Last week, the Minister of Conservation, Nick Smith, gave permission for a new open-cast coal mine on conservation land on the West Coast. The Environment Court last month said it would probably give permission for the mine.
Now the Forest and Bird organisation is going to the High Court to fight this. Forest and Bird members say that a coal mine could kill endangered animals like the Great Spotted Kiwi. Also conservation land is for everyone to enjoy, not for industry.
The new mine would be on the Denniston plateau, 14 km north of Westport. Already there is an open-cast coal mine at Stockton, 35 km north of Westport.
The owners of the mine say that an open-cast mine would bring 225 jobs and put about $30m into the local economy. There are many unemployed people, including coal miners, on the West Coast.
Coal will be shipped from the port at Westport to Asia, especially to China, where it is used for making steel.
Vocabulary
• to give permission – to say ‘yes’
• open-cast mine – not underground.
• conservation – protecting the environment
• endangered – in danger of becoming extinct
• plateau – flat area on top of a hill
Questions
1. Is it possible to protect forests and birds where there is a coal mine?
2. What is more important – jobs or protecting the environment?
3. Coal is a fossil fuel which produces carbon when it is burned. If New Zealand mines coal and China burns coal, which country should pay for carbon credits?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of open-cast coal mining?