Saturday, July 18, 2009

Rally against proposed Kimberly gas plant


Alex Salmon
18 July 2009

PERTH: Thirty people rallied against a proposed new gas plant on July 10 outside the Perth Offices of Chevron and Shell. The protest was organised by the Wilderness Society. The two companies are considering joining a proposed joint venture development with fellow-fossil fuel companies Woodside, BHP Billiton and BP for a gas processing (LNG) industrial hub at James Price Point, 50 km north of Broome, in the Kimberly.

The protesters said the development would include dredging, blasting, pollution and land clearing that would devastate the local environment. The LNG development would endanger one of the world’s most significant humpback whale populations and would raise Western Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 14%, the Wilderness Society said.

So far, Shell and Chevron have not committed to the project. However, the WA Coalition government of Colin Barnett has aggressively backed it. The Wilderness Society plans to hold monthly protests in Perth against the proposed gas plant.

For more details on the campaign visit www.wilderness.org.au/kimberly.