A new Climate Council report points out that the Paris Agreement's carbon budget leaves no room for the development of massive new coal reserves such as the proposed Carmichael mine.
The current domestic gas crisis will pass. But if the industry wants to surpass coal and fulfil its role as a 'transition fuel', it should lobby for a carbon price to help it on its way.
Has carbon capture and storage been tarnished by its association with the coal industry?
Peabody Energy/Wikimedia Commons
Carbon capture and storage gets a bad rap from its associations with 'clean coal'. But the technology could prove vital in cutting emissions from other industries like steel, cement and chemicals.
Coal mines, such as this one near Bowen, use water for everything from equipment cooling to dust management.
CSIRO
Adani's controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin has been granted an unlimited 60-year water licence. But a range of measures could help the industry use less freshwater.
Interactive map of global carbon emissions from 1750 to 2010.
Aurelien Saussay
An interactive map of global carbon-dioxide emissions, from 1750 to 2010, provides a better understanding of the roles of different countries in the ongoing climate crisis.
A boy silhouetted against smog while playing cricket in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2011.
Akhtar Soomro/Reuters
Massive new coal plants planned for Pakistan will further harm the environment in a country already suffering the effects of climate change. Solar energy is a clear alternative.
Hazelwood in happier times.
Centre for Gippsland Studies
Hazelwood power station will this week fall silent after a half-century during which it went from a beacon of progress to an emblem of fossil fuel pollution.
Wave goodbye to US climate leadership.
EPA/Ron Sachs
Donald Trump has signalled the end of US leadership on climate policy, with potentially unpleasant consequences for America's economy, security and diplomatic standing.
Trump signed the executive order surrounded by coal miners, saying it was ‘about jobs.’
AP Photo/Matthew Brown
Trump's executive order on climate will cede American leadership internationally and scores a political win. But reversing all Obama's work will require big wins in court.
President Trump holds up the signed Energy Independence Executive Order, Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at EPA headquarters in Washington, surrounded by coal miners and members of his Cabinet.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Trump's latest executive order weakens or reverses multiple rules and policies designed to slow climate change. Scholars explain the order's impact.
Workers at Medupi coal-fired power station during its construction, one of South Africa’s most costly and environmentally unfriendly projects.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
In preparing the 2017 national budget South Africa needs to take heed of warnings that its historical austerity measures are hurting the poor and even costing lives.
Even the cleanest coal plants add millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere each year.
Coal image from www.shutterstock.com
In his speech this week to the National Press Club, Turnbull initiated a genuine “game-changer” in the debate about power generation in this country. It is instructive to focus explicitly on what he said…
Palace of Westminster at dusk in 2007.
Diliff/Wikipedia
Timothy Hyde, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A century before the modern environmental era, experts realized that London's dirty air was corroding its new Parliament building. This insight led to some of the first air pollution laws.
New coal power technology can’t meet Australia’s climate targets alone.
Coal power image from www.shutterstock.com
As Australia's energy debate heats up, some politicians are calling for cleaner and more efficient coal power stations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Will 2017 be the year Australia sorts out its energy policy?
Power image from www.shutterstock.com
The goals are clear: clean, cheap, reliable energy. But no-one can agree how we get there.
Trump promises to revive the coal industry in part by opening up mining on federal lands, yet economists found that increasing royalties on public land would lead to more mining elsewhere, including Northern Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.
AP Photo/Steve Helber
One of Trump's first orders of business on energy will likely be to reopen federal lands to coal mining, which would be a bad deal for taxpayers and the environment.
Can coal be part of Australia’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Coal image from www.shutterstock.com
The idea of clean coal has been around for 40 years, but remains a pipe dream.
A political sign in West Virginia reflects the claim that the Obama administration, by developing policies to reduce carbon emission, was waging a campaign against the industry.
Vicki Smith/AP Photo
