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Archive for December 2012

The toll from coal – Newcastle seeks to stop T4

by CAHA
December 18th, 2012

The proposal for a fourth coal terminal at Newcastle has united local residents in a joint effort to protect community and workers’ health. Community members are deeply concerned about the impact of coal dust from the proposed terminal. Health experts visited the city earlier this year to talk about the danger of coal dust. 

Between 1984 and 2012 coal exports from Newcastle increased ten-fold from 21 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 210 Mtpa. The proposed fourth terminal (T4) would see this increase to 330 Mtpa, making Newcastle the world’s largest coal port.

A survey of 580 households found that fewer than 10% of residents support T4 and most are concerned about health impacts. Newcastle residents routinely wipe coal dust from every horizontal surface inside and outside their homes. T4 could also mean 100 more uncovered coal trains every day, resulting in even higher levels of particle pollution. There are currently 25,000 children attending schools within 500 metres of the coal corridor.

The health and social harms of coal mining and transport are well documented. People living in coal-effected communities are more likely to suffer heart, lung and kidney cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular disease and birth defects. There is a direct link between long-term exposure to particle pollution and hospital admissions, emergency department attendance, asthma, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure and premature death.

The fine particles associated with coal mining, coal transport and the diesel emissions from coal trains are monitored at locations throughout the Hunter Valley. During the last year, monitoring stations recorded 98 exceedances of the national standard for PM10 (particles of up to ten microns in diameter). Residents who subscribe to the EPA’s air pollution alerts often receive more than one each day, especially on dry, windy days when coal dust is blown from the valley’s vast open cut mines.

NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has established Planning Assessment Commission to weigh up T4’s merits and impacts. They must weight up the concerns raised in 500 submissions, 90% of which opposed the terminal. Commissioners will advise the Minister in early 2013. In their submission on T4, NSW Health noted that there are already exceedances of the national PM10 standard in Newcastle and that uncovered coal wagons and diesel emissions will increase particle pollution in residential areas between the mines and the port.

There are also concerns about workers’ health. A cancer cluster has been identified at one of Newcastle’s three existing coal terminals. Between 1983 and 2006, 63 cancers including melanoma, prostate and bowel cancer were diagnosed among 859 company employees. Terminal workers are 1.8 times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than the average population and 2.8 times more likely than those only employed at a neighbouring terminal.

The proposed terminal would also have a huge environmental impact. Increased coal exports would mean at least 15 new or expanded open-cut coalmines in the Hunter Valley and Gunnedah Basin, resulting in destruction of forests and agricultural land, and polluted water. Burning the coal would produce more than 300 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution each year, more than every power station and every vehicle in Australia. The proposed terminal and its uncovered coal piles would displace hundreds of hectares of wetland on Kooragang Island where 117 bird species have been recorded, including at least four migratory shorebirds. Much of Kooragang Island is internationally recognised under the Ramsar Convention.

The community are concerned however that these facts alone will not prevent the NSW Government approving Port Waratah Coal Services proposal, and that T4 will only be rejected through community and political pressure. The local alliance of 14 community groups is actively communicating these concerns to elected representatives but seek wider community support.

Health professionals and groups can help protect the Newscastle community from the run-away impacts of the coal boom by:

1. Writing to Premier Barry O’Farrell and Planning Minister Brad Hazzard to express your concern. Click here http://stopt4.org.au to send an instant letter to them.

2. Donate to the Coal Terminal Action Group http://tinyurl.com/stopt4donate who are currently raising funds for air quality monitoring along the coal corridor and to place a full page ad in the Newcastle Herald.

3. Like CTAG on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CoalTerminalActionGroup to receive regular updates about campaign events and developments.

James Whelan, Coal Terminal Action Group

Categories Advocacy, Climate, Coal, Health, Health professionals, Uncategorized
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DOHA Declaration on Climate, Health and Wellbeing

by CAHA
December 3rd, 2012

The international health and medical community have developed a joint statement on climate health and wellbeing calling for health to be central to climate action during the COP18 international climate change negotiations in Doha, Qatar.

