu.be/y_wNkPYGiRo

Colorado frack-site flooding - September 2013 from Mateo Albaricoque on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/74683562

The Daily Examiner 19 September 2013:

EmmaB

So Metgasco is heartened by what the Liberal/Nationals governments are saying at state and federal level and plans to "ride a rising tide" to corporate prosperity on the backs of local communities.

Perhaps its board members should give some thought to both past and recent North Coast flood event history.

Then look at those news photographs of literally one thousand plus flooded gas wells, miles of broken pipelines, drifting condensate tanks and floating chemical barrels contaminating Colorado countryside right now.

Of which one Weld County, Colorado resident stated in the media:

“We probably shouldn’t have had the oil and gas development in a flood plain to begin with. That would have been the prudent thing. But, it’s done now. Now we have deal with the result of having made that decision.”

I can assure Metgasco that Northern Rivers residents are noting the lessons those photographs teach.

1984 Newspeak lives in 21st Century Australia! There is no such thing as "coal seam gas" in the lexicon of the NSW O'Farrell Government

This move by the NSW Coalition Government would be laughable if not for the deceit behind it.

The Sydney Morning Herald 16 September 2013:

The phrase "coal seam gas" is set to be wiped from official documents in NSW and possibly across Australia as governments come under increasing pressure over the contentious energy policy area.

A leaked briefing note prepared for NSW energy and resources minister Chris Hartcher recommends the phrase and its acronym CSG be replaced with the standard term "natural gas from coal seams".

The document says the move is designed to "improve clarity and consistency of the terms used to describe coal seam gas in departmental correspondence, communication and content".

It says the change is a recommendation of the federal Standing Council on Energy and Resources, whose members include ministers from each state and territory and the commonwealth.

In May the council published a National Harmonised Regulatory Framework for Natural Gas from Coal Seams which is designed to ensure "regulatory regimes are robust, consistent and transparent across all Australian jurisdictions".

"This is part of a national harmonisation initiative adopted by all governments," the NSW briefing note says.

The note recommends that references to "coal seam gas" and "CSG" be removed "where possible" in sentences on websites and in marketing material and standard responses to letters.

In internal briefing notes "natural gas from coal seams" should be used in the first reference, it advises.

However, CSG and coal seam gas are condoned on social media to track the national debate.

"Social media relies on CSG or coal seam gas references and hashtags (ie: #CSG)," the note says.

"In order to participate and track conversations it is therefore acceptable to use CSG or coal seam gas on Twitter and Facebook. CSG is also a recognised online search term and is a relevant key work for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This will assist the public in finding government information on the issue".

A handwritten addition to the note says the government "will need to ensure same approach" is followed within two independent agencies, the Land and Water Commissioner and the Office of the Chief Scientist.

So how will local government and greenhouse gas abatement businesses fare now that Abbott & Co have changed the goal posts?

Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott says his government will waste little time before getting down to business after he and his frontbench are officially sworn in this morning.

Ten days after being elected to government, the Prime Minister-elect, his ministers and parliamentary secretaries will be officially commissioned by the Governor-General Quentin Bryce at Government House.

Mr Abbott says he will immediately instruct the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to prepare legislation to repeal the carbon tax. He also says incoming treasurer Joe Hockey will instruct the board of the Clean Energy Corporation to cease operations. [ABC News 18 September 2013]

Right now there are local councils across Australia considering the installation of landfill gas extraction systems. A laudable aim.

One particular council received advice that under the Labor federal government scheme its gas extraction project would generate revenues and savings worth between $1.8 million to $2.6 million over 7 years for estimated installation/operating costs of $1.18 million.

However, under the Abbott Government it is predicted that this council will have to outlay an est. $1.18 million in installation/operating costs over the next 7 years in order to generate revenue and savings in the vicinity of $512,000 during that same time period. Leaving the project with a net present value of an est. -$670,000.

An unenviable position for the council to be in and, one that residents and ratepayers will recognise as a harbinger of rises in domestic and commercial waste charges.

Companies which supply these landfill gas extraction systems to local government may be in an even worse position. Particularly those companies which have multiple councils on their customer lists.

If one looks at past minutes of various council meetings held up and down the east coast of the country, some of these waste management businesses committed themselves to long contracts in the belief that the carbon pricing mechanism/emissions trading scheme was here to stay.

A company which was relying on future trading of carbon credits on the domestic/international market or renewable energy certificates - to offset generous terms in tenders submitted to and accepted by a council – may be wondering what its financial bottom line will look like by 2015-16.

Especially if its tender also involved energy creation, given falling electricity demand in Australia

One particular December 2011 contract on the public record (which was predicated on potentially higher revenue for the company under Labor's Clean Energy Future legislation) can be found in Gladstone Regional Council records:

1. Accepts the offer from LGI Pty Ltd for contract number 35/12 for a period of 30

years for:-

A). No capital or ongoing maintenance costs for:-

i. the landfill gas extraction system,

ii. the flaring system,

iii. the electricity grid connection and generation system.

B). No costs for:-

i. creation, registration, sale & reporting of Carbon Farming Initiative

credits generated,

ii. sale & reporting of all electricity generated,

iii. creation, registration, sale & reporting on large renewable energy

certificates relating to all renewable electricity generated.

C). A share in the gross revenue generated form the carbon credits, raw

electricity generated and the Large Renewable Energy Certificates

associated with the renewable electricity generation as outline in the

attached confidential tender evaluation.Page 5

2. Notes the capital value of the landfill gas extraction & flaring system to be of the

order of $450,000 and the total value of the credits from the Carbon Farming

Initiative for legacy waste to be $4.6 million over 30 years.

The markedly lower revenue and savings expected under the Abbott Government’s ‘direct action’ scheme may see some of the smaller businesses involved in landfill gas extraction go to the wall if the they hold too many pre-Abbott Government council contacts.