Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC has responded with bafflement to a recent claim by the WA Mines and Petroleum Minister that unconventional gas is a renewable resource.
“Oh dear, it seems the WA Minister for Mining and Petroleum has not the faintest idea about what constitutes a renewable energy source. No wonder the State Government has such a poor record when it comes to transitioning WA from being dependent on non-renewable fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy,” Mr Chapple said.
In a recent ABC radio interview (RN Breakfast, 31 July 2014) about fracking in the Canning Basin for unconventional gas (tight gas, shale gas, coal seam gas), Minister Bill Marmion commented: “…a lot of mischievous comments are being made by people who don’t like renewable energy but I have to say that gas is a very clean fuel…”
“For the benefit of the Minister, let me explain that renewable energy is that which comes from resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale including sunlight, wind, tides, waves and geothermal heat.
“It does not include coal, petroleum or any kind of gas, whether it is conventional or unconventional.
“The use of renewable energy technology can result in significant energy security, climate change mitigation and economic benefits but this Government, blinkered as it is by the fossil fuel lobby, which includes those companies wishing to exploit unconventional gas reserves, refuses to pursue these advantages on behalf of the people of WA.
“One thing is certain, the longer we continue down this track, the more out of date we will become, and the more deserving Minister Marmion will be of the title ‘King of the Dinosaurs’,” Mr Chapple said.
For more information please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255