Signatories to the Doha Declaration for Climate, Health and Wellbeing include the World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, International Federation of Medical Students, Health Care Without Harm, European Public Health Association, Royal College of General Practitioners (UK), Climate and Health Council, OraTaiao: The New Zealand Climate & Health Council, NHS Sustainable Development Unit, Umeå Center for Global Health Research, Climate and Health Alliance, Public Health Association of Australia, the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, Doctors Reform Society, Australian Association of Social Workers, and the Australian Medical Students Association and many others.

The Doha Declaration calls for health to be central to climate action, and highlights the opportunities to improve health through emissions reductions – pointing out that reducing fossil fuel consumption and moving to low carbon energy systems can deliver many benefits to health worldwide.

“The impact of climate change on health is one of the most significant measures of harm associated with our warming planet,” the Declaration says. “Protecting health is therefore one of the most important motivations for climate action.”

This effort builds on the collaboration at the 2011 global climate and health summit among the health and medical community in advocate for climate action.

The Doha Declaration outlines why health experts are extremely worried about the slow progress at the international climate negotiations, and highlights how the health co-benefits of emissions can build support for ambitious climate action.

This joint statement from the global health community reiterates policy demands from the 2011 Durban Declaration and Global Call to Action urging countries to consider the health implications of climate change as well as the health benefits of climate action – which can provide savings that either largely or completely offset the costs of mitigation and adaptation.

This statement will be used in discussion with policy makers in Doha, but also serves as roadmap of future action.

See the CAHA media release here.

If you want to support this statement, sign up here: www.dohadeclaration.weebly.com

Categories Advocacy, Allied health, Children, Climate, Emissions, Health, Health professionals, Medical, survival, Sustainability, Transformation
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Workshop report: Transforming economics and governance for better health

by CAHA
December 2nd, 2012

Climate change, chronic disease, deforestation, obesity, corporate power, food insecurity, and government policy stalemates – all reflect the failure of our current systems to deal with core challenges in modern societies.

What are the remedies for healthy, sustainable societies?

Attended by public health and climate researchers, practitioners and advocates, this workshop held in Adelaide on 9th September explored a systems approach to public health, looking at the systemic drivers behind ill-health and ecological decline and climate change.

Reforming systems of economics and governance for better health was explored and pathways to healthy sustainable societies discussed.

A Summary Report on workshop outcomes is available here.

The Workshop Flyer is available here (pdf) and Program here.

 

Categories Uncategorized
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The project known as ‘now’

by CAHA
December 2nd, 2012

An exciting project is evolving…

The Climate and Health Alliance recently had the opportunity to crowdsource ideas for a new publication in the New News Incubator at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival event.

Guided by Daniel May, Fiona Armstrong, Paul Ramadge, and Bronwen Clune, this workshop worked to develop an idea to create a new online publication in the area of climate and health – from scratch! Participants helped build the publication’s identity, sketch out a community development strategy,  a business case and a story list. The workshop was moderated by the incomparable health journalist and Croakey blogger Melissa Sweet.

It has evolved into an proposal to create an online ‘hub’ provisionally called now to showcase what healthy sustainable societies look like through sharing stories of existing low or zero carbon initiatives to help create an appealing narrative for positive change.

now is proposed as an online ‘hub’ to showcase what healthy sustainable societies look like by aggregating and documenting stories and images and case studies of existing low or zero carbon initiatives as a vehicle to help create an appealing narrative for positive change.

Human health and wellbeing are dependent on sustainable environments.

now uses health as a ‘hook’ to build support for environmental sustainability and bio-sensitive societies. Stories and content will range from the micro to the macro – i.e. what’s possible in low carbon food production in Cindy’s backyard all the way to stories about what’s possible in terms of transforming our large scale industrial agricultural systems and infrastructure.

now will function as a library as well as a ‘publication’ with rich archival and background materials while presenting a dynamic and lively ever changing ‘face’ with fresh content, and evocative images that will be equally appealing to consumers/community as it is to experts.

A report on the MWF event is available here. A collaborating group is working together to further develop the idea.

Watch out for further details!

Categories Behaviour change, Climate, Ecology, Health, Healthy, Sustainability, Sustainable, Transformation, Well-being, Wellness
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