The Great Barrier Reef Is At Risk From Proposed Coal Shipping, Right Through It!

Yep, you read correctly. There is an unprecedented attack on our environment going on right under our noses. It seems to be an all out assault on all fronts. Let's love this one away!

Dear friends, 

 

Plans are underway to build a giant coal complex that could kill the Great Barrier Reef. But the company planning the project is deep in debt, and if we can convince a crucial investor to walk away, the whole polluting plan will be derailed. Sign this urgent petition now and help Save the Great Barrier Reef: 

The incredible Great Barrier Reef is at risk! Plans are underway to destructively dredge a path for coal freighters to steam right through the heart of the Great Barrier Reef to ship out tonnes of coal in a plan UNESCO says could make the reef a “World Heritage Area at Risk”. But we may right now have a major chance to stop the project in its tracks!



Miles of precious protected sea-bed would be ripped up to make way for mega-transport ships hauling hundreds of tonnes of coal across this unique environment. But the company planning the project is in over its head with debt and desperately needs a major investor. An Australian rail company has expressed interest, but after months of deliberation they're still on the fence -- and a massive global outcry could convince them to stay away from this environmentally disastrous and financially risky project.



The investors are deciding right now. Let’s get 1 million people on board to stop the plan. Sign the petition now and send to everyone to help save the Great Barrier Reef:



https://secure.avaaz.org/en/the_end_of_the_great_barrier_reef_b/?bmeCxdb&v=27465



Australia is already the #2 coal exporter in world -- and there are enough new mines proposed in the Galilee Basin to roughly triple the amount they produce! The CO2 likely to be produced each year from burning the coal mined there would be greater than the 2009 emissions of Canada or even the UK. Let’s stall this new Australian coal rush before it sets us back years in the fight against climate change.



Around the world the smart money is moving away from coal. Some of Australia’s biggest mining companies are even backing away from these projects, but the Indian company leading this project -- GVK -- is bucking the trend. They plan to build a massive port right in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef and dredge deep into the seafloor dumping the material at an unknown destination. It’s an ecological disaster that would damage the reef directly before killing it with climate change.



The Australian rail company Aurizon has been in talks with GVK, but unlike GVK, Aurizon’s own investors don’t like risk -- one even makes major donations to support climate activism! Their decision could come any day -- a big, public reminder now of the reputational risk could be just the thing to stop this plan. Sign this urgent petition and share it with everyone you know to stop the Great Barrier Train Wreck:



https://secure.avaaz.org/en/the_end_of_the_great_barrier_reef_b/?bmeCxdb&v=27465



The Avaaz community has been fighting to save the unparalleled beauty of the reef for years. Last year, Avaaz members threatened the US Export Import Bank when they were set to invest in Reef destruction. Then hundreds of thousands of Avaaz members sent messages to the Australian Environment Minister to help win the largest marine reserve in the world. Let’s do it again and put the reef out of reach of these profiteering plunderers.



With hope and determination,



David, Emily, Oliver, Rewan, Vilde, Alice and the whole Avaaz team



PS - Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community. It's easy to get started - click to start yours now and win on any issue - local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917





SOURCES:



Great Barrier Reef Under Threat (TIME)

http://world.time.com/2013/07/22/great-barrier-reef-under-threat/photo/dugong-dugong-dugon-feeding-on-sea-weed-golden-trevallys-gnathodon-speciosus-pilot-fish-great-barrier-reef-unesco-world-heritage-site-queensland-cairns-australia-pacific-ocean/



'Death By a Thousand Cuts': Coal Boom Could Destroy Great Barrier Reef (Spiegel)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/australia-debates-how-to-protect-the-great-barrier-reef-a-900911.html



GVK's Australia coal project 'a quagmire, not an investment' says report (The Times of India)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/GVKs-Australia-coal-project-a-quagmire-not-an-investment-says-report/articleshow/20651363.cms



Report- Stranded: Alpha Coal Project in Australia’s Galilee Basin (IEEFA)

http://www.ieefa.org/report-stranded-alpha-coal-project-in-australias-galilee-basin/



GVK rejects claim Alpha is 'stranded' (The Age)

http://www.theage.com.au/business/carbon-economy/gvk-rejects-claim-alpha-is-stranded-20130619-2oj96.html



Abbott Point Coal Mine Map (Greenpeace)

http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/what-we-do/climate/resources/reports/Cooking-the-climate-Wrecking-the-reef/

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