This morning (Sept 4th 2019) 63 year old teacher and farmer Will Douglas, from Moruya locked himself to a drill rig, disrupting work on Adani’s controversial Carmichael mine in the Galilee Basin.
Mr Douglas locked himself to the drill rig on Adani’s rail corridor, saying immediate action is needed in the face of climate emergency.
Mr Douglas said “I love this country, and it is under threat from the ignorance and ineptitude of the Australian government in dealing with this global crisis. As a biologist and farmer, I fear the disastrous effects of climate change. As a father and teacher, holding a responsibility to young Australians, I have no other choice than to take actions like this to stop Adani’s mine and keep this coal in the ground.
“By continuing to promote the coal industry, Australia is actively rejecting the best science we have available. The IPCC report is clear: no new coal whatsoever, and a rapid transition from existing thermal coal. The Australian government should be moving to renewables and ensuring workers’ rights to a just transition.”
Yesterday the Australian Medical Association declared a climate emergency, saying “There is no doubt that climate change is a health emergency… Climate change will cause injury and mortality from increasingly severe weather events, increases in the transmission of vector-borne diseases, food insecurity and a higher incidence of mental ill-health.”
This follows on from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report last month, which found that climate change is adversely affecting food security.
The report said “Burning of fossil fuels should end to avoid irreversible loss in land ecosystem services required for food, health and habitable settlements.”
Mr Douglas said “for too long the Australian government has been ignoring the messages of scientific experts. Now we the Australian people are the message, taking direct action to stop climate disaster.”
Story and photo: frontlineaction.org/redalert
